The New Jersey Devils are preparing to host the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday, Dec. 13, for a matinee matchup at 12:30 PM ET. This marks the second game in the Devils’ three-game homestand. They were just dealt a tough 8-4 loss at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday. New Jersey will look to course correct this afternoon.
Related: Devils’ Arseny Gritsyuk Out with Upper-Body Injury
For the Ducks, this game is their third of a current five-game road trip. They just lost 5-2 to the New York Islanders on Thursday. They’ll look to get back to their three-game winning streak they were on before they lost on Long Island.
Devils Storylines
On Friday, the Devils announced forward Arseny Gritsyuk will not be playing this weekend due to an upper-body injury. The team does not know the extent of his injury yet, as he has not been evaluated. Gritsyuk endured the injury before the game on Thursday but tried to play through it. Clearly, he needs to take care of his body and rest before he can get back on the ice anytime soon. Here’s hoping the injury is not serious and he only has to miss this weekend’s slate of games.
Due to his injury, Gritsyuk missed practice on Friday, but he was not the only player to do so. Neither Cody Glass nor Stefan Noesen was a participant in practice ahead of today’s game. However, head coach Sheldon Keefe spoke to the media after and stated both players will be good to go for this game against the Ducks. The last thing the Devils can afford right now is another injury.
The player to watch in this game is Paul Cotter. He recorded two points in the game against Tampa Bay, including a late third-period goal off a brilliant breakaway. Cotter has been elevated to the top-six grouping due to the absence of several forwards. Can he continue this strong performance today on the second line?Â
Team Stats
New Jersey Devils
Season Record: 17-13-1
Top Scorers:
- Jesper Bratt – 6 goals (G), 21 assists (A), 27 points (P)
- Nico Hischier – 10 G, 16 A, 26 P
- Timo Meier – 11 G, 12 A, 23 P
- Dawson Mercer – 10 G, 11 A, 21 P
- Jack Hughes – 10 G, 10 A, 20 P
Goalie Stats:
- Jake Allen – 8-7-0, 2.70 goals-against average (GAA), .903 save percentage (SV%)
- Jacob Markstrom – 8-6-1, 3.66 GAA, .875 SV%
- Nico Daws – 1-0-0, 1.00 GAA, .968 SV%
Anaheim Ducks
Season Record: 19-11-1
Top Scorers:
- Leo Carlsson – 17 G, 22 A, 39 P
- Cutter Gauthier – 16 G, 18 A, 34 P
- Troy Terry – 9 G, 24 A, 33 P
- Beckett Sennecke – 10 G, 16 A, 26 P
- Chris Kreider – 13 G, 8 A, 21 P
Goalie Stats:
- Lukas Dostal – 11-5-1, 2.81 GAA, .904 SV%
- Ville Husso – 5-3-0, 3.16 GAA, .888 SV%
- Petr Mrazek – 3-3-0, 3.69 GAA, .876 SV%
- Vyacheslav Buteyets – 0-0-0, 9.00 GAA, .769 SV%
Projected Lineups
(Subject to change before puck drop)
As per The Hockey Writers’ projected lineup article.
New Jersey Devils
Jesper Bratt — Nico Hischier — Stefan Noesen
Ondrej Palat — Dawson Mercer — Paul Cotter
Juho Lammikko — Cody Glass — Connor Brown
Xavier Parent — Luke Glendening — Angus Crookshank
Jonas Siegenthaler — Dougie Hamilton
Brenden Dillon — Luke Hughes
Colton White — Simon Nemec
Jacob Markstrom
Jake Allen
Scratched: Timo Meier, Dennis Cholowski
Injured: Arseny Gritsyuk, Jack Hughes, Evgenii Dadonov, Johnathan Kovacevic, Brett Pesce, Marc McLaughlin, Zack MacEwen
Anaheim Ducks
Chris Kreider — Leo Carlsson — Troy Terry
Cutter Gauthier — Mason McTavish — Beckett Sennecke
Ross Johnston — Ryan Poehling — Mikael Granlund
Frank Vatrano — Ryan Strome — Alex Killorn
Jackson LaCombe — Jacob Trouba
Owen Zellweger — Radko Gudas
Pavel Mintyukov — Drew Helleson
Lukas Dostal
Ville Husso
Scratched: Jansen Harkins, Ian Moore, Nikita Nesterenko
Injured: Petr Mrazek
Next up for the Devils
The Devils will host the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday, Dec. 14, for the second half of a back-to-back.
