The Metropolitan Division-leading New Jersey Devils look to continue their hot streak when they host the Nashville Predators on Monday in Newark, N.J.
The Devils have won their last two games and are 7-2-0 in their last nine games. This impressive stretch includes two wins over the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, as well as other wins over last season’s Stanley Cup finalists, the Edmonton Oilers, and two division rivals in the Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals.
“We’ve had to be on our toes,” said Devils defenseman Brenden Dillon following Saturday’s 3-2 road win over Washington. “We’ve had to kind of take in a little bit of water at certain points, and kind of bend but don’t break. … A tough stretch of hockey here against some really good teams, and I think we’ve found ways to win in a tough league.”
Despite the 13-point gap between the Devils and Predators in this season’s standings, recent history is on Nashville’s side. The Predators have a dominant 11-1-1 record in their last 13 games against New Jersey, dating back to the 2016-17 season.
Though the struggling Predators find themselves near the bottom of the NHL standings, they’re also coming off a victory over top-tier competition. In perhaps Nashville’s best overall performance of the season, the Predators scored three unanswered goals in the third period of Saturday’s 4-1 win over the league-leading Winnipeg Jets.
“I thought that was a pretty good recipe of what we have to do and understand we’ve got to continue this,” Predators forward Steven Stamkos said. “The story of this year has been we have efforts like this and then we don’t follow it up. So let’s follow it up and get on a little roll here.”
Nashville began the season with a five-game (0-5-0) losing streak but has shown signs of life with a 3-2-2 record in its last seven games.
The battle between two elite special-teams units could decide Monday’s game. The Predators lead the NHL with a 91.7 percent penalty-kill percentage, while the Devils’ 31 percent power-play percentage is second to Winnipeg’s 33.9 percent. New Jersey is 7-for-17 on the power play in its last four games, while Nashville has killed 20 of 21 penalties over its last seven games.
Since goaltender Jake Allen started Saturday against the Capitals, Jacob Markstrom should face Nashville if New Jersey sticks to its usual rotation of having Markstrom start two of every three games. Markstrom is 9-5-1 with a .907 save percentage and 2.54 goals-against average in 15 starts this season.
Juuse Saros has started 17 of Nashville’s 21 games, but the workhorse goalie should be back between the pipes on Monday. Saros has an outstanding .937 save percentage and 1.90 GAA over his last nine games, though with just a 4-4-1 record in that span due to a lack of help from the Predators’ lackluster offense.
Filip Forsberg (eight goals, eight assists) and Roman Josi (four goals, 12 assists) share the Predators’ team points lead with 16 apiece.
By comparison, the Devils have five players who have 17 or more points this season. Jesper Bratt leads New Jersey with 28 points (10 goals, 18 assists).
