Game Preview #8: New Jersey Devils vs. Vancouver Canucks

The Matchup: New Jersey Devils (1-4-2) vs the Vancouver Canucks (4-2-0)

The Time: 1:00 PM EST

The Broadcast: TV - MSG+

Devilish Recovery: The Devils finally ended their beginning season drought with a victory over our most hated rivals, the New York Rangers. It was to the tune of 5-2, beautiful, and celebratory. Jack Hughes got his first career point, with an assist to a Miles Wood backside deflection. While obviously not the most beautiful of points, his first point ends the drought, so hopefully this rain turns into a pour. Miles Wood and PK Subban had their first goals of the year, while Brian Coleman, Nikita Gusev and Kyle Palmieri scored as well. Matt Tennyson had his first two assists as a Devil, while Travis Zajac also added an assist. Mackenzie Blackwood made 29 saves on 31 shots, for his first (obviously) win of the season.

Surprising ‘Nucks: The Canucks have started off hot, with a 4-2-0 record and strong wins over the Blues and Flyers. JT Miller, the former Ranger and Lightning forward, has started off blazing with 4 goals and 4 assists in 6 games. Veteran Canuck defender Alexander Edler has 3 goals and 3 assists in 6 games as well, while superstar youngsters Brock Boeser and Elias Pettersson have 6 points in 6 games as well. Brandon Sutter has 5 points in 6 games, and Tanner Pearson, Josh Leivo, Michael Ferland and new captain Bo Horvat offer dangerous depth threats. Meanwhile, Chris Tanev and Quinn Hughes are defensive options who offer a threat offensively.

In their last game, the Canucks handled the Blues 4-3, with goals from Micheal Ferland, Bo Horvat and J.T. Miller. Edler, Leivo, Tyler Motte, Tyler Myers, Pettersson and Sutter got the assists. This gave the Canucks their 4th win in a row. Hopefully, the Devils can be the Canuck slayer.

Projected Lineups: While the lineups aren’t set in stone, Will Butcher is not going to be in today’s game, while Greene and Hischier are unknowns at this point. Assuming Hischier and Greene aren’t playing, I’d expect the lineup to look like this:

Hall - Hughes - Palmieri

Coleman - Zajac - Simmonds

Gusev - Zacha - Bratt

Wood - Rooney - Hayden

Severson - Subban

Vatanen - Carrick

Mueller - Tennyson

Schneider (Starter)

Blackwood

Your Thoughts? Who will win? Who will score? What do you want to see out of the Devils today? Let me know in the comments below, and take care.