SJS vs NJD Preview

Irbe's Pads   20 October 2017

I CALLED IT! I SAID AT THE START OF THE YEAR THAT NEW JERSEY WAS GONNA BE GOOD, AND NO ONE BELIEVED ME! WELL, HA!

Hm, excuse me.

Today, San Jose faces a worthy challenge. After an impressive 5-2 win over Montreal, the Sharks face off against the white hot Devils in Newark, with the goal of starting a string of wins to make up for the sluggish start to the season. Who knows, maybe we pawn can PDB back to them too?

Last ten games: 2-3-0

Know thy enemy: New Jersey Devils (6-1-0, First in Metro)

This ain’t your dad’s Devils team. Like previous iterations of the Devils, good goaltending and defence is the name of the game. The Devils currently have a team 5v5 SV% of .920%, and they find themselves middle of the pack in the NHL in goals allowed (17th, 21 GA). However, the Devils have become nearly transcendent on defence. Led by the emergence of defensive quarterback Will Butcher, the insane speed of Miles Wood, contributions by bottom liners like Jesper Bratt and Brian Gibbons, the usual mainstay scoring of Adam Henrique, Taylor Hall, and Kyle Palmieri, and the talent of first overall pick Nico Hischier, the Devils have come out flying to start the season. The Devils are second in the league in GF (31), and second in GF per game (4.29). The Devils currently have 11 players on the roster with 4 or more pts this season, and the PP has chugged along as well (8th in league, 26.7%). It ain’t like the Devils have been playing scrubs either. They handed Toronto their only loss of the season so far, a 6-3 decision, and came back to knock off the powerful Tampa Bay Lightning 5-4 in the shootout. Is this current streak sustainable? Analytics don’t think so. The PDO of the Devils is 4th in the league (105.4), this indicates that the Devils should regress to the mean soon (100 PDO). For comparison, the Sharks’ PDO is 30th in the league (93.8), which means San Jose has been players better than the results show. The Devils ain’t exactly analytics gods either, with a CF 5v5% of 48.4%, good for 18th in the league. What I’m trying to say is that the Devils aren’t the invincible force they’re made out to be early this season.

Why you should hate this team: Hey, remember 1995-2004? Remember how boring that hockey was? Remember the clutch and grabs, the slow pace, and the goddamn trap? Yeah, the Devils are the culprit for that bullshit. The Devils pioneered the boring trap, and since the NHL is a copycat league, everyone was plunged into the low scoring era that followed. The dead puck era was a dark time for the NHL, and you have the Devils to thank for that.

Player to watch: Nico Hischier is a stud. The exceptionally creative playmaker with an impressive shot has lived up to the hype so far this year, potting his first two goals last night against the Sens. Watch for him to be a dangerous presence this game.

First goal watch: Sadly, golden boy Mirco Mueller probably isn’t playing today. Instead, look for quiet defensive rock “Diet Vlasic” Steve Santini to pot his first of the season today.

Meanwhile, in San Jose: The urge to panic and trade everyone to the Colorado Avalanche for Matt Duchene has somewhat subsided thanks to a solid 5-2 win over Montreal. COOOOOOCCCCHHHH had 4 points, and Jones was…. Alright. Like I stated above, the Sharks have been getting extremely unlucky so far this year, and the Pacific basement is not sustainable for the Sharkies (I mean, I hope). The Sharks have been doing a lot of things right this year. They’re 5th in CF 5v5% with 55.2% (That’s good), and 3rd in FF 5v5%, chalking up a 57.4% (that’s also good, trust me). The powerplay, a source of much agony and headache for the team, according to stats, is once again one of the premier units in the league (4th in PP%, 28.6%). It’s important to note that the 2nd PP unit has been experiencing most of the success, mostly in part because they actually move around and try passing the puck around instead of throwing it back to the point and hoping it’ll hit off a shin or something. Hell, even the PK is improving (11th in PK%, 82.6%). Although the record doesn’t show it, this team is on the right track, and are bound to improve as the season goes on.

Starting goalies: Jones gets the nod for San Jose, and because of an injury to Devils starter Cory Schneider, Keith Kinkaid gets the call for the Devils tonight.

Da Fenwicks: San Jose (57.4%) > New Jersey (49.4%). Fenwick = Yes.

Go Sharks!