Breaking Down New Jersey Devils – San Jose Sharks Matchup

As all Devils fans know, the San Jose Sharks Match-up at the Rock historically has not been a good one. Can the Devils turn things around on Sunday?

Sunday’s game at Prudential Center brings a heightened sense of excitement to all New Jerset Devils supporters after the outstanding start to the season. Will that continue, or will things come crashing down to Earth? Here are some keys to the San Jose Sharks match-up.

Here are some keys to the San Jose Sharks match-up.

Mirco Mueller

Micro missed practice Friday. It was deemed a “maintenance day”. Hopefully that is indeed the case. His size and speed are much needed against the Sharks.

High Danger Scoring Chances

San Jose is generating over 13 of these outstanding opportunities per game. The Devils concede a mere 3.5 high danger scoring chances per match. Obviously, something has to give. For the Devils to have a good chance Sunday, they need to avoid getting pinned deep inside their own zone for long periods of time by the excellent forecheck of the Sharks.

Keep Out Of The Box

I know , the San Jose powerplay unit has not started to fully click this season, but I don’t think we Devils fans need to see Mr. Burns and Karlsson firing bombs to the net repeatedly with one of the best netfront players in the league, Joe Pavelski, dangling his stick out with that outstanding hand-eye coordination to tip one home. The less of that we experience, the better!

Set Those iPhone Alarms

This is the first of a slew of afternoon weekend matches for the Devils this year. They have, at times, been known to sleepwalk through Prudential Center afternoon matches in the past. Hopefully they’ll get a routine in place to ensure the hit the ice ready to rock and roll from the drop of the puck. A slow start won’t get it done against this crew. No Saturday Night Live tonight for the Devils!

Goaltending Matchup

Although I’m not sure the starters are finalized, Martin Jones has been a bit up-and-down in the limited sample size thus far in the 2018-19 season. Keith Kinkaid has been solid. One can only hope that is a bit of an edge for the Devils.

Wrap-Up

Don’t forget to leave a bit of extra time if you are going to the game.  The Joker is filming in Newark. Hopefully Jersey’s Team will draw of some of that Gotham City energy and give us an tremendous 3-0 start to the NHL Season.