The New Jersey Devils are back after a long layoff and the Arizona Coyotes are in town to make things difficult for them as they look to win three straight.
The New Jersey Devils are in action tonight when the Arizona Coyotes come to the Prudential Center to play. They are having a fantastic start to their season as they bring their 5-3-1 record to New Jersey. They are on the second half of a back to back after losing to the New York Islanders last night. The Devils need to take advantage of them playing on the second half of a back to back and being very fresh themselves.
The Coyotes used goaltender Darcy Kuemper against New York so you can expect to see Antti Raanta in this one. Both goalies have been fantastic in their Coyotes career so far so the Devils need to make nice plays and get traffic in front if they are going to win. No matter what, this is going to be a tough game for the Devils so beating them would be huge.
Phil Kessel is an opponent the Devils know well as he has played only for Eastern Conference teams (Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Pittsburgh Penguins) his entire career but he is now a member of the Coyotes and brings them a dynamic scorer. Outside of Kessel, Arizona is a well-balanced attack and can use all of their lines to beat you. It is something that the Devils forwards and defenseman need to be ready for.
The Devils should be getting a little bit of a boost in this one as two key players might be returning to the lineup. Nico Hischier missed the last two games due to injury and it should be good to go in this one. Will Butcher is in the same boat but he would need to be activated from injured reserve in order to play. If they are both in that would be solid news for the Devils, especially with Hischier who they Devils need desperately. He is their best two way forward and once he really gets going offensively they will be golden.
Hopefully, the Devils can get a big win in this game and carry the momentum as it would be their third win in a row. Then after that, they are off for another four days before playing the Tampa Bay Lightning next Wednesday so it would be ideal to go into that one feeling good.