New Jersey Devils: Avoid Sidney Crosby In Matchup With Penguins
The New Jersey Devils are hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins, who are without their star player. That could play a major role in this game.
The New Jersey Devils have had a decent amount of success against the Pittsburgh Penguin in recent years. The Penguins have been one of the elite teams in the National Hockey League for the past decade, and the Devils haven’t been all that good overall for most of that time. The biggest reason for the Penguins success is the fact that they have Sidney Crosby on their team. The 2005 first-overall pick is sidelined for six weeks after having hernia surgery.
The Devils will not face Sid, but that doesn’t mean they should take the Penguins lightly. Historically, when Sidney Crosby is injured, Evgeni Malkin elevates his game even more. He is already one of the best players in the league and he somehow gets more productive when Sid is out. Malkin is a former Hart Trophy winner, Art Ross Trophy winner, and Conn Smythe Trophy winner. He is certainly a player that the Devils need to pay attention to when Pittsburgh comes to Prudential Center Friday night.
In order for the Devils to have a chance to defeat the Penguins, their centers need to be on top of their game. Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes should lead the way in the offensive department and Hisichier and Travis Zajac should both see their fair share of Evgeni Malkin defensively. It would be great to see each of them (Hischeir and Hughes) get on the board because the Devils go where these two take them as far as centers go.
Taylor Hall is as cold as ice right now with his goal scoring and that needs to change. He has only two goals on the season and that just isn’t going to get the job done. He has lots of assists which is good but he needs to score. He is still getting lots of chances so there isn’t a reason to panic about his abilities, but he just needs to break the streak. You feel like once he gets one, he will start to get them in bunches but there is no doubt the team is suffering from his lack of scoring. They are in desperate need of a breakout game from the former league MVP.
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Even without Crosby, this matchup features lots of talent so it could come down to who gets the better goaltending performance. Each team is seeing this game as the first leg of a back to back so whoever starts in net should be the backup in the games for Saturday. It is pivotal that the Devils get good goaltending against a team like the Penguins or they will lose. The Devils had an ugly loss to the Ottawa Senators in their last game so this is a chance to make it right.