Devils Finish Up West Coast Swing in Seattle | PREVIEW

NEW JERSEY DEVILS (24-15-3) vs. SEATTLE KRAKEN (17-20-3)

New Jersey wrap up the West Coast portion of their five-game road trip in Seattle on Monday night.

You can watch on MSGSN or listen on the Devils Hockey Network. Puck drop is 10:08 p.m. ET.

Read below for your game preview and our pre-game story. Tonight's game is presented by Cuttler Produce.

PRE-GAME AVAIL RECAP

SEATTLE, WA - The Devils will be without forward Erik Haula on Monday night in Seattle when they wrap up the Western portion of their current road trip. Haula, who was injured in the game against the Sharks over the weekend, underwent testing in Seattle on his ankle. Head coach Sheldon Keefe confirmed that Haula is dealing with an ankle sprain that could potentially keep him out for several weeks.

Haula will be further evaluated on Wednesday by Devils team doctors when the club returns to New Jersey. In his absence, Justin Dowling will take the third-line center spot between Paul Cotter and Dawson Mercer.

Keefe is confident in moving Dowling into the 3C spot, particularly with how the line had been playing recently and some previous chemistry as well.

“A lot of good things from that line," head coach Sheldon Keefe said on Sunday. "Maybe Paul Cotter’s best game in a long time, if not the whole season for me, from start to finish. Not just because of the goal, but just his overall play. And Cotts has played well with Dowling, so we’ll see how that goes.”

Optional

The Devils hosted an optional morning skate today, although the entire team was at the arena for meetings. Those who skated today were: Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, Ondrej Palat, Tomas Tatar, Stefan Noesen, Paul Cotter, Justin Dowling, Nathan Bastian and Kurtis MacDermid.

Jake Allen was the lone goalie on the ice.

Facing the Kraken

In the meantime, New Jersey is getting back to a more familiar game-day schedule. Their past three games have all been different matinee outings (5, 3, and 1 p.m. starts), and Keefe hopes that returning to a bit of a normal routine might help spark his team back into the win column.

The key against Seattle will be managing the neutral zone, which Keefe said gave the club difficulty the last time these two teams met.

"For me, we’ve got to defend our net way better and make it harder to get to our net, is what I should say. Coming into the nuetral zone, especially," he elaborated. "And it’s a challenge. Last time we played this Seattle team, they had their way with us in that regard. So we’ve got to really manage that well. If there’s one area, that’s going to be our focus today, to make it a lot harder there and hope that that tighter defensive play will result in some better offensive pucks going the other way for us.”

PREVIEW

THE SCOOP

The New Jersey Devils continue to search for answers as they try to overcome their longest regulation winless stretch of the season. After the holiday break, they won their first game at home against Carolina, but they lost their next four matches—to Carolina, Anaheim, L.A., and San Jose.

The Devils will look to correct their ways against Seattle on Monday night before heading back to the East Coast. On Thursday night, they will visit the Rangers to conclude a stretch of six straight away games.

Erik Haula was injured in the game against the Sharks and will not be available to play on Monday. He underwent an MRI in Seattle, and his current timeline to be able to return is unknown. Justin Dowling took Haula's spot as the team's third-line center at practice on Sunday, skating between Paul Cotter and Dawson Mercer.

Seattle defenseman Adam Larsson left their Saturday night game against the Oilers with an injury late in the second period and did not return. His status remains unclear for Monday's game. The Kraken will play their 41st game of the season on Monday, arriving at the halfway point of their season. They have a 17-20-3 record and are 9-9-3 at home at Climate Pledge Arena this season. Seattle lost their last game to the Edmonton Oilers and are 3-6-1 in their last 10 games.

WHO’S HOT

Devils: The offense has dried up of late for New Jersey, with Jesper Bratt leading the charge over the last five games with three points, all assists, while captain Nico Hischier has two goals in his last five games, including on Saturday night against the Sharks. Hischier leads the club with 19 this season.

Kraken: The Kraken are getting offensive support from Vince Dunn on their back end. He’s riding a four-game point streak with three goals and four assists.

INJURIES

Devils: Haula (ankle, day-to-day), Hatakka (shoulder, IR)

Kraken: Larsson (upper-body, day-to-day), Gourde (lower body), Daccord (upper body), Eberle (pelvis, IR)

REGULAR-SEASON RESULTS

• Dec. 6 vs Seattle, 3-2, W
• Jan. 6 at Seattle

GAME NOTES

• New Jersey has never lost a game in regulation against Seattle (5-0-2).
• Jesper Bratt (1g-1a) and Jack Hughes (0g-2a) lead New Jersey with two points against Seattle this season and they both serve as the points-leaders all-time against the Kraken (Bratt: 2g-4a, J. Hughes: 1g-5a).
• The Devils are 1-0-2 in Seattle since the team's inception.