MORNING SKATE RECAP
NEWARK, N.J. - New Jersey Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe is very familiar with tonight's opponent. Before joining the Devils, he coached for five-plus years in Toronto. He coached his fair share of games against the Montreal Canadiens, so he understands their team well and what his Devils will be up against tonight.
“We’re a team that, when we have the puck, we can make some plays, we can be dangerous on the rush just like them," Keefe said after Thursday's optional skate. "In terms of my time coaching against them as much as I have, I would say they are very dangerous on offense, transition, active defense, forwards getting behind your defense. They come with a lot of speed and can make plays.”
The Canadiens are on their second four-game losing streak of the NHL season and will certainly try to end their skid, but it won't be easy. The Devils have continued to improve their defensive game while continuing to thrive offensively.
"I think we’ve been pretty darn good defensively all season," Keefe shared. "We’ve had a couple of nights where our opponents made it real hard on us, but generally speaking, you look at a lot of our underlying numbers, we’re among the top defensive teams in the NHL in terms of what we’ve given up, which has not been a lot.”
Meanwhile, the Canadiens are averaging just 2.69 goals per game, which ranks 23rd in the league.
Optional
The Devils held an optional morning skate where a few players participated in a pre-game spin on the ice. Jesper Bratt, Timo Meier, Tomas Tatar, Paul Cotter, Justin Dowling, Kurtis MacDermid, and Jake Allen all participated in the morning session.
Keefe also confirmed that Jacob Markstrom will get the start in goal.
Two at the Top
Tonight two of the top goal scorers in the NHL go head-to-head: Nico Hischier and Cole Caufield. Both sit atop the league (as does Florida's Sam Reinhart) with ten goals a piece. So, while the Devils can often rely on Hischier to contribute offensively, and opponents knowingly have to guard against him and his 200-ft game, so do the Devils when it comes to Caufield and his offensive talents. Because just like Hischier, Caufield can make you pay for your mistakes.
“It’s not easy, you’ve got to play good defensively (against Caufield), not making any turnovers at the offensive blueline," Tomas Tatar said. "They’re a great rush team; we have to be aware of it; that’s their strength. We want to be better in the offensive zone; in the games that we’ve played, we still know we have a lot to work on.”
Honing It In
A lot has been new for New Jersey heading into this season, from players, to a new coach and system. Now, 15 games in, it all is starting to come together. What Keefe has stressed most is the full buy-in defensively from the team and while there is always room for more improvement, the team is certainly starting to reap the rewards of that mentality.
"You look at, not a perfect road trip by any means defensively, but we played about 175 minutes or so of shutout hockey on a very difficult Western Canada road trip, so lots for us to build upon there," Keefe said. "And you like the buy-in; it’s been good.”
Tatar says the team, now in the thick of things, is really starting to grasp all that was new.
“It’s been a lot of new stuff for us, but we can see the benefits of it," he said. "We had a very tough schedule at the start with a lot of learning, tough schedule, but we somehow managed it, and now it’s time to grow and be better every day; that's what we’re here for.”
