Devils Host Capitals for Friday Night Tilt | PREVIEW

New Jersey hosts the Washington Capitals Friday night for the second of four meetings between the clubs. The Devils are also celebrating Military Appreciation Night presented by Prudential.

You can watch on MSGSN or listen on the Devils Hockey Network.

Read below for your game preview and pre-game story below.

PRE-GAME STORY

NEWARK, N.J. - As the Devils prepare to take on the Washington Capitals tonight, they'll likely have one more veteran forward in the lineup. Tomas Nosek, who suffered a lower-body injury in mid-October, took line rushes at morning skate with Erik Haula and Curtis Lazar on the third line. Nosek takes pride in the defensive side of his game, which will be a huge help to the Devils who are focused on improving this area of their game.

“He’s a good two-way player, plays the game the right way, he’ll be a good addition to get back tonight,” Devils head coach Lindy Ruff shared pre-game. “I think anytime you have a veteran guy that’s been through the wars and played for a team that he played for last year, understands what his outs are, taking care of the puck, and making sure you get it out, you get it in, and you get back above it.”

“He had a good start to the year," Dawson Mercer explained pre-game. "He only had those two games, but obviously he has that good defensive game to himself. Veteran, knows how to play the game the right way, and you know obviously great to have him back in the lineup.”

Morning Skate Workflow

With Nosek taking line rushes, Max Willman and Alexander Holtz traded off on the left wing of the fourth line. Coach Ruff said the decision hadn't been made on who would sit tonight, following morning skate.

Here's how the group lined up Friday morning:

Sharpening Up

When it comes to the game plan for tonight, sharpening things up defensively is top of mind for the Devils. In New Jersey's last game, the Devils gave up multiple odd-man rush situations to the Colorado Avalanche, which led to several goals against. The last few days have been an opportunity to dive into the defensive side of the game, and the Devils are eager to return to the strong defensive focus they had last season.

“That stuff you don’t want to have in your game,” Jonas Siegenthaler shared. “We went over it, we just have to focus on our d-zone, work as a five-man unit. I think if we do that we can go play in the offensive zone and have some fun. But I think we really have to focus on our d-zone.”

“Practice, today morning skate, we just emphasized going into the game that if you giving up breakaway’s, 2-on-1’s, it’s not going to end well,” Dawson Mercer discussed ahead of tonight’s game. “We look at ways to not create those opportunities against and pretty much just stick to our game, (giving up breakaways) is not our game and we know that.”

When the Devils and Capitals played at Prudential Center on Oct. 25, Washington scored six goals and picked up a win. Coach Ruff and Jesper Bratt discussed that game and the lessons New Jersey learned ahead of tonight's contest.

“You look at it, what you gave up in the first period,” Ruff explained. “What you generated in the second period and then again in the start of the third period, we let it slip away from us. It’s just trying to find some consistency. We haven’t really played a solid 60 minutes from start to finish. I think that we’ve had a tendency to start slow. I thought some of our road games our starts were a lot better. And again, that’ll be a focus tonight, start better. But continue on throughout the game.”

"Our start is going to be important, compared to last time," Bratt shared. "Last time we played, we came out sloppy in the first period and we gave them basically three goals, all over the place, that we could have had control of. For us, to keep our structure in the o-zone and as soon as the puck turns the other way, we (have to be) all of us, coming back hard, and we're protecting the middle of the ice."

Honoring the Troops

Tonight is the Devils annual Military Appreciation Night presented by Prudential. There are various in-arena activations, tributes, and celebrations throughout the night. For more information, click here!

PREVIEW

DEVILS (7-4-1) vs. CAPITALS (5-4-2)

Head-to-Head

This is the second of four meetings between the Capitals and Devils this season. In the first game, New Jersey fell 6-4 at home on Oct. 25. The Capitals had a strong start, securing a 3-0 lead going into the second period. Two goals by Tyler Toffoli and one a piece by Timo Meier and Nico Hischier, helped the Devils get back into the game. However, the visitors took over in the third with three goals to seal the win.

Friday’s game is the final game between these teams at Prudential Center this regular season. The next two games will be in Washington D.C. on Jan. 3 and Feb. 20.

Devils Team Scope:

New Jersey is coming off a four-game road trip where they won twice and lost twice. The Devils are focused on playing a strong defensive game following the road trip as players and Head Coach Lindy Ruff haven’t felt consistency with that part of the team’s game. New Jersey has allowed the 29th most goals per game average in the NHL with their opponents averaging 3.67 a contest.

The Devils are without two top centermen as Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier are out with upper-body injuries. Hughes is week-to-week while Hischier is day-to-day. Forward Tomas Nosek, who has been on the IR since mid-October with a lower body injury, practiced on Thursday and is working his way back to the lineup. Nosek prides himself on a strong defensive game and the Devils will look to him to bring that to the forward group in his return.

Tyler Toffoli leads the Devils with eight goals, and his 13 total points are third on the roster. Jack Hughes still maintains the team lead with assists (15) and points (20) with Jesper Bratt second in all scoring categories with seven goals, 12 assists, and 19 points. New Jersey continues to turn to Vitek Vanecek in net. He has a 6-3-0 record with a 3.29 goals against average, and a .893 save percentage. Akira Schmid has a 1-1-1 record currently. Schmid has a 3.51 goals against average and a .887 save percentage through four games played.

The Devils have the best power play in the NHL, scoring on 41.7% of its opportunities. New Jersey’s penalty kill is still working to the same shutdown level as last season and is 19th in the league, stopping their opponents from scoring 76.7% of the time. The Devils also are a top team in the NHL when it comes to goals for per game (3.83) and face-off wins (53.1), as they are fifth in both categories. Michael McLeod, who has filled in for Nico Hischier with face-offs and centering the top line, has the 10th best winning percentage in the league (59.8%).

Friday’s game is New Jersey’s only home game before heading back on the road next week. Up first, Winnipeg to face the Jets, before the Devils wrap up the two-game road trip in Pittsburgh against the Penguins.

Capitals Team Scope:

The Capitals enter Friday’s game, the first half of a back-to-back, looking to rebound from a 4-3 overtime loss to the Florida Panthers. In Wednesday’s game, Anthony Mantha scored two and Connor McMichael added one, but a goal by Sam Reinhard, 15 seconds into the extra frame, helped seal the win for the Panthers. Mantha was hurt in the game after a shot attempt hit his ear. He is day-to-day and not traveling according to Tom Gulitti of NHL.com

In November, Washington has lost two of its three games after ending October on a three-game win streak. One of the losses this month comes from the New York Islanders, who the Capitals play on the second half of this back-to-back. Washington’s head coach Spencer Carbery discussed the Capitals needing to improve their puck decisions after several mistakes and mismanaged pucks led to goals against in their most recent game. The Capitals have struggled to score on the power play, with a success rate of only 9.1%, and Washington will look to find more scoring in general as they are averaging two goals a game to start the season.

Dylan Strome leads Washington with six goals and his six points are the third-most on the team. Captain Alex Ovechkin leads his club with eight total points and is tied with John Carlson for the team lead with six assists. Tom Wilson’s three goals and six overall points puts him second in both categories. Darcy Kuemper is the Capitals top goaltender and he has played a total of eight games with a 3-3-2 record. He’s averaging 3.07 goals against and has an .892 save percentage.

Following the Capitals game against the Devils they’ll head to New York to face the Islanders Saturday night. After that, it’s back to D.C. for a four-game homestand starting on Tuesday against the Vegas Golden Knights.

By the Numbers:

Upcoming Devils Milestones: Forward Ondrej Palat’s next assist will be his 300th in the NHL. Once he hits this milestone he will be one of 27 Czechs to earn 300 or more helpers. Forward Dawson Mercer is one point away from his 100th in the NHL, all with the Devils.

The Capitals are averaging just two goals a game. Wednesday was one of three games they scored more than two through the first 11 games of the season. Washington's six goals against the Devils on Oct. 25 stands as their highest goals output this year.

Injuries:

Devils

Nico Hischier (upper-body, day-to-day)

Jack Hughes (upper-body, week-to-week)

Tomas Nosek (lower-body, IR)

Colin Miller (lower-body, IR)

Capitals

Anthony Mantha (ear, day-to-day)

Joel Edmundson (hand, IR)

Trevor van Riemsdyk (lower-body, day-to-day)

Nic Dowd (upper-body, IR)

Max Pacioretty (achilles, IR)