Devils Face Off Against Kraken | PREVIEW

New Jersey faces the Seattle Kraken Monday night at Prudential Center. Puck drop is at 7:08 p.m. ET. 

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, NJ - The Devils held a morning skate Monday afternoon ahead of facing the Seattle Kraken at Prudential Center. Goaltender Vitek Vanecek did not participate due to illness/lower-body.

Vanecek will not be available to the team in tonight’s game, so the club will have to recall a goalie from Utica of the American Hockey League.

Defenseman Brendan Smith skated again in full contact. He is progressing from his sprained knee. He will not play tonight, but hasn’t been ruled out of Tuesday’s game in Nashville.

The Devils used the following workflow at skate…

Palat – Hischier – Bratt
Hughes – Haula – Toffoli
Meier – Lazar – Mercer
Holtz – Nosek - Bastian

Bahl – Nemec
Hughes Marino
Hatakka – Miller
Smith - DeSimone

Daws in starter net

Scouting the Kraken

Here is a scouting report on the Seattle Kraken from around the room:

Ruff: “Defense are heavily involved. Well skating team. Played really well defensively.”

Toffoli: “They work really hard. They’re really structured and they capitalize on their chances.”

Luke Hughes: “They play hard. They’re physical. They play fast and work really hard. We have to play our own game and focus on us. That’s it.”

Power Work

The Devils are looking for some offensive help from their power play. They’ve gone seven games without a man-advantage goal and are 0 for their last 18.

“You look at some of the Grade A we had on the power play. We caught them being aggressive,” Ruff said. “It’s really just converting. What we try to do tonight will be a little bit different. They kill different than Carolina. Play quick and convert the opportunities.”

“I thought we did a really good job of finding the open guy,” forward Tyler Toffoli said. “Nico (Hischier) did a really good job in the bumper spot and had a ton of looks. If we keep doing that it’ll crack open and be successful again.”

Despite the current struggles, the team still believes in its ability to right the ship.

“The opportunities were there. We’re moving the puck really well,” defenseman Luke Hughes said. “Getting back into stride with that unit. They’re going to come at some point. With the players we have and the chances we can create they’re going to come.”

Systems Go

The Devils have adjusted their system in the defensive zone with an overhaul. They’ve adopted a more standard approach with typical role responsibilities. And so far, the team has liked what it sees.

“It’s been a little bit of an adjustment. But we’ve been doing a lot of video and working on it practice,” Toffoli said. “I think it’s come a long way. Hopefully we just keep it up. You just have to come together and work. We’ve been doing a good job of protecting each other. If a guy gets beat there are layers. It’s been good so far. I think everyone is responding in a good way.”

The system is one in which most players on the team have been a part of during their hockey careers.

“The guys feel pretty comfortable in that system,” Hughes said. “We’ve been able to stack a couple games together and get some more wins. Guys have liked it so far. We’ve been playing well.”

PREVIEW

DEVILS (25-21-4) vs. KRAKEN (21-20-10)

Head-to-Head

The Devils and Kraken meet for the second and final time this season, and only time in New Jersey. The Devils picked up a 2-1 victory in Seattle on Dec. 7.

Simon Nemec and Ondrej Palat scored for the Devils while goalie Akira Schmid stopped 37 of 38 shots. Tye Kartye had the lone Kraken goal.

Devils Team Scope:

The Devils are 1-1-1 following the All-Star break and bye week. The team is coming off a 1-0 overtime loss at Carolina, in what was arguably the club's best defensive effort of the season.

They have some ground to make up in the race for a playoff spot in the Wild Card chase. New Jersey’s 54 points in 50 games has them in the fourth position, six points out of the final playoff spot held by Detroit (60 points).

The biggest reason for the Devils’ struggles has been the injuries the club has endured. However, since the break the club has forwards Jack Hughes (upper-body) and Tomas Nosek (broken foot) back in the lineup. Defenseman Brendan Smith (sprained knee) is practicing with the club in a full-contact jersey and appears close to a return.

Forward Jesper Bratt, who replaced Hughes in the NHL’s All-Star Game last weekend, leads the team with 35 assists and 55 points. Tyler Toffoli has a team-best 21 goals to go with 34 points. Despite having missed 16 games this season, Hughes is still second on the team in scoring with 45 points. He hasn't recorded a point in his two games since returning to the lineup. Rookie blueliner Luke Hughes paces the backend with eight goals and 26 points.

The Devils are in the second installment of playing three games in four nights. Goalie Vitek Vanecek, who has started four consecutive games, was solid in a 1-0 overtime loss at Carolina Saturday night. With Seattle and Nashville back-to-back, the club will have to split them between Vanecek and Nico Daws, who hasn’t played since Jan. 25.

Kraken Team Scope:

The Seattle Kraken are currently on the outside, looking in for a playoff position. They sit in the fifth spot of the Wild Card race with 52 points, but are only four points behind St. Louis (56) for the second WC spot and a playoff berth.

Seattle is coming out of its All-Star break and bye week with a four-game east swing. The club opened the trip with a 4-1 loss at Philadelphia Saturday. After facing the Devils, Seattle will play at New York Islanders and Boston before returning west.

The Kraken were one of the hottest teams at the turn of the calendar year. The club won nine straight, including a 3-0 victory over Vegas in the Winter Classic. Seattle followed that winning streak by losing four in a row before going 2-1-1 heading into their break.

Oliver Bjorkstrand paces the team with 40 points on the season while Jared McCann has a team-best 21 goals to go with 36 points. Defenseman Vince Dunn has tallied eight goals, 31 assists and 39 points from the blue line. Dunn’s assists (tied-ninth) and points (tied-eighth) both rank in the top-10 in the NHL among blueliners. It’s been a frustrating year for 21-year-old Matty Beniers, who has just six goals and 19 points through 46 games. Last season, the former second-overall pick notched 24 goals and 57 points.

Goalie Joey Daccord has emerged as the go-to tender for the club in the absence of the injured Philipp Grubauer. The 27-year-old had played in 19 NHL games in the five years before this season. This year, he’s played 35 contests, going 15-10-9 with a 2.34 goals-against average and .921 save percentage. Grubauer, who has returned to the team, hasn’t played since Dec. 9.

By the Numbers:

The Devils have killed 17 of the last 18 penalties against.

Devils haven’t scored a power-play goal in the past seven games, going 0 for 18 in that stretch.

Injuries:

Devils

Hamilton - torn pectoral, LTIR
Siegenthaler - broken foot, IR
Smith - knee, day-to-day

Kraken

Bellemare (lower-body, IR)