The New Jersey Devils face the Buffalo Sabres with both teams on opposite ends of the standings to start the season. The Devils have a 16-4 record and are hoping to bounce back from a loss that snapped their unprecedented 13-game winning streak. The Sabres have a 9-11 record and with back-to-back wins have made up ground in the Atlantic Division. The Devils are looking to remain in first place in the Metropolitan Division while the Sabres are looking to continue to improve in the Atlantic Division, making the upcoming game a pivotal one for both teams.
The Devils are having a great season with their offense stepping up and scoring 3.70 goals per game. Jesper Bratt, Jack Hughes, and Nico Hischier have scored 24 goals and 43 assists to lead the top two lines but the rest of the offense has also been great. Tomas Tatar, Yegor Sharangovich, and Miles Wood have combined for 16 goals and 17 assists while defenseman Dougie Hamilton has added six goals and nine assists from the point to put the offense over the top.
The offense has been great but the defense has also stepped up, allowing only 2.30 goals per game with only eight goals in the last five games. Jonas Seigenthaler and Ryan Graves have combined for 4.0 defensive point shares and 60 blocked shots while John Marino and Dougie Hamilton have combined for 3.3 defensive point shares to add depth to the unit. In addition, goaltender Vitek Vanecek is having a great year in the net with a .917 save percentage and a 2.14 goals-against average on 301 shots.