The New Jersey Devils face the Detroit Red Wings with both teams looking to build off strong starts to the season. The Devils have a 23-11-3 record but with only two wins in their last 10 games have fallen out of first place in the Metropolitan Division. The Red Wings have a 16-12-7 record and with only three wins in their last 10 games have fallen to the middle of the Atlantic Division. Both teams are looking to improve in the Eastern Conference and the upcoming game looks to be a good one as a result.
The Devils have been playing great offense all season, scoring 3.35 goals per game but the unit has recently struggled, scoring only 12 goals in the last four games. Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, and Nico Hischier have scored 51 goals and 62 assists to lead the top two lines but the rest of the offense has struggled recently. The hope is that Miles Wood and Fabian Zetterlund can step up as they play a pivotal role in the forward unit but have only scored 12 goals and 16 assists on the season thus far.
The offense has struggled recently but the defense has carried the Devils, allowing only 2.59 goals per game. Jonas Seigenthaler and Ryan Graves have combined for 5.6 defensive point shares and 125 blocked shots while Dougie Hamilton and Damon Severson have combined for 3.9 defensive point shares to add depth to the unit. In addition, goaltender Vitek Vanecek has stepped up in the net with a .91 1 save percentage and a 2.38 goals-against average on 560 shots.