The New Jersey Devils (13-3-0, 26 points, 1st Metropolitan ) will be in search of their 11th consecutive win on Thursday when continuing their trek north of the border with a visit to the Toronto Maple Leafs (9-5-3, 21 points, 2nd Atlantic), winners of each of the last two. The Devils defeated the Montreal Canadiens 5-1 on Tuesday night with Jack Hughes scoring a pair of goals for the Devils. Toronto defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 on Tuesday night for their second consecutive victory. Jonathan Bernier, Mackenzie Blackwood and Ondrej Palat are out for New Jersey, while TJ Brodie, Kyle Clifford, Carl Dahlstrom, Jack Muzzin and Ilya Samsonov are out for Toronto.
The New Jersey Devils have won 13 of their first 16 games and are playing exceptionally well at both ends of the ice. In the attacking zone, New Jersey is scoring an average of 3.78 goals per game which is second best in hockey and the Devils are taking an average of 37.2 shots per game which is also second best. The New Jersey power play is the only weak link on attack for New Jersey, scoring only 20.8% of the time with the man advantage, which is 17th. Nico Nischier is the leading goal scorer for New Jersey with 8 in what is a very balanced attack, as five players have scored between five and eight goals and another six have scored between three and four goals. The leader in assists is Jesper Bratt with 15, who is also the points leader with 21.
New Jersey is difficult to score on as the Devils are allowing an av erage of 2.44 goals per game which is fourth best in the NHL. The Devils are allowing the fewest shots on goal in the 24.5 per game. The New Jersey penalty-kill unit is successful 80.8% of time the Devils are short-handed which is 11th best in the NHL. Vitek Vanecek is 7-1-0 with a 2.18 goals against average and .915 save percentage. Vanecek has one shutout in 10 appearances.