On Saturday, Nov. 1, the New Jersey Devils are preparing to take on the Los Angeles Kings for their first meeting of the season. The Devils have been embarking on a West Coast road trip, but it hasn’t exactly gone in their favor. After an eight-game win streak, the Devils dropped their last two games against the Colorado Avalanche and the San Jose Sharks. New Jersey has two more games on the road trip to turn their favor around.
Related: New Jersey Devils’ 3 Stars of October
The Kings kicked off a four-game homestand in their last game against the Detroit Red Wings. They fell to them 4-3 in a shootout and are searching for their next win at home tonight.
Devils Storylines
On Halloween night, Devils fans received a treat, not a trick. They signed goaltender Jacob Markstrom to a two-year contract extension with an average annual value (AAV) of $6 million. Although he has had a less than stellar start to the season, recording a very high goals-against average (GAA) of 5.13 and also enduring an injury that set him back two weeks, there is no denying Markstrom has been a strong goaltender for the Devils in the past. There is still plenty of the season left to be played.
Per Amanda Stein, Connor Brown is questionable for this matchup against the Kings. The Devils will not hold a morning skate on Saturday ahead of the game, so the status of Brown will not come out until right before the game. He has been a huge contributor to the Devils’ success on the bottom six, recording six points in 11 games. Here’s hoping Brown is in good health for Saturday.
The player to watch in this game is Dougie Hamilton. He recorded two assists off of Dawson Mercer’s two goals in their last game against the Sharks. He has been strong both defensively and offensively, becoming a great two-way defender for the team.
Team Stats
New Jersey Devils
Season Record: 8-3-0
Top Scorers:
- Jack Hughes – 9 goals (G), 6 assists (A), 15 points (P)
- Jesper Bratt – 4 G, 9 A, 13 P
- Dawson Mercer – 6 G, 5 A, 11 P
- Nico Hischier – 2 G, 8 A, 10 P
- Timo Meier – 3 G, 6 A, 9 P
Goalie Stats:
- Jake Allen – 5-1-0, 2.39 GAA, .906 save percentage (SV%)
- Jacob Markstrom – 2-2-0, 5.13 GAA, .830 SV%
- Nico Daws – 1-0-0, 1.00 GAA, .968 SV%
Los Angeles Kings
Season Record: 5-3-4
Top Scorers:
- Adrian Kempe – 5 G, 10 A, 15 P
- Quinton Byfield – 2 G, 8 A, 10 P
- Kevin Fiala – 5 G, 4 A, 9 P
- Corey Perry – 5 G, 2 A, 7 P
- Brandt Clarke – 2 G, 5 A, 7 P
Goalie Stats:
- Darcy Kuemper – 3-2-3, 2.82 GAA, .894 SV%
- Anton Forsberg – 2-1-1, 3.19 GAA, .894 SV%
Projected Lineups
(Subject to change before puck drop)
As per The Hockey Writers’ projected lineup article.
New Jersey Devils
Ondrej Palat — Jack Hughes — Jesper Bratt
Timo Meier — Nico Hischier — Dawson Mercer
Arseny Gritsyuk — Juho Lammikko — Connor Brown
Paul Cotter — Luke Glendening — Stefan Noesen
Jonas Siegenthaler — Dougie Hamilton
Brenden Dillon — Luke Hughes
Dennis Cholowski — Simon Nemec
Jacob Markstrom
Jake Allen
Scratched: Brian Halonen, Seamus Casey
Injured: Brett Pesce, Cody Glass, Marc McLaughlin, Evgenii Dadonov, Zack MacEwen, Johnathan Kovacevic
Los Angeles Kings
Andrei Kuzmenko — Anze Kopitar — Adrian Kempe
Kevin Fiala — Quinton Byfield — Trevor Moore
Alex Laferriere — Phillip Danault — Joel Armia
Jeff Malott — Alex Turcotte — Corey Perry
Brian Dumoulin — Drew Doughty
Joel Edmundson — Brandt Clarke
Mikey Anderson — Cody Ceci
Darcy Kuemper
Anton Forsberg
Scratched: Samuel Helenius, Jacob Moverare
Injured: Warren Foegele, Kyle Burroughs
Next Up for the Devils
The Devils will finalize their first West Coast road trip of the season in Anaheim to take on the Ducks.
