Considering how recently we profiled these two teams as draft lottery buddies, it doesn’t exactly bring me joy to see the Devils playing .500 hockey while the Senators just started digging up from the league basement over their last two games. Granted, one of these teams signed Dougie Hamilton over the summer and the other one suffered a massive COVID outbreak last month. I know which one of those realities I would personally prefer to live in. To focus on the positive though, Ottawa looked like a different team against Colorado, and New Jersey looks like a somewhat more manageable opponent than the ones the Sens faced in their last two contests against the Hurricanes and Avalanche.

In terms if overall volume, because Ottawa still ranks basically at the bottom of the league in categories like corsi and expected goals, the Devils have a natural advantage but nothing like Ottawa’s last two contests. If Ottawa has a chance on paper in this game then it comes from their suddenly (as of this season) competent powerplay and the fact that they get more powerplay opportunities on average than their opponent. Ottawa also has a bit more offensive touch at even strength than New Jersey but by a thin enough margin that they can’t bank on that alone.

At practice this morning, Ottawa’s lines looked like this:

Morning skate lines in NJ:

Tkachuk Norris Batherson
Paul Stützle CBrown
Formenton Tierney Ennis
Sanford Gambrell Watson
Gaudette

Chabot Zaitsev
Holden Zub
Mete Thomson
Del Zotto

Forsberg-starters end.

— TSN 1200 (@TSN1200) December 6, 2021

While New Jersey could ice a lineup looking something like this:

#NJDevils line rushes for practice...

Zacha - Hischier - Bratt
Johnsson - Hughes - Sharangovich
Tatar - Mercer - Vesey
Kuokkanen - McLeod - Bastian/Boqvist

Graves - Hamilton
Siegenthaler - Severson
Subban - Smith
Geertsen - Jaros

— Sam Kasan (@samikasan) December 5, 2021

Game Notes:

• The Devils come into this match on a three-game game losing streak and arguably even colder then Ottawa who now have some momentum after a brutal November.
• While I wouldn’t mind seeing a start from Filip Gustavsson (yes, Anton Forsberg won the last game but conceded five goals) I wouldn’t change much about the lineup as it stands.
• I had absolutely no idea that Lindy Ruff currently coached the Devils. Just the most forgettable team out there.
• We probably won’t get to see our old friend Christian Jaros in this game as the Devils seem to still have him listed on the injured reserve.
• If you had no idea who the Devils’ leading scorer, Andres Johnsson, was then welcome to the club. Apparently he played for Toronto and once had a 20-goal campaign. Sounds miserable./

Where to watch: TSN5 RDS TSN1200 @7PMEST

Player Stats

Game 23	Ottawa	Senators	New Jersey	Devils
Category	Player	#	Player	#
Goals	Josh Norris	10	Andreas Johnsson	9
Assists	Drake Batherson	11	Jesper Bratt	13
Points	Drake Batherson	18	Jesper Bratt	19
Shots	Josh Norris	59	Dougie Hamilton	77
TOI	Thomas Chabot	27:11	Dougie Hamilton	22:01

Team Stats

Game 23	Ottawa	Senators	New Jersey	Devils
Category	Rank	#	Rank	#
Goals	26th	2.59	17th	2.86
Goals against	32nd	3.90	26th	3.26
Shots	26th	28.66	14th	31.81
Shots against	32nd	34.79	19th	31.45
Powerplay	21st	17.6%	31st	13.1%
Penalty Kill	28th	72.9%	22nd	80.3%
Corsi	31st	44.1%	18th	49.3%
xGoals	29th	45.3%	21st	48.7%