Devils Continue Metro Division Play in D.C. | PREVIEW

New Jersey square off against the Capitals in Washington D.C. 

You can watch on MSGSN2 or listen on the Devils Hockey Network.

Read below for your game preview and pre-game story below.

PRE-GAME STORY

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Devils are taking on the Capitals in Washington D.C. with another two valuable Metropolitan Division points on the line. To add to the challenge, the Devils are cognizant of an emotional letdown after such an exciting win Saturday night in the Stadium Series.

“We talked yesterday about putting that game away,” Lindy Ruff explained pre-game. “Getting a real good practice in, which I thought we did. And just getting ready for this game because we know how important every game is. That game was a big game and now this one is a game where we would like to continue to build momentum off of.”

The Capitals are hungry for wins and already have found success against the Devils, winning two of three so far in the series.

“They’ve been hard games,” Ruff also shared pre-game about facing the Capitals this season. “We’ve got to do a good job of moving our feet in the offensive zone and try to get away from their coverage and use our speed.”

Defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler makes his return to the lineup agianst his former team, after a broken foot sidelined him for the last 16 games. He will replace John Marino who is out will illness. Ruff discussed the impacts Siegenthaler has had when he’s in the lineup for the Devils.

“He is a steady defender,” Ruff said. “His penalty killing has been good for us. I think at times we’ve missed him on that. Real good size, real good reach, so a veteran guy that when we have four young guys in there we’ve struggled at times (so his return) getting another veteran that has experience.”

The Devils also announced Vitek Vanecek was put on the IR for a lower-body injury.

The Race in the Metro

New Jersey is currently four points ahead of the Capitals in the standings with one more game played, so a win in regulation would increase the barrier between the two teams in the standings. Currently the Devils are fourth in the division. They’re four points out of the second wild card spot and five points back from the Flyers for the third Metro Division playoff spot, with two less games played.

The race for playoff positioning is in full swing, which adds pressure to the Devils especially against their divisional opponents. Ruff shared the team is focused on everything one day at a time.

“We’re just going to take it one game at a time,” Ruff shared. “They’re big games inside the metro, but the realization is, whether you’re winning or losing them, you have to put them away in a hurry and move on to the next one.”

They Said It:

Nico Daws has played the last four straight for the Devils in a busy stretch of games. Lindy Ruff discussed the young goaltender's workload:

“We’re trying to manage his practice time. We’re well aware of the amount of minutes he’s played so even the other day we had a spare goalie out there just to keep his minutes down. So we’ll just monitor where he’s at.”

PREVIEW

DEVILS (28-22-4) vs. CAPITALS (24-21-8)

Head-to-Head

This is the final of four meetings between the Devils and Capitals this season. Washington won the first two games, first Oct. 25 with a 6-4 final score, and second a 4-2 win on Nov. 10. On Jan. 3, New Jersey picked up its first win of the series, 6-3, on the road. Through the first three games, fourteen players have points against the Capitals. Captain Nico Hischier and Dawson Mercer lead the Devils with three goals each against Washington while Timo Meier and Tyler Toffoli have two. Jack Hughes leads all Devils skaters wtih assists against the Capitals with four.

Devils Team Scope:

Since the All-Star break, the Devils have had a strong showing, going 4-2-1, with improved defensive zone strategies as a top-highlight. New Jersey has also seen a strong performance out of goaltender Nico Daws in recent contests to help the Devils pick up some valuable points in a playoff push. In their most recent game the Devils took it outdoors, beating the Philadelphia Flyers 6-3 in the first Stadium Series at MetLife Stadium. Captain Nico Hischier's goal just 32 seconds in gave New Jersey a lead they never lost, despite pushes from Philadelphia. Hischier ended the night with two goals and one assist, Nathan Bastian scored two goals, while Tyler Toffoli and Brendan Smith each added one. Nine Devils players picked up assists while Ondrej Palat, John Marino, and Curtis Lazar each had two helpers. Nico Daws had 45 saves on 48 shots and recorded the most saves in an outdoor game in NHL history.

Tyler Toffoli's 24 goals lead the team as the forward is riding a two-game goal streak and has three total goals in his last four games. Jesper Bratt has the most assists (38) and points (58) on the Devils. His 20 goals are second-most as well. Jack Hughes has the second most assists (33) and points (50) and he has 17 goals which is fourth on New Jersey through only 38 games played.

With Vitek Vanecek's lower body injury keeping him out of the lineup, Nico Daws and Akira Schmid make up the Devils goaltender duo. Daws has stepped up in February, playing New Jersey's last four games, including both games of a back-to-back. Through those games he has allowed eight goals on 137 shots. This season Daws has a 6-6-0 record while averaging 2.93 goals against and he has a .912 save percentage. Akira Schmid has a 5-7-1 record, is averaging 3.26 goals against, and has a .893 save percentage.

The Devils are in a busy stretch of the season and just played seven games over 12 days and the game against the Capitals kicks off the first of five games in eight days. With the Metropolitan Division as tight as it is for a playoff spot, the next two games continues three-straight against divisional opponents, putting more pressure on the Devils to pick up points. Currently, New Jersey is two points out of a wild-card spot and five points back from the Flyers for third in the Metro, with two less games played. Following the Devils game against the Capitals, New Jersey returns home to host their Hudson River Rivals, the New York Rangers, on Thursday night.

Capitals Team Scope:

The Capitals are a team fighting to stay in chase of a playoff spot, as they're six points back from the second wild card spot with one less game played. Since returning from the All-Star break, Washington has only won two of their six games; however, they've had some strong performances against top teams like a 3-0 win over the Boston Bruins and a 3-2 overtime loss to the top-ranked Vancouver Canucks. In their most recent game, the Capitals beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 on the road. Montreal tied the game three times but Washington was able to keep pushing back and regaining their lead. Aliaksei Protas had the game-winner and an assist in the win while ten total players were on the scoresheet.

Dylan Strome's 20 goals are a team-high, as the forward has 36 total points which is second on the Capitals. John Carlson has 27 points to lead Washington while Alex Ovechkin's 38 points pace the Capitals. Washington only has five players with 10 or more goals through their 53 games played and 13 players with 10 or more points. The Capitals have faced some challenges with finding scoring this season as they're averaging the third-lowest goals per game average at 2.42. However, recently the Capitals have put an emphasis on maintaining their offensive zone by winning board battles and pressuring with their forecheck.

Darcy Kuemper and Charlie Lindgren make up the Capitals goaltender tandem and have split the games this season pretty evenly with Kuemper playing 28 games, starting 26 of them, and Lindgren starting 23 and playing in 24 total. Kuemper has a 12-12-3 record, is averaging 3.16 goals against, and has a .894 save percentage. Lindgren has a 10-8-4 record with a 2.65 goals against average, and a .913 save percentage. Kuemper played the Capitals most recent game against the Canadiens, stopping 28 of the 31 shots he faced.

Tuesday's game is the first of five games in eight days for Washington, and is only one of two home games during that span. However, the Capitals are well rested after playing only one game over their last six days.

By the Numbers:

Both Nico Daws and Akria Schmid have recorded assists against the Capitals this season. Daws' helper was on Nico Hischier's first goal on Jan. 3 while Schmid's was on Dawson Mercer's third period tally in the Nov. 10 game.

As a top faceoff team (4th), it's no suprise the Devils have multiple players in the top-15 for faceoff wins. Erik Haula has the 10th highest win rate at 56.5% while Nico Hischier's 56.2% win rate is 13th.

T.J. Oshie recently hit a new milestone in his NHL career, scoring his 300th goal. Oshie has 686 points over 994 games in his NHL career. He's currently playing in his 16th season.

Alex Ovechkin is riding an eight-game points streak which included a six-game goal streak. Ovechkin has 1,523 points over 1397 games played, and is 58 goals back from tying Wayne Gretzky's record for most career goals in the NHL

Injuries:

Devils

Vitek Vanecek (lower-body)
Jonas Siegenthaler (broken foot, IR)
Dougie Hamilton (torn pectoral, LTIR)

Capitals

Martin Fehervary (lower-body)
Evgeny Kuznetsov (player assistance program, IR)
Nicklas Backstrom (hip, LTIR)