NEW JERSEY DEVILS (24-22-2) at CALGARY FLAMES (21-23-4)

New Jersey opens a four-game road trip with a stop in Calgary to face the Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

Read below for your game preview presented by Window Works and check back for the pre-game story.

MORNING SKATE RECAP

CALGARY, AB. - The Devils held a full morning skate in Calgary as they get set to face the Flames.

Forward Ondrej Palat, who missed the previous game with an illness, took part in skate and will play. Rookie forward Lenni Hameenaho is expected to make his NHL debut. Center Luke Glendening and Juho Lammikko will come out.

Meanwhile, defenseman Simon Nemec will be back in the lineup in place of Johnathan Kovacevic. Goaltender Jacob Markstrom will get the start against his former team.

The Devils shuffled a lot of the forward lines and used the following workflow...

“Just a different mix. A different feel,” head coach Sheldon Keefe said. “Lenni coming in, another guy with a nice well-rounded game that can help us on offense, but also be responsible defensively. You want to rejig it and see how it looks with a different skillset at center with (Paul) Cotter.”

As for Kovacevic, with the Devils playing on back-to-back nights, his recovery from summer knee surgery was taken into account.

“We learned last week that Kovy’s, not his knee but his body overall, isn’t quite ready for back-to-backs,” Keefe said. “Just giving him today off and an opportunity for the group to go today and see if they can come together.”

With Markstrom playing his former team tonight, that means Jake Allen will play in Edmonton tomorrow for the second half of back-to-backs. Last year, Allen picked up a 31-save shutout against the Oilers in Edmonton.

“Sometimes it’s a situation where it’s your former team, but sometimes it’s a team that you feel good against or a building you feel good in,” Keefe said. “This is back-to-back again, so it’s an easy one. Marky gets this one and Jake feels good and has played very well for us against Edmonton. Sometimes it falls that way.”

Hameenaho Debut

Hameenaho was recalled by the Devils prior to their Saturday game against Carolina at Prudential Center. Due to him arriving late and considering the quick turnaround, the team did not feel comfortable throwing him into the mix right away.

But with a few days with the coaches and team, Hameenaho will now be making his NHL debut.

“I feel great. It’s a dream to play the first NHL game,” he said. “I’m just trying to play my own a game and bring my own strengths, play hard and skate.”

Hameenaho noted that his family and friends couldn’t make it to Calgary to see him play, but they’ll be watching at 4 a.m. local time in Finland.

“It’s a late game but I’m sure they’ll be up,” he said. “It’s a big thing for me to tell them that it’ll be my first game. They were obviously happy and excited, and a little upset they couldn’t get here. But I’m sure they’ll enjoy and cheer me on back home.”

Finding Finish

The Devils are looking for answers offensively. But mostly, the key to solving that problem is their finish. After all, the Devils haven’t been lacking when it comes to shots and scoring chance generation. Everything has gone right for the team except the most important thing, the puck going in the net.

The Devils, against Carolina, created nine chance in on goal, including breakaways to their highest skilled players, and still couldn’t find a way to score.

“You have these guys that are using the same moves that have worked for them throughout their career,” Keefe said. “It’s no secret that finishing has been an issue for us all season, and it’s a lot of guys that are not shooting at the level that they would expect and have proven through their career.”

But it’s something they’ll have to continue to work on until the problem is solved.

“We’ve keep going through this thinking it’s going to bounce back and they‘re going to start to fall,” Keefe said. “We hope it’s today, but regardless of that we have to make sure our game overall is in order.”

Laser Focused

The Devils are entering a crucial stretch in their season. The team needs to make significant headway if earning a berth in the postseason is still manageable. To do that, they’ll have to start racking up points in a big way, and soon.

The current four-game trip to Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Seattle is a perfect place to get things rolling. In many ways, this could be a make-or-break trip for the club. And it all starts tonight.

“Not looking at the four games, just focusing on tonight and Calgary,” defenseman Brenden Dillon said. “They’re a good team that’s been working hard, has a lot of skill and can make you pay. It should be a good test for our team defensively.”

THE SCOOP

The Devils begin a four-game road trip with stops in Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, and Seattle, a trip that will keep them on the road for nine days. After posting two big wins, against Minnesota and Seattle, New Jersey dropped their most recent contest to Carolina on Saturday night. New Jersey has some group to make up to put themselves back in the playoff picture, currently five points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for third in the Metropolitan Division, and/or seven points out of the final Wild Card spot, currently occupied by the Buffalo Sabres. Both the Sabres and Penguins have a game in hand on New Jersey (at the time of publication).

Ondrej Palat sat out Saturday's game (illness), while Juho Lammikko, who had cleared waivers earlier in the day, was reinserted into the lineup. Simon Nemec was scratched, as the Devils deal with an overabundance of healthy defensemen on their current roster.

On Saturday afternoon, the Devils called up their top forward prospect, Lenni Hämeenaho, who took warmups against Carolina, but did not play. Hämeenaho's recall was to join the Devils on their four-game road trip. Head coach Sheldon Keefe mentioned that Hämeenaho may get the opportunity to make his NHL debut at some point on the trip.

The Flames sit 13th in the Western Conference standings with just 46 points this season and just 21 victories. Their most recent win comes after a victory against the New York Islanders on Saturday afternoon. The Flames are 5-5-0 in their last 10 games and have a 13-7-2 record on home ice.

Veteran Nazem Kadri leads the Flames in points with 33, while former Devil Blake Coleman and Matt Coronato are tied for the lead in goals with 13. The Flames will play their first game without defenseman Rasmus Andersson, who led all Flames defensemen in points (30) before he was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday afternoon.

In exchange for Andersson, the Flames acquired defenceman Zach Whitecloud, prospect defenceman Abram Wiebe, a 2027 first-round pick and a conditional 2028 second-round pick, and Calgary will retain 50% of Andersson’s cap hit in the trade.

WHO’S HOT

Devils: Jack Hughes has quietly amassed six assists in the Devils last five games.

Flames: Connor Zary has four assists in the Flames last five games.

INJURIES

Devils:

Noesen (knee)
McLaughlin (undisclosed)
MacEwen (upper body)

Flames:

Coleman (upper body)
Parekh (upper body)
Beecher (upper body)
Honzek (upper body)

REGULAR-SEASON RESULTS

• Jan. 19 at Flames
• Mar. 12 vs Flames

GAME NOTES

• Jesper Bratt played his 600th NHL game on Saturday

• The Flames have three former New Jersey Devils on its roster: Blake Coleman, Yegor Sharangovic, and Kevin Bahl

• Jacob Markstrom spent four seasons as a Calgary Flame from 2020-2024.