NEW JERSEY DEVILS (8-2-0) at SAN JOSE SHARKS (2-6-2)

New Jersey continues a 4-game road trip in San Jose against the Sharks as SAP Center. The Devils defeated San Jose less than a week ago in Newark and are going for the series sweep.

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

MORNING SKATE RECAP

SAN JOSE, Calif. - The Devils held a morning skate at San Jose’s SAP Center on Thursday ahead of facing the Sharks.

Goaltender Jake Allen, who stopped 16 of 17 shots against in a 3-1 win against the Sharks last Friday in New Jersey, appears to be getting the start between the pipes.

The Devils made a couple lineup tweaks on the back end below…

Last Night Took an L, But...

The Devils are coming off an 8-4 loss to the Avalanche in Colorado on Tuesday. The setback snapped their eight-game winning streak. While the team didn’t expect to win forever, they were collectively most disappointed in their overall play in the loss.

Now, the team is looking for the right response after that loss.

“We all know how last game went. Today is just a matter of bouncing back to our game,” forward Jesper Bratt said. “We have a motivated group. We want to get back on the winning train, and we have a good test today.”

“It’s just getting back to the things we were doing so well during our winning streak,” winger Timo Meier said. “I think we got away from a lot of stuff last game. Colorado is a really good team but now we move on. We had a day off yesterday, some meetings this morning to look at things that we have to do to get back to having success against a team that’s very skilled offensively.

“After a game like that, you’re not happy. It’s about the character we show, the way we come out tonight. It’s going to be a big game for us.”

THE SCOOP

The Devils and Sharks will meet for the second time in less than a week. The two clubs played in New Jersey last Friday with the Devils picking up a 3-1 victory on two Dougie Hamilton power-play goals.

New Jersey, which will face the Sharks on the second installment of a four-game road trip, currently sits atop the NHL's standings (tied) with their 8-2-0 record to begin the year. The Devils won eight straight games sandwiched between two losses. The team had it's streak snapped Tuesday night in Colorado.

The Devils lost one of their top defencemen on Sunday with Brett Pesce going down with an upper-body injury. In his absence, New Jersey recalled Seamus Casey, who made his season debut in Denver.

The Sharks opened the season with a 0-4-2 record before winning 2 of their past 3 games. The Sharks host the Devils for the second game of a 4-game homestand. They began it with a 4-3 loss to the Los Angeles Kings.

The Sharks are in the middle of their rebuild. They already have some foundational pieces in place in forwards Macklin Celebrini (first overall, 2024), Michael Misa (second overall, 2025) and Will Smith (fourth overall, 2023), defenseman Sam Dickinson (11^th overall, 2024) and goaltender Yaroslva Askarov (11^th overall, 2020, Nashville).

WHO’S HOT

Devils: Dougie Hamilton has 3 goals and 4 points in his past 3 games, that includes 2 power-play goals and 3 points against the Sharks on Oct. 24.

Sharks: Macklin Celebrini has a 5-game scoring streak for 11 points (5g-6a), which includes a hat trick / 5-point night and 3-point game.

INJURIES

Devils:
Glass (upper-body), week-to-week
Pesce (upper-body), unknown
Dadonov (hand), month-to-month
Kovacevic (knee), month-to-month
McLaughlin (undisclosed)
MacEwen (upper body), week-to-week

Sharks:
Gaudette (upper-body), day-to-day
Leddy (upper-body), day-to-day
Mukhamadullin (upper-body), IR

REGULAR-SEASON RESULTS

• Oct. 24 vs. San Jose
• Oct. 30 at San Jose

GAME NOTES

• The Devils had their 8-game winning streak snapped by Colorado Tuesday night, but still have won 8 of their last 9 games.
• The Devils' 8 wins in the opening 10 games is tied for the best start to a season in club history (1993-94, 2017-18).
• Jack Hughes has 8 points (6g-2a) in his past 5 games which includes a hat trick and 3-game scoring streak.
• Jack Hughes 9 goals are tied for most in the NHL this season.