New Jersey Devils at St. Louis Blues

On December 18, 2024By Littum

The essentials:

Matchups: New Jersey Devils at St. Louis Blues

Date: 17 December 2024

Time: 8 p.m. ET

Send out: MSG, FDSNMW, ESPN+

The Devils Last Game: The Devils beat the Chicago Blackhawks Leafs 4-1 in the last game on their home court. Check out Chris’ recap of that game.

The Last Blues Game: The Blues defeated the New York Rangers 3-2 on Sunday. See NHL.com’s recap of that game.

Recent momentum: St. Louis has won six of their last ten games and two of their last five with a record of 15-14-3. The Blues have now beaten Rangers twice this season. New Jersey has won six of their last ten games and just three of their last five for a 20-10-3 record.

Last time: The Devils were shut out by Jordan Binnington and the Blues on November 27, 2024. See Jackson’s recap of the ugly game and more on Binnington below.

Lineups

St. Louis Blues

This is the projected lineup for the Blues based on their game against the Rangers (according to Matthew DeFranks).

Blues warming up in front of NY Rangers:
Neighbors-Thomas-Buchnevich
Toropchenko-Schenn-Kyrou
Saad-Holloway-Bolduc
Texier-Walker-Joseph

Fowler-Parayko
Broberg-Faulk
Suter-Perunovich

Hofer
Binnington

— Matthew DeFranks (@MDeFranks) 15 December 2024

Jordan Binnington is the expected starting goalkeeper for the Blues.

New Jersey Devils

Here are the projected lines and pairings for the Devils based on yesterday’s practice (per Catherine Bogart).

#NJDevils workflow in practice:

Palat – Hughes – Bratt
Meier – Hischier – Mercer
Cotter – Haula – Noesen
Tatar – Dowling/Lazar – Bastian

Hamilton – Dillon
Siegenthaler – Kovacevic
Hughes – Pesce
MacDermid – White

Lazar and Dowling switch off as center

— Catherine Bogart (@CatherineBogart) 16 December 2024

Jacob Markstrom is the likely starter in net for the Devils.

Players to watch out for: Jordan Kyrou

In their matchup back in November, Jordan Kyrou was tied with Jake Neighbors for the team lead in goals with seven. Since then, Kyrou has stepped on the gas. The Blues forward now leads the team in goals with 13 and points with 27 (according to NHL.com). Kyrou has spoken goals in four of the last five games and has recorded a point in each of the previous five games. The Devils must defend well to limit St. Louis’ top point producer.

To become a goalkeeper

One of the concerns for the Devils this season has been games where they pepper the opposition’s net mind with shots, but ultimately the goaltender stands on his head to make the shot and all too often New Jersey shuts it out. It happened against Mackenzie Blackwood. Anthony Stolarz did it to them. It looked like Drew Commesso might do it to them on Saturday in his NHL debut. I saw the posts from The People Who Matter in the game thread against Chicago and was worried it would happen again.

Jordan Binnington blocked them in the last matchup, stopping all 32 shots he faced. The red and blacks got off to a terrible start and Devils fans would place the game in the “becoming a keeper” category. When the opposing goalie gets a good look at the puck, the Devils must take his eyes off the traffic ahead. Timo Meier’s goal in the third period on Saturday was a good example. Meier was a presence in net in front of Commesso as the goaltender was unable to control a rebound on a Dawson Mercer shot. The shot bounced out in front and Meier put it in the back of the net. The Devils need more of those goals from Meier, Mercer, Palat and Noesen. Look for the Devils to make their presence in front of the net a focal point in this matchup.

Boost to Blues Blue Line?

On Saturday, the Anaheim Ducks traded defenseman Cam Fowler and a 2027 fourth-round pick to the Blues in exchange for a 2027 second-round pick and a minor league defenseman. According to NHL.com, the 33-year-old Fowler has recorded four assists this season and has struggled defensively, with a +/- record of -5. During his career, Fowler has a +/- record of -127 (according to NHL.com). While the veteran is known as a puck-moving defenseman, the trade likely won’t improve the defensive woes of a team that ranks near the bottom of the league in expected goals against (xGA) and scoring chances against (SCA) at 5-on- 5 (per Natural Stat Trick).

Changed to Jim Montgomery

I mentioned the Blues’ season-long struggles on defense, but the coaching change may have helped in that regard. Since Jim Montgomery took over on November 24, the Blues have only allowed 13 goals against 5-on-5 after the Natural Stat Trick. As this post was written Monday night, it is the second best in the NHL during that span. Since the switch, St. Louis also been one of the better teams in terms of high-danger chances allowed at 5-on-5, only allows 74and they are firmly in the middle of the pack in terms of scoring chances against.

Offensively, the coaching change has not had the same effect. The Blues were one of the worst teams in the league in expected goals percentage (xGF%) at 5-on-5 before the change, and are in the middle of the pack since Montgomery took over (per Natural Stat Trick). In fact, St. Louis a Corsi for percentage (CF%) of just under 49% before Montgomery took over and it has only gotten worse and hovers just above 45% ago (per Natural Stat Trick). I realize the sample size for the team’s performance under Montgomery is small. I’m sure the head coach hasn’t had enough time to implement his desired systems and hockey philosophy to its fullest extent, but it’s interesting to see how the Blues have developed since the last time the Devils faced them.

Check out the statistical breakdowns for the Blues before Montgomery and after the coach change after the Natural Stat Trick.

Your thoughts

What will you look for? Are you interested in “becoming a goalkeeper”? What do you think are the keys to success for the Devils? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. Thanks for reading and GO DEVILS!