The New Jersey Devils head to T-Mobile Arena tonight to take on the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2nd and final game of their regular-season matchups. Last time they met, just a couple of weeks ago, Vegas shut them out 3-0 in Newark, with former Devil Akira Schmid stopping all 24 shots he faced. Now, the Devils will try to return the favor on the road, but they’ll need a lot more than just simple revenge to pull it off.
This non-conference matchup drops the puck at 10:00 PM EST in Paradise, Nevada, and it’ll be aired on TNT.
Vegas sits at 16-6-9, good for 2nd in the Pacific with 41 points just behind Anaheim, and enters as a -185 favorite on the moneyline. The Devils are +154 steep underdogs, with the total set at just 5.5 goals. Vegas won the first meeting convincingly and holds a solid 7-4-4 home record, while the Devils are a flat 8-8-0 on the road. As for the puck line, bookmakers have Vegas -1.5 at +142, and New Jersey +1.5 at -170.
| Team | Spread | Total | Moneyline |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Jersey Devils | +1.5 −170 | O 5.5 −105 | +154 |
| Vegas Golden Knights | −1.5 +142 | U 5.5 −115 | −185 |
Given how the first game of the series went down, we can’t blame the bookmakers too much for dropping the Devils as a heavy underdog, but anything can happen in the NHL.
The Devils finally get Brett Pesce back, and that definitely helps. He’s a stabilizer on the blue line, and they sorely missed him over the last couple of months as he hasn’t played since their October 26th OT win over the Avalanche. But while that’s a boost, it doesn’t fix everything.
New Jersey is still without Jack Hughes, Timo Meier, Simon Nemec, and Jeff Kovacevic. That’s a huge chunk of their skilled players, puck movement, and scoring talent. They’ve already lost 175 man-games to injury this season, and it undeniably shows. Over their last 10 games, the Devils are just 3-7-0, giving up 3.2 GA/A while scoring only 2.5. They’ll need to flip those numbers if they want a chance against a dominant team like Vegas.
Meanwhile, Vegas continues to do Vegas things as everyone expects. They’ve gone 6-2-2 in their last 10, allowing just 2.5 GA/A. Their PK unit is sharp with a PK% of 82.5%, and their goaltending has been steady, especially with Akira Schmid, who owns a .903 SV% and a 2.33 GAA. He’s the projected starter again for this one.
Jacob Markstrom is expected to start in the crease for the Devils, however, his .874 SV% and bloated 3.56 GAA leave a lot to be desired, and he’s facing a deep, balanced Vegas team that’s tough to shut down.
One of the biggest challenges for Markstrom and the Devils is that the Golden Knights don’t just rely on stars like Jack Eichel and Mark Stone — they’ve got depth support from players like Tomas Hertl, Mitch Marner, both of which are dominant by any teams standards and even bottom-6 forwards like Cole Reinhardt and Keegan Kolesar, who chip in with energy and pressure.
The Devils simply have the Jesper Bratt show. He leads the team with 29 points, spanning 6 goals and 23 helpers, but there’s not much other than him right now. Without Hughes and Meier, Bratt is carrying too much of the offensive load, and he can only go 18-19 minutes per game. That puts a lot of pressure on the rest of the lineup, which struggles to keep up as it is.
If this looks like a mismatch, it’s because it is. By a long shot. There’s no other way to present this.
Vegas has already beaten the Devils once this season — and that was on the road as well. Now they get them at home, with momentum and most of their lineup intact. New Jersey is still banged up and struggling to find offense, and their goaltending has been well below average. Their penalty kill at 75.8% is among the league’s worst. Even if they were playing a lesser team right now, it would still most likely feel like a lopsided matchup.
Meanwhile, the Golden Knights’ power play is clicking at a stunning 24.7%, and they know how to take advantage of mistakes. This just isn’t a good spot for New Jersey to get back on track. Even with Pesce returning to the lineup, the team defense and goalie play aren’t reliable enough to back them.
There’s more than enough firepower and defensive structure on the Vegas side to cover this puck line even when giving the Devils at least a point to the total. With Schmid in the net and the Devils still missing some of their best players, we’re looking for the Knights to pull away early and grab another multi-goal win.
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