Devils And Red Wings Should Light The Lamps Often

Devils vs. Red Wings, 7:00 ET

We were able to score our first win of the NHL season to push the record to a whopping 1-0-1 for the year! Although that isn't much, it is still undefeated and always nice to get the first win out of the way. I am looking forward to another one on the ice tonight as we return to action with more options than just the one game slate we had yesterday. Tonight, the Devils take on the Red Wings in Detroit in what should be a pretty solid matchup.

The Devils come into tonight's contest with a record of 5-3-1 and a 3-1-0 road record. They are one of the better teams in the division and should compete for a playoff spot. They have lost three of their past four contests though, and are struggling to stop anyone on defense. They've allowed 14 goals in their past two games, and at least four goals in all three of the recent losses. I suppose the losses are slightly understandable considering they played the Lightning, Capitals, and Hurricanes. Still, you'd like to see them be a bit more competitive. When they are at their best, they are using their speed to get the puck up the ice and attacking the net. Defensively, they are limiting opponents to 28.8 shots per game. Tonight, they are likely to put Jacob Markstrom in the net. For the season, he is 3-2-1 with a .902 save percentage. Although he didn't allow the eight goals the other night, he did allow six goals in his last outing, which resulted in an overtime loss. Overall, he has been either a stone wall, or a piece of Swiss cheese. He has two starts where he allowed just one goal, two starts with four or more allowed, and another two with three goals allowed.

Oct 19, 2024; Nashville, Tennessee, USA;  Detroit Red Wings goaltender Alex Lyon (34) blocks the shot of Nashville Predators left wing Filip Forsberg (9) during the third period at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

The Red Wings are 3-3-0 for the season with a 1-2-0 home record. This team, lead by Dylan Larkin at the moment, is still looking to find their footing. They've played a bit better lately with back-to-back wins, scoring six goals and allowing just two in their past two contests. For the season, the team is averaging 2.5 goals per game, but their defense is still allowing 2.83 which obviously doesn't require a mathematician to tell you it is a bad combination. A more glaring statistic is that they are allowing 33.3 shots on goal each game, and they are only shooting 25 times themselves. If you are letting the opponent shoot eight more times each game, you are likely to have some significant struggles. The defense has to do a better job of getting the puck out of their zone, and the offense has to work to find ways to control the puck more often. They are putting Cam Talbot in the net tonight in hopes of getting over the .500 record. He has had a good year so far with a 1-1-0 record and .907 save percentage. However, he is allowing 3.31 goals per game. Again, when you face that many shots it is hard to stop them all. Oddly enough, the game he faced the most shots was the one he was most effective, stopping all 42 Nashville Predator attempts.

This game might be a bit more competitive than I originally thought. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Red Wings escape with a victory here. However, I can't honestly recommend that look with much conviction. Instead, my play here is to take the over 6.5 goals. Neither team seems to be in good defensive form and if the Devils can get out into some space, they are likely to score somewhere between four and six goals themselves.