Game preview: Boston Bruins vs. New Jersey Devils

October 28, 11:13 PMBoston Bruins ExaminerMark Marino

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(Photo from: hockeyblogadventure.com)
Bruins goalie Tim Thomas has New Jersey's number, going 2-1-1 against the Devils
last season.

Coming off a 2-0-1 record last week, the Boston Bruins play host to the New Jersey Devils tonight at the TD Garden, and look to continue their winning-ways.

Last season, the Bruins went 2-1-1 against the Devils and outscored New Jersey 10-5 in those four contests—including a 25 save performance from Tim Thomas in a 2-0 shutout victory on Dec. 23, 2008. Thomas started all four games against the Devils last year with 109 total saves and .948 save-percentage.

New Jersey is 6-4-0 on the season with a 1-4-0 home record. Unfortunately for the B's, however, is that the Devils are a perfect 5-0-0 on the road this season. Puck drops at 7pm. The game can be seen on NESN, and listened to on 98.5 The Sports Hub.

Away Team: New Jersey Devils (6-4-0)

Who's Hot:

Zach Parise: Devils' team leader in points with 13, All Star Zach Parise is back on pace for another 90-plus-point season. Parise has a 2009-10 season scoring total of 6-7-13 and a plus-5 rating through the first 10 games; and his 47 shots on goal ranks fifth in the NHL. The Minneapolis, MN, native is on a five game scoring streak with 5-4-9, plus-6, and 24 shots on net. The 25-year-old is red-hot and shows no signs of slowing down.

Who to watch for:

Martin Brodeur: Winning three of his last four starts, the future Hall of Fame net-minder can single-handedly put a team on his back and carry them to victory. Brodeur has started all 10 games for the Devils this season, recording 6-4-0 with 2.57 goals-against average, .909 save-percentage, and one shutout. Brodeur—23 of 27 saves—was surpassed by Sabres net-minder, Ryan Miller—31 of 32—last night, and could possibly get his first game off tonight against the Bruins. If that's the case, Yann Danis will make his Devils debut between the pipes tonight.

News & Notes:

• The Devils are ranked 16th in the NHL on the penalty-kill. Two major penalty killers, forward Jay Pandolfo (shoulder) and defenseman Paul Martin (forearm) are both out for the next four to six weeks.
• Pandolfo, the Devils second-round pick in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft, is fourth on the squad with 2:34 average ice time on the PK.
• Martin, the quarterback on the Devils' blue-line, averaged the most ice-time on the PK with 3:00 per game. The 28-year-old is also is the go-to-guy on the power play, logging 2:50 minutes of average ice-time with the man-advantage, and leads the team with nearly 24-minutes of total average time on ice.
• Defenseman Mike Mottau missed Saturday's victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins, but played over 19 minutes last night against Buffalo (minus-1, three hits).
• New Jersey recalled defenseman Cory Murphy from the AHL Lowell Devils—this after being placed on waivers just days before.
• Martin Brodeur started between the pipes last night against Buffalo; Yann Danis to get one of the next three. He has yet to play this regular season.
• The Devils have only allowed 26 total goals against through the first 10 games this season—fifth-best in the NHL.
• From NHL.com: LW Andrew Peters was scratched (last night) and didn't get a chance to play against his old team (Buffalo). ... D Cory Murphy, who was recalled from Lowell after Martin's injury, was scratched. 

For more info on the New Jersey Devils, including game-time decisions, read inlouwetrust.com and Fire&Ice

Possible Line combinations and D pairings:

Zach Parise—Dainius Zubrus—Jamie Langenbrunner
Nicklas Bergfors—Travis Zajac—Brian Rolston
Matt Halischuk—Rob Niedermayer—David Clarkson
  Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond—Rod Pelley—Ilkka Pikkarainen

Johnny Oduya—Colin White
Bryce Salvador—Mike Mottau
Cory Murphy—Andy Greene

 What to watch for:

The New Jersey Devils system: Games can be won or lost with Brodeur in net, and they can also be decided by their notorious "neutral zone trap" system.  The Devils do a great job—in part of Jacques Lemaire's system—of teaming-up in the neutral zone, shutting down the opposing teams' offense with their great defense in the neutral zone, and turning the puck the other way.

Home team: Boston Bruins (5-4-1)

Who's hot:

The, Three stars of the week: Patrice Bergeron, Tim Thomas, and Derek Morris.

Who's not:

Matt Hunwick: 1-0-1, even rating, and three shots on net in the last six games, No. 48 could just be keeping his position warm for Johnny Boychuk for the time being. Hunwick just seems to be lost out there on the ice, from my point-of-view. He's constantly out of position and turning the puck over almost on a regular basis. I still believe he'd make a better forward than defenseman, but that's another show. With his offense-first mindset, Hunwick rushes the puck far too frequently, and far too deep in the offensive zone—only to cough it up, watching the odd-man-rush back the other way.

I'll leave him alone for now on...just remember that No. 55 is a better option right now.

What to watch for:

Legs: With five days off between games, and although practicing at Ristuccia Arena, the Bruins need to show no signs of their current  bye week. On the flip-side, the Bruins could, and should, capitalize on the banged-up Devils. The Devils played host to the Northeast Division leading Buffalo Sabres last night—4-1 loss—and now head north to Boston for back-to-back games, and the B's need to take advantage of this situation.

Penalties: The Bruins, who were anemic on special teams through the first six or seven games, have now successfully killed their last eight short-handed situations. This is a perfect time to stay out of the box, and exploit the Devils' diminished PK unit.

Who to watch for:

Daniel Paille: The ex-Sabre continues to pile-up the ice time 16:17 (10:22 in Buffalo), including 1:20 valuable minutes on the penalty-kill (0:00 in Buffalo). Paille has two assists in the last three games, and 0-3-3 with a plus-1 in five games this season.

Derek Morris: As well as the other three stars of the week., but Morris, in particular, has been on a torrid pace as of late. Watch the 31-year-old's confidence grow with each passing game. He's been averaging over 23 minutes of ice-time per game, including 3:25 on the power-play. With five points over the last three games, Morris is slowly but surely showcasing his true talent and potential.

Steve Begin & Shawn Thornton: Two goals in two of the last three games and a near 55-percent on the face-off circle, Begin's production on the fourth line has been a helluva-nice-surprise this season. After missing the two games prior, Thornton was back in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Senators—16 shifts and a five-minute fighting major. Following The Code, Thornton had a drop-of-the-gloves meeting with Ottawa's Matt Carkner, who earlier took-on the lesser opponent, Byron Bitz. I expect this fourth-line to continue to do what they do best—crash the net, puck the puck on net, open the ice, and police the Devils.

Line combinations and D pairings

Marco Sturm—David Krejci—Mark Recchi
Brad Marchand—Patrice Bergeron—Michael Ryder
Daniel Paille—Vladimir Sobotka—Blake Wheeler
Shawn Thornton—Steve Begin—Byron Bitz
 

Zdeno Chara—Derek Morris
Andrew Ference—Dennis Wideman
Matt Hunwick—Mark Stuart

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