G26 New Jersey Devils vs Chicago Blackhawks: The ultimate Get Right spot

After winning the 5v5 shot attempt battle in 18 of their first 21 games, the Devils have lost it in three of the last four. They should be able to get back to their ways against Chicago.

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A few notes to get you set for New Jersey vs Chicago:

Get back to your roots

We have seen a little slippage in the Devils’ 5v5 play of late. Check that, a big slippage.

They own a sub 50 Corsi For% over the past five games and are barely hovering above 50% in terms of expected goals.

They have also lost the shot attempt battle in three of the past four games, which is very abnormal for them; and it’s not as if Philadelphia, New York, Nashville, and Washington is a murderer’s row of opponents.

For a little more context, the Devils were out-attempted by their opponent only three times over their first 21 games (14% ). Now, again, it’s happened three times in four games.

I don’t think it’s time to sound the alarms by any means but it should definitely be a bit of a wake up call for the team to get back on track.

The good news is they have a dream matchup to do just that. At 5v5 the Chicago Blackhawks sit dead last in shot share, chance share, and and 30th in xG share over the last 10 games. They are Putrid with a capital P.

What makes them especially bad: their ‘top’ lines are as responsible – or more – for the team’s struggles.

Among all lines to log 100+ minutes together this season, Chicago’s top two lines both rank inside the bottom-4 in terms of xGF%.

The Devils – unlike some teams – tend to fight fire with fire, meaning their best players generally handle the toughest assignments. Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, and co. should see a lot of those putrid 5v5 combinations.

Look for the Devils to get back to their full-strength dominance in this one.