G45 New Jersey Devils vs. Tampa Bay Lightning: High-event hockey

The Lightning have played at the league's highest 5v5 pace over the last 10 games, indicating we could be in for an eventful evening.

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The New Jersey Devils are back at it Saturday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Here are a few notes to get you set for the game:

High-event hockey

The Devils have been a relatively low-event team this season – at least when it’s up to them.

They don’t overwhelm opponents with an extraordinary number of shots; instead, they try to wear them down in the final third and take what opponents give them when forced into mistakes.

The Lightning play a much different, faster brand of hockey. They rank top-10 in 5v5 pace on the season and 1st over the last 10 games.

They generate lots of shots, give up lots of shots, and are more than happy to rely on their high-end skill – be it their star skaters, or Andrei Vasilevskiy behind them – coming up with enough key plays to lead them to victory. It’s chaotic hockey and it often works.

One would assume the Devils will try to force the Lightning more into their style of play but, realistically speaking, the two sides will likely meet somewhere in the middle.

Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt would top the list of players I think who’d benefit from an uptick in flow.

They’ve created a lot of shot/chance volume of late and that should continue to be the case against a fast-paced Lightning squad that ranks 30th in 5v5 shot suppression over the last 10 games.

Attack on the PK