G45 New Jersey Devils vs Toronto Maple Leafs: Deja vu?

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Five things to watch as the New Jersey Devils conclude their home-and-home with the Toronto Maple Leafs:

1. Deja vu

The Auston Matthews line had its way with the Devils for the final ~55 minutes of last night’s game. They won the shot attempt battle 16-8 at 5v5, out-scored the Devils by a pair and – across all gamestates – No. 34 netted a hat trick. The Devils had no answers for Matthews or his linemates.

What’s scary about that: Matthews saw the Jonas Siegenthaler pairing more than any other; and the Jack Hughes line more than any other. It wasn’t as if his line was being spoon-fed cushy matchups. They were going up against New Jersey’s best and still taking them to school.

While the Devils will be using Nico Hischier against Matthews tonight, I’m not sure that’ll lead to better results with Jimmy Vesey projected to skate on the top line.

With Vesey and Pavel Zacha on Nico’s wing, the top line has controlled just 47% of the expected goals and allowed 3.49 goals/60.

If I’m Alain Nasreddine, I’m moving Tomas Tatar back to the top line and gambling on the trio with very strong defensive metrics. That’s the path to preventing another big night for Matthews, in my opinion.

If they continue down the path they’re on, we could be in for another long night.