G53 New Jersey Devils vs Vancouver Canucks: Expect more fireworks

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A few notes to get you set for tonight’s game between the New Jersey Devils and Vancouver Canucks:

Goals? Goals!

It feels like every Devils game, for better or for worse, has been littered with goals of late. At some point that has to stop, right? Perhaps; but I don’t think tonight will be the night.

New Jersey’s offense is firing on all cylinders. They’re controlling the run of play, creating chances in bulk and – wait for it! – even finishing them off. Crazy, I know.

The Devils lead the NHL in 5v5 goals and total goals over the last six games. Arbitrary cut off, sure, but their offense is humming; particularly since Dougie Hamilton and Jesper Bratt returned to the mix.

You know which team is second in total goals over the last six? The Vancouver Canucks. They have balanced out their lines (J.T. Miller, Brock Boeser, and Elias Pettersson all skate on different units) and it’s hard to argue with the results.

With the way both teams are playing, and all of the stars in this game, it’d be reasonable to expect plenty of fireworks – even with good goaltending.

That’s something we’re probably not going to see in this game. The Devils give up 30 goals each night regardless of who is in net and, after playing Sunday, Thatcher Demko might be heading for a night off. That’s problematic for the Canucks considering Jaroslav Halák owns a .899 save percentage this season.

Win or lose, I expect both offenses to make noise in this game.