G64 New Jersey Devils vs Washington Capitals: Shaking things up

Lindy Ruff has made plenty of lineup changes in advance of Thursday night's game. Some good, some not so good.

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

A decisive edge

The Washington Capitals recently punted on the season, shipping out a handful of useful veterans and bringing more youth into the lineup as they look towards the future.

While that is definitely the right play long-term – nothing good was going to come from this campaign – it hurts them in the here and now; and that shows in the numbers.

Washington has won only three of its last 10 games. In that span, they’ve posted poor xG shares and allowed 3.18 per 60 at 5v5; the sixth highest rate in the NHL.

If we isolate the past five games, where more of the recently moved (or injured) players are out of the picture, the Capitals look even worse.

They’ve controlled only 43% of the expected goals and have given up a ridiculous 3.72 xGA per 60 at 5v5. That ranks them dead last in the NHL.

With the likes of Alexander Alexeyev, Matt Irwin, and Gabriel Carlsson in the lineup on defense, that’s probably not a coincidence.

Meanwhile, the Devils are playing some of their best hockey of the season. They’ve won the xG battle at 5v5 in 11 of the past 12 games.

They should have a field day and dominate the run of play in this game. Let’s just hope they can finish.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it