G74 New Jersey Devils @ Buffalo Sabres: The perfect storm

Thanks to a lot of outside help, the Devils could be as little as three points out of a playoff spot by night's end.

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

Fire with fire

Buffalo’s new-look top line of JJ Peterka, Tage Thompson, and Alex Tuch is very dangerous. They have scored five goals at 5v5 in ~45 minutes of ice and generated chances at an efficient clip.

They do give a ton back at the other end of the ice, though. It hasn’t hurt the Sabres on the scoreboard – yet – but their 1st line has conceded chances and expected goals at extreme rates.

They’re allowing nearly 20 high-danger chances and 3.25 expected goals on a per-60 basis. Those are concerning defensive numbers, especially heading into a date with the Devils.

Buffalo’s top line is likely heading for a healthy dose of New Jersey’s top-6. Based on their usage last time out against Ottawa (they saw a ton of Tim Stutzle’s line as opposed to Brady Tkachuk’s), they should see plenty of Jack Hughes in particular.

Hughes has picked up multiple points in four of his past five games and piled up a team-leading 38 shot attempts in that span.

His line has rolled at 5v5 as well, controlling just under 55% of the expected goals while outscoring opponents 4-0.

Be it the Hughes line, or Nico Hischier’s line, the Devils should be quite confident they’ll be able to generate opportunities in bulk in best-on-best matchups against Buffalo’s top line.

The perfect storm