P2 New Jersey Devils @ Montreal Canadiens: What to watch for

The Devils play their second preseason game on the road in Montreal. Let's take a look at a few things to keep your eye on.

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

Building on a strong foundation

Paul Cotter, Curtis Lazar, and Nathan Bastian were very impressive in their debut as a unit.

They forechecked effectively, spent a ton of time working down low in the offensive zone, and created consistent havoc around the net.

They accounted for half of the entire team’s high-danger chance output at 5v5. It was a terrific performance from the trio as a whole.

It’ll be interesting to see if they can follow it up under much different play circumstances. With the Devils using an extremely watered-down forward group in Montreal, Cotter-Lazar-Bastian will serve as the team’s top line – as opposed to the 4th line unit they’ll be in a few weeks.

That likely means they’ll see their fair share of the Nick Suzuki unit. It’ll be a good measuring stick to see how they can hang with the big boys and just how much trust Sheldon Keefe can put in them.

Thrown into the fire