P4 New Jersey Devils @ New York Islanders: The final tune-up

The Devils are expected to go full speed ahead in their final game before heading overseas.

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A few notes to get you set for New Jersey vs. New York (I):

Make or break

A couple of the more noteworthy decisions Sheldon Keefe made this preseason: placing Brenden Dillon on the top pairing with Dougie Hamilton and going back to the well on Timo Meier and Jack Hughes.

We’re dealing with small samples but the early returns couldn’t be much worse for either combination.

Dillon and Hamilton own a 38 xGF% and have been on for three goals against in 29 minutes.

Meanwhile, Meier and Hughes posted a 20 xGF% while spending most of their minutes against the Alex Ovechkin line and the Nic Dowd line. Put another way, a unit that should struggle defensively and a unit that should struggle against top players. That wasn’t the case.

One game wouldn’t be much more than a blip on the radar if they didn’t struggle mightily together last season. The reality is they did.

If we get another poor effort from one or both of the combinations, Keefe might have to pull the plug and roll out something else in Prague.

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