New Jersey Devils at St. Louis Blues

The essentials:

Matchup: New Jersey Devils at St. Louis Blues

Date: December 17, 2024

Time: 8:00 p.m. ET

Transmitted: MSG, FDSNMW, ESPN+

Hear: Devils Hockey Network

The Devils’ last game: The Devils defeated the Chicago Blackhawks Leafs 4-1 in their last home game. Check out Chris’ recap of this game.

The last Blues game: The Blues defeated the New York Rangers 3-2 on Sunday. Check out the recap of this game on NHL.com.

Current dynamics: St. Louis has won six of its last 10 games and two of its last five, for a record of 15-14-3. The Blues have now beaten the Rangers twice this season. New Jersey has won six of its last 10 games and just three of its last five, for a record of 20-10-3.

The last time: The Devils were cut by Jordan Binnington and the Blues on November 27, 2024. Check out Jackson’s recap of this ugly game and more on Binnington below.

Lineups

St Louis Blues

This is the Blues’ projected lineup based on their game against the Rangers (per Matthew DeFranks).

Jordan Binnington is the Blues’ projected starting goalkeeper.

New Jersey Devils

Here are the projected lineups and matchups for the Devils based on yesterday’s practice (by Catherine Bogart).

Jacob Markstrom is the likely starter in net for the Devils.

Player to watch: Jordan Kyrou

In their November matchup, Jordan Kyrou was tied for the team lead with Jake Neighbors with seven goals. Kyrou has been accelerating ever since. The Blues forward now leads the team with 13 goals and 27 points (per NHL.com). Kyrou has scored goals in four of the last five games and has picked up a point in each of the last five games. The Devils will have to defend well to limit St. Louis’ top producer.

Become a goalkeeper

One of the Devils’ worries this season has been games where they peppered the opposing goaltender with shots, but ultimately that goaltender stood on his head to beat New Jersey and shut out all too often. It happened against Mackenzie Blackwood. They liked Anthony Stolarz. It looked like Drew Commesso might do it to them on Saturday in his NHL debut. I saw The People Who Matter’s posts on the game thread against Chicago and feared it would happen again.

Jordan Binnington fended them off in the final match, stopping all 32 shots he faced. The Red and Black got off to a terrible start and Devils fans would put this game in the “get goalie” category. If the opposing goaltender has a good view of the puck, the Devils have to keep their eyes on him with the traffic in front of him. A good example of this was Timo Meier’s goal in the third period on Saturday. Meier was present at the net in front of Commesso when the goalie couldn’t control a rebound from a Dawson Mercer shot. The shot bounced forward and Meier fired it into the net. The Devils need more of those goals from Meier, Mercer, Palat and Noesen. Look for the Devils to emphasize their net presence in this matchup.

Boost to the Blues Blue Line?

On Saturday, the Anaheim Ducks traded defenseman Cam Fowler and a 2027 fourth-round pick to the Blues in exchange for a 2027 second-round pick and a minor league defenseman. According to NHL.com, the 33-year-old Fowler has recorded four assists this season and has struggled defensively, posting a +/- record of -5. Over the course of his career, Fowler holds a +/- record of -127 (according to NHL.com). Although the veteran is known as a puck-moving defenseman, the trade likely won’t improve the defensive woes of a team that ranks near the bottom of the league in expected goals against (xGA) and chances to score against (SCA) at 5%. on-5 (according to Natural Stat Trick).

The change to Jim Montgomery

I mentioned the Blues’ long-standing problems in defense, but the coaching change may have helped in that regard. Since Jim Montgomery took over on Nov. 24, the Blues have allowed just 13 goals at 5-on-5, according to Natural Stat Trick. At the time of writing on Monday night, this was the second-best performance in the NHL during that period. Since the move, St. Louis has also been one of the better teams when it comes to high-threat chances at 5-on-5 (just 74), and when it comes to scoring chances, they are firmly in the middle of the pack.

Offensively, the coaching change didn’t have the same impact. The Blues were one of the worst teams in the league in terms of expected goal percentage (xGF%) at 5v5 before the move, and they have been mid-table since Montgomery took over (according to Natural Stat Trick). In fact, St. Louis had a Corsi percentage (CF%) of just under 49% before Montgomery took over, and that has only gotten worse, sitting at just over 45% since then (according to Natural Stat Trick). I realize the sample size for the team’s performance under Montgomery is small. I’m sure the head coach hasn’t had enough time to fully implement his desired systems and hockey philosophy, but it’s interesting to see how the Blues have progressed since their last game against the Devils.

Check out the statistical breakdowns for the Blues before Montgomery and after the coaching change via Natural Stat Trick.

Your thoughts

What will you pay attention to? Do you think you will get a goalkeeper? What do you think are the keys to the Devils’ success? Let us know what you think in the comments below. Thanks for reading and GO DEVILS!