New Jersey Devils Against Edmonton Oilers Gameday Thoughts (Nov. 3)

Hello Devils fans! I'm trying something for game day, and if it catches on, we'll do it all season (so comment below what you think).

The Edmonton Oilers are a tough test for the New Jersey Devils, to say the least. The Oilers have three wins in a row and are 7-0 on the road (11-2-2 overall). They also have the second-best offense in the NHL, averaging 4.20 goals per game. 

The Devils are back at home after a 2-1 road trip and are 9-5 on the season. There's plenty of optimism surrounding them but the Oilers are one of their first big tests, certainly one of the tough tests for Connor Hellebuyck, who is starting for the Devils.

The game is at 7:30 PM Eastern on ESPN+, Disney+ or Hulu (or SportsNet for all the Canadian viewers)

Devils Morning Skate Lines

Forwards

Arseny Gritsyuk - Jack Hughes - Jesper Bratt

Timo Meier - Nico Hischier - Luke Evangelista

Anthony Mantha - Evan Rodrigues - Jesper Boqvist

Amadeus Lombardi - Cody Glass - Connor Brown 

Defense & Goaltending

Luke Hughes - Brett Pesce

Jonas Siegenthaler - Dougie Hamilton

Declan Chisholm - Johnathan Kovacevic

Connor Hellebuyck / Jake Allen

(Lines are courtesy of Amanda Stein via Twitter)

Note: Evan Rodrigues missed Monday’s practice with an illness. But, he’s back and was at morning skate centering the Mantha & Boqvist line (something is going around the room this time of year). 

Oilers Morning Skate Lines

Forwards

Vasily Podkolzin - Connor McDavid - Leon Draisaitl

Colton Dach - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Kasperi Kapanen

Alex Formenton - Jason Dickinson - Mathieu Joseph

Max Jones - Owen Michaels - Filip Hallander

Trent Frederic

Defense & Goaltending

Mattias Ekholm - Evan Bouchard

Ryan Shea - Connor Murphy

Shakir Mukhamadullin - Jake Walman

Matt Tomkins / Tristan Jarry / Devon Levi

(Lines are courtesy of Bob Stauffer via Twitter)

Note: The Oilers are wrapping up their New York road trip and have had minimal practice time. So, the lineup has stayed the same for the most part (they've done some tinkering on the fourth line and third line but otherwise have kept things intact). They've won three games in a row, so why change something that isn't broken anyway? 

The Burning Question: Will the adjustments help the power play?

The Devils changed up their power play during Monday's practice. If there's been one weakness to address so far, it's been their power play, which has scored on 16.67% of opportunities. 

The top power-play unit has Connor Brown taking over Luke Evangelista's role. Otherwise, it's the same four skaters on that unit. Head coach Sheldon Keefe discussed why Brown was moved back to the top power play after Monday's practice. "He brings familiarity. That group had a lot of success, and we liked it a lot at the end of the season," Keefe stated. (For more on the power play adjustments, check out the video below)

The second power play has Dougie Hamilton at the point while Evangelista, Timo Meier, Anthony Mantha, and Arseny Gritsyuk are the forwards.

Will these adjustments work? We'll find out against the Oilers!

Lines To Watch

Devils: Gritsyuk-Hughes-Bratt

The trio scored four of the Devils five goals in the win over the Vegas Golden Knights and without question has been the best scoring line for this team. Can it keep up with McDavid and their high-flying offense?

Oilers: Podkolzin-McDavid-Draisaitl

It goes without saying that the McDavid-Draisaitl duo is one of the game's best. The duo has 31 goals and 46 assists in 15 games. The surprise is the play of Podkolzin, who has nine goals and five assists, making him the ideal winger to round out this top line.

What's on your mind?

If you have any thoughts, questions, or comments, drop them in the comments section below. If you ask me a question before puck drop, I'll answer it!