New Jersey's head coach makes some changes to his bottom-six ahead of game versus Buffalo.
New Jersey Devils head coach Lindy Ruff changed his bottom-six forwards ahead of their game versus the Buffalo Sabres. In the club's last contest, a 6-4 loss to the Washington Capitals, the Devils utilized the following third and fourth lines:
Dawson Mercer - Erik Haula - Alexander Holtz
Curtis Lazar - Michael McLeod - Nathan Bastian
At the team's morning skate at Prudential Center, Mercer moved to center with Haula on one side and Lazar on the other. Holtz moved down to play alongside McLeod and Bastian so that the lines will look like this:
Erik Haula - Dawson Mercer - Curtis Lazar
Alexander Holtz - Michael McLeod - Nathan Bastian
"(It's) the fact that what we're looking for on the third line," Lindy Ruff said of the change, "putting (Mercer) in the middle, and trying to get a little more hardness."
Entering tonight's game, the six players who make up the bottom two lines have a combined six points (four goals, two assists). The Devils will need more offense from those players, and adding Lazar to Haula's line could help Mercer offensively breakthrough.
"(Lazar) is first in on every play," Ruff said. "If you look at it, he's a hard guy to play against. He goes to the net hard, he's been able to create a chance a game, probably just by getting inside."
Mercer, who turns 22 today, and Bastian have not found their name on the scoresheet this season. The latter has a career five points versus the Sabres, the most versus any league opponent.
After the morning skate, reporters asked Mercer how he would assess his game.
"The last few (games), I've really liked the way I was skating. I thought I was moving my feet a lot better," Mercer said. "I've touched on it before, getting more shots on net. That's a big thing I want to focus on, I think with Lazer there, and (Haula), we can generate those chances and more shots, and we can really shoot from anywhere here tonight."
Fans will wait until the 7:00 P.M. puck drop to see if the swap will lead to the team's bottom-six impacting the scoresheet.