Suddenly, both the Pittsburgh Penguins and New Jersey Devils are in need of a win.
While the situation is a little more precarious for the Devils, who have gone 1-7-1 in their last nine games, the Penguins are trying to stop a two-game losing streak before Monday’s Winter Classic at Fenway Park.
But what really makes Friday’s game in Pittsburgh critical is how tight things have gotten in the Metropolitan Division. There are five teams (New Jersey, Washington, Pittsburgh, the Islanders and Rangers) separated by two points in the Metro as we head towards New Year’s Day.
Friday night should feel like a playoff game.
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Devils vs. Penguins Prediction: Penguins -120 (FanDuel)
Perhaps what’s most frustrating for the Devils during this slide is that, generally, they’re playing decent hockey. Over those past nine games, the Devils have been outscored, 22-14, at 5-on-5, but they’ve generated 23.5 expected goals and conceded 19.5 expected goals against. In other words, the Devils are underperforming by 12 goals, according to public xG data.
But that doesn’t tell the whole story about what’s going on with New Jersey. You can tilt the ice all you want at 5-on-5, but if your goaltending wobbles it won’t matter.
Coming into the season, that was the biggest concern with the Devils. There was clearly a lot of talent on this roster, but the goaltending looked shaky. Neither Mackenzie Blackwood nor Vitek Vanecek had shown that they could handle a starting role yet in their career, but it looked like Vanecek was on his way after a strong start to the campaign.
But that is now firmly in the rearview mirror, as the Devils have an .866 save percentage over their last nine contests.
To make matters worse, the Devils are now dealing with injuries to Ryan Graves and John Marino, who had flourished in a second-pair role for New Jersey this season. With Marino and Graves out, the Devils have elevated Kevin Bahl, Brendan Smith and Nikita Okhotyuk.
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A lack of depth on defense and porous goaltending has put a lot of pressure on the Devils to score and they haven’t responded well. New Jersey’s 6.31% shooting percentage at 5-on-5 over its last nine games is the second-worst mark in the league in that span.
The Penguins were on a 15-3-3 stretch going into the holiday break and they come out of the pause in terrible fashion, losing 5-1 to the Islanders and then blowing a 4-0 lead to the Red Wings in an overtime loss. But with New Jersey’s goaltending in shambles and its defensive depth being tested, there’s value on the Penguins as a short favorite on Friday night.