NEW JERSEY DEVILS NOTES:
Last Game:
New York Rangers 1 New Jersey Devils 2
(44-21-10 – 98 PTS) (47-20-8 – 102 PTS)
Three Stars: 1. T. Meier 2. E. Haula 3. V. Vanecek
SCORE 1ST 2ND 3RD OT SO FINAL
NY Rangers 0 1 0 – – 1
DEVILS 2 0 0 – – 2
Goals:
NYR: C. Kreider (PPG)
NJD: E. Haula, T. Meier (PPG)
INJURIES/ILLNESS
PLAYER INJURY OUT SINCE GAMES MISSED
Jonathan Bernier – LTIR Lower-body, hip 2021-22 75
Nate Bastian Upper-body 3/13/23 9
Curtis Lazar Undisclosed 3/19/23 6
2022-23 Total Man-Games Lost to Injury/illness: 210
TRANSACTIONS
3/26/23 Akira Schmid Reassigned to Utica
3/31/23 Nolan Foote Reassigned to Utica
WHAT TO KNOW
The Devils officially clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Saturday, March 25 for the first time since 2017-18, but also earned 100 points in a season for the first time since 2011-12 (48-28-6=102 PTS). It marked the 14th time in franchise history that the Devils earned 100, or more, points in a single season for the standings. After Thursday’s win vs the New York Rangers, the Devils earned more than 100 points for the first time since 2011-12 (102 PTS). The most points that the Devils earned in a single season was 111 PTS, after posting a 48-19-12 record in 2000-01. The last time that the Devils earned 46, or more, wins in a single season was also in 2011-12 when the team earned 48 wins, as noted above. The team earned more than 45 wins in a season 12 times for franchise history. The Devils enter Saturday’s contest four wins shy of tying the franchise record (51) for the most wins in a single season, which was earned in 2008-09. Jersey’s team opens its 12 back-to-back set for the 2022-23 campaign. The Devils are 5-5-1 in first half games and 9-2-0 in the second half for back-to-back sets this season. The team’s nine wins in second half games played are tied for the most in the NHL with Boston, but Jersey’s .818 points% for second half games ranks first in the NHL.
UNDEFEATED
Looking ahead…The Devils visit Winnipeg on Sunday and can become the third American team in NHL history who were undefeated when playing at least eight road games vs a Canadian-based team in a single season. The Devils are one of three American clubs to have gone undefeated in road games against Canadian-based clubs when playing at least seven such games:
MARCH MADNESS
The Devils’ schedule for March entailed 16 games, which marks the most contests that the team played in a single month this season. The second most games played in a single month this season was 14 in November, after the team posted a 13-1-0 record. New Jersey logged an 8-5-3 record for the month of March and the team’s power play ranked sixth in the NHL for the month at 25.7%. The team’s penalty kill also ranked sixth in the NHL for the month at 85.7%.
RUNNING WITH THE DEVILS (ON THE ROAD)
New Jersey enters Saturday’s with the second most road wins in the NHL this season (26-7-4), while Boston’s 27 wins (27-8-2) rank first. New Jersey’s points% (.757) on the road ranks first in the NHL (tied) – Boston is also .757. New Jersey logged 28 road wins (28-10-3) in 1998-99, which marked the most road victories in franchise history. The Devils are scheduled for three more road games, after Saturday’s contest in Chicago.
VS CONFERENCE/DIVISION
The Devils are 21-4-5 vs the Western Conference this season. The franchise record for most wins vs the Western Conference was 18, which was logged in 2000-01. Jersey’s team is 7-4-3 vs the Central Division. The Devils own a 26-16-3 record vs the Eastern Conference and 15-6-2 vs the Metropolitan Division
BACK-TO-BACK GAMES
Overall: 14-7-1
First game: 5-5-1 | home: 0-1-0 | road: 5-4-1
Second game: 9-2-0 | home: 4-2-0 | road: 5-0-0
CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS NOTES:
TONIGHT’S BROADCAST INFORMATION
TV: NBCSCH – Mike Monaco (PxP) and Cassie Campbell-Pascall (analyst)
RADIO: WGN-AM 720 – John Wiedeman (PxP) and Troy Murray (analyst)
SPANISH RADIO: Univision Sports Radio 1200 AM – Miguel Esparza (PxP) and Jorge Moreno (analyst)
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Tuesday, April 4 at CGY, 8:00 p.m. CT (NBCSCH, WGN Radio)
Thursday, April 6 at VAN, 9:00 p.m. CT (NBCSCH, WGN Radio)
Saturday, April 8 at SEA, 9:00 p.m. CT (NBCSCH, WGN Radio)
Monday, April 10 vs. MIN, 8:00 p.m. CT (ESPN, WGN Radio, Univision (Spanish))
Tuesday, April 11 at PIT, 6:30 p.m. CT (NBCSCH, WGN Radio)
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
March 29 – Assigned Mike Hardman to Rockford … March 26 – Assigned Buddy Robinson to Rockford …
March 25 – Activated Reese Johnson (concussion protocol) and assigned Anton Khudobin to Rockford …
March 15 – Recalled Anton Khudobin from Rockford … March 14 – Signed Wyatt Kaiser to three-year, entry-level contract … March 13 – Recalled Mike Hardman and Buddy Robinson from Rockford … March 12 – Assigned Luke Philp, Filip Roos and Anton Khudobin to Rockford … March 9 – Recalled Filip Roos from Rockford.
LAST TIME OUT
Score: Chicago (3) vs. St. Louis (5) – Thu., March 30 – United Center
CHI Goals: Athanasiou (15; PP), Johnson (10; PP), Katchouk (5)
STL Goals: Vrana (10), Brown (2), Toropchenko (8), Kyrou (34), Saad (19; EN)
Goalies: CHI – Mrazek (24/28, 57:31) STL – Binnington (30/33, 60:00)
CHI PP: 2/3; PK: 2/2
STL PP: 0/2; PK: 1/3
Recap: The Blackhawks fell 5-3 to the St. Louis Blues on Thursday in Chicago … The Blackhawks scored two power-play goals for the first time since Feb. 27 vs. ANA … Andreas Athanasiou scored his 15th goal of the season and third power-play tally on the year … Tyler Johnson also scored on the power play, his fourth power-play goal of the season … Boris Katchouk scored his fifth goal of the season, giving him eight points (3G, 5A) over his last 11 games … Taylor Raddysh chipped in two assists … Seth Jones, Caleb Jones and Lukas Reichel each tallied an assist.
TONIGHT’S OPPONENT – NEW JERSEY DEVILS
Chicago has points in four of their last six against the Devils (3-2-1) and are 5-3-0 over their last eight home contests against the club … Tyler Johnson has points in six-straight games against New Jersey (5G, 5A), with goals in five straight between Oct. 30, 2018 – Jan. 12, 2020 … Seth Jones has six assists over his last five games against New Jersey, including two multi-point efforts … Andreas Athanasiou has five points (2G, 3A) over his last seven contests against the Devils … Assistant Coach Kevin Dean played for the Devils from 1994-99, playing in 198 career games … He also served as an assistant coach for the Lowell Devils (currently Utica Comets) of the American Hockey League from 2006-10.
2022-23 Schedule/Results: HOME: April 1 | AWAY: Dec. 6 (0-3)
All-Time Record: 52-41-25 | Home: 31-16-11 | Road: 21-25-14
Last Home Win: Feb. 25, 2022 (8-5) | Last Road Win: Dec. 6, 2019 (2-1 SO) | Last Home Loss: Dec. 23,
2019 (1-7) Last Road Loss: Dec. 2, 2022 (0-3)
ACTIVE BLACKHAWKS VS. NJD ALL-TIME
GOALS: Tyler Johnson, 8; Andreas Athanasiou, 2; 3 players tied at 1
ASSISTS: Seth Jones, 13; Tyler Johnson, 10; Nikita Zaitsev, 4
POINTS: Tyler Johnson, 18; Seth Jones, 14; Andreas Athanasiou, 5
BLACKHAWKS RECORD ON…
One-Day Rest: 13-22-1
Two-Days Rest: 5-5-0
Three+ Days Rest: 2-2-2
First Game of a B2B: 2-6-2
Second Game of a B2B: 1-11-1
BLACKHAWKS RECORD BY DAY
Monday: 1-3-0
Tuesday: 4-9-1
Wednesday: 1-7-0
Thursday: 5-7-1
Friday: 5-2-2
Saturday: 5-10-1
Sunday: 3-7-1
