New Jersey Devils at Florida Panthers
The Devils have won back to back games and five of seven since coming off the Sochi break. New Jersey’s deadline acquisition, Tuomo Ruutu, had a goal and an assist in his last game and has found his way to the top line with Jaromir Jagr and Travis Zajac. One problem with Ruutu for now is that he still hasn’t made his way to the top power play unit so his true upside game in and game out is somewhat limited. Nonetheless, he’s still in a good spot to produce at even strength. One weak point for the Devils lately has been the penalty kill – they’ve allowed four PP goals against in their last four games – but that shouldn’t matter much tonight against the worst PP team in the NHL.
The Panthers have played eight games since the Olympics and they have allowed 31 goals against in that span. Those eight games include a 2-0 shutout of Buffalo, so against non-worst-teams-in-the-NHL, the Panthers have allowed 31 goals against in their last seven games. The power play I dismissed has scored six goals in those eight games (16.7-percent) but that mark wouldn’t even be league average for the season. Even their hot streaks are somewhat tepid.
This seems like it could be a modest letdown spot for the Devils but Florida is just so bad that I can’t possibly rely on them. At best, I would just avoid the goaltenders in this one (a small lean to Cory Schneider in 50/50s) and pick away at the skaters. These two teams have met once this year (back in January) and the result was a 2-1 overtime win for the Devils.
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Top RW Value |
Top LW Value |
Top C Value |
Top D Value |
Bargain Bin |
|
Jaromir Jagr $10,941 |
Tuomo Ruutu $5872 |
(FLA) |
Marek Zidlicky $9010 |
(FLA) |
