Devils Host Stars.. Preview

[00:00:05] Hey everyone, Mr. Devil here, Kenny Danico, three time Stanley Cup champion of the New Jersey Devils and you're listening to The Uncle Puckers, New Jersey Devils Podcast. Let's go Devils! Hey, what is up there Devil fans? This is Chris from The Uncle Pucker, New Jersey Devil Podcast and I'm back to do a little preview for the Devils game tomorrow night at home against the Dallas Stars.

[00:00:34] So I think we've all gotten the international kind of hockey fling out of our system, right? Now it's time to, you know, take a shower and go back home to the people we love and kind of put that on the back burner and that love is the New Jersey Devils and they are back, which they haven't played a game in two weeks, feels like two months and as fun as that whole Four Nations face-off was, I'm very, very happy to have Devil Hockey back

[00:01:04] again. But the schedule makers have been bastards to us all season long and after this break, it is no different. Devils have 25 games left and it's not going to be easy. It is a who's who of teams that we have to play in these last 25 games and I'm fine with that, right? I do believe that iron sharpens iron and that's going to be the best way to get this team playoff ready. And in these last 25 games, that's what they have to do. They have to show consistency and

[00:01:32] they have to get ready for the playoffs. So it starts tomorrow, Dallas at home and then the Devils are on a very long road trip. I think it's like six, seven games. I'm not 100% sure because I didn't look too far into the schedule. I do just want to break down the game tonight again or tomorrow night rather against Dallas. Like I said, puck drops at six. Don't get confused. It's at 6 p.m. tomorrow at the Rock. Dallas is a good team. They've always been a good team.

[00:02:01] They've been a good team for years and they're right there again this year. They're second in the central. They have a 35-18-2 record, 72 points and they've played 55 games. So two less games than the Devils and four more points than the Devils and four more wins than the Devils. So Dallas is a deep team. They're fast. They have good goaltending and they're always in the mix,

[00:02:26] right? Like it's Dallas, it's Vegas, it's Edmonton. These are the teams you see coming out of the West, Winnipeg, teams like that. But nobody would be shocked if the Dallas Stars end up in the cup final. So like I said, 72 points. They have a 6.55 winning percentage, which is third in the NHL. We're going to Devils have a 5.96 winning percentage. That's 12th in the NHL. Goals

[00:02:51] for the Stars are ninth with 180. The Devils are 11th with 174. Goals against Stars are fourth with 138. Devils are fifth with 141. They're very similar in a lot of these stats. Goal differential plus 42 for Dallas. That's good for fourth. Devils are plus 33. That's good for fifth. Power play 19.6% for the Dallas Stars. This is where the Devils have a big advantage. They are

[00:03:18] 22nd on the power play. Devils are 27.5% and that's fourth. Penalty kill. They're extremely good. They're first in the league at a solid 85% of kills. Devils are at 84.2. That's third. The Devils special team is still really good. Team save percentage. Stars are 907 and that's fourth. The Devils are 906. That's sixth. So are we really splitting hairs here on some of these stats? But

[00:03:46] I think the Devils match up pretty good with Dallas this year. I know this is the first game we're playing against them. Very, very curious to see how it plays out. But let's talk about some of the players that are going to be involved. Okay. Jake Ottinger, he's played 40 games this year. He's 26, 12 and two for one shutout. He has a two, three, five goals against average and a nine 11 save

[00:04:12] percentage. So Jake Ottinger, we know him. He's a damn good goalie. He always gives these guys a chance every time he's between the pipes. But check this stat out. In the three games that Jake Ottinger has played against the New Jersey Devils, he's 0-2-1. Now he's only played three games, but he hasn't beaten the Devils. He's got a 4-1-8 goals against average and an 8-39 save percentage against New Jersey. I was pretty surprised when I saw that he had never beaten the Devils, but I got these stats

[00:04:40] off StatMuse and the internet doesn't lie. We all know that. Jake Allen. Well, wish it was Marky. We're going to talk a little bit about him in a minute, but Jake Allen, we know is going to get the start Saturday against the Stars. He's played 21 games, 9-11-1, four shutouts on the year for Big Allen, 256 goals against average and a 9-10 save percentage. Now he has a much larger sample size

[00:05:04] throughout his career against the Dallas Stars. He's 12-7-1 in 21 games against the Stars with a 2.4 goals against average and a 9-15 save percentage. So Jake Allen plays really well against Dallas Stars winning record and a good save percentage against them. I mentioned Markstrom. Good news,

[00:05:27] right? He is skating again, but we know that he is not really close. I guess he's close, but it still looks like it's a couple of weeks away from what I've gathered. Sheldon Keefe did say, yeah, he's out there, but he's not at full practice mode yet. He's kind of just dipping his toes in the water. I'm not sure if he's going to be making the trip. I would think that that's very optimistic thinking.

[00:05:53] If he does end up going on this trip, that maybe we'll see him at some point relatively soon because I do believe wholeheartedly Jake Allen is very good. He's done fantastic for the Devils, more than what I think we could have asked for. But going into the playoffs, it has to be Markstrom behind the net. It's in the net. It's got to be a healthy Markstrom. I just don't know how far we go against even just Carolina with Jake Allen. I want Markstrom in there, but again, 25 games.

[00:06:22] He has some time. Let's just get him healthy and make sure he's ready to go in the playoffs. So who do the Dallas Stars have that we have to worry about? They have lots of guys. So I took their top five point getters and put them against our top five point getters. They are being led by Matthew Shane. She's got 22 goals, 33 assists. And then we have, and he has 55 points. And then we have Jack with 24,

[00:06:45] 41 for 65 points. Then Jason Robertson's got 20 goals, 31 assists, 51 points. Brat 17, 47 for 64 points. Wyatt Johnston, 16 goals, 31 assists, 47 points. Nico Heischer, 24 goals, 19 assists, 43 points.

[00:07:07] Jamie Benn, 14 goals, 22 assists, 36 points. Timo Meyer, 15 goals, 23 assists, 38 points. Rope A Hintz, 22 goals, 14 assists, 36 points. Dougie Hamilton, 8 goals, 28 assists, 36 points. It's very surprising. Rope A Hintz has 22 goals. But anyway, those are our top five on each team.

[00:07:34] And so look, Devils have guys that can put the puck in the net. Now I mentioned a little bit, we're not sure about Jack Hughes. We know that Jesper Brad and Eric Halla came back from the four, four nation faceoff. And Jack is back today, whether or not he's going to be playing tomorrow. We don't know. I hope so. I really do. I mean, you know, you went and played the tournament. Now it's time to get back to your real job, buddy.

[00:07:59] So hoping that Jack is there and in the lineup tomorrow night. So Dallas has their last five games, which was two weeks ago. They beat the San Jose Sharks their last game out. That was an 8-3 win. Then they lost in a shootout to the Kings 4-5. Before that, they lost to the Ducks 1-2-1. Then they beat the Blue Jackets 5-3 and they beat Vancouver 5-3. So out of their last fives,

[00:08:29] they're, what are they? 3-1-1. The Devils. Last game out. This is crazy, right? We're talking about consistency. 4-0 win against Montreal. Before that, a 3-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. Before that, a 3-2 shootout win against Pittsburgh. Game before that, a 4-3 loss to Buffalo. And before that, a 5-0 win against

[00:08:52] the Flyers. Win, lose, win, lose, win. That's our last five. That's what needs to stop. The Devils have got to get the consistency going. They've got to start putting together consistent winning streaks. 3, 4, 5 games or more. I'd really like to see their win percentage up into the mid-6s, 600s at some point before the end of this season. So again, we talked a little bit about Markstrom.

[00:09:22] He's skating, but he's not quite ready to go. Nico Heischer is back for all intents and purposes. He will be playing tomorrow. I know Sheldon Keefe had said today after the practice that everything looks good. Nico feels good. It's just a matter of whether or not the doctors are a go, no-go, but all signs are pointing that Nico Heischer will be back in the lineup. And my goodness,

[00:09:46] did we miss him? The guy does everything for this team. How much we missed him in the important face-offs, just going against teams' best lines, generating the offense. Nico Heischer is the lifeblood of this team. I've said it a million times, right? If Jack Hughes is the soul of the Devils, then Nico Heischer is its heart. So I'm really looking forward to getting him back

[00:10:13] in the lineup. So the Devils have made a little, some moves this last week, getting ready for this road trip. So they brought Seamus Casey back up. I find this very, very interesting that Keefe and Fitz want to have another look at Seamus Casey. Now, when Siegenthaler went out, I mean, you could argue that Siegenthaler was the best defensive defenseman in the NHL when the injury occurred.

[00:10:41] So now to replace him is going to be impossible. I mean, we're really hoping that Sieg is back for the playoffs, but I don't think there's a chance we see him a minute before the playoffs, if at all. So how are we replacing him, right? Nemich came up, he played two games. We saw him, in the Vegas game. We looked like absolute dog shit, turned it around and looked a lot better in Montreal. But for whatever reason, the management, Sheldon Keefe, they want another

[00:11:10] look at Seamus Casey. And I think there's a couple of reasons for this. First is just very simple. They could just want to see another player out there in that spot. Maybe they don't trust Shimon Nemich and maybe they, you know, Casey played really well in the small sample size. We saw him earlier in the year where Nemich in the beginning of the year struggled. Now I understand Nemich has played a shitload of hockey over the last 18 months. He was battling

[00:11:38] injury, but this is life in the big city, kid. You know, this, if you're not ready to take the job, somebody's going to take it from you. Seamus Casey, I liked everything about him. So is this just, let's give Casey and Sheldon Keefe, it said, Seamus Casey is going to get some ice time. But we, they, they do expect him to play. So I'm sure that, you know, at some point on this road trip, or maybe even tomorrow, Shimon Nemich will be scratched and Seamus Casey will be put in.

[00:12:05] So they want to see Seamus Casey. Is this to showcase him and Nemich maybe for a trade down the road? There are a lot of things that have changed over the course of the last year. And if you look at last year, we know that a lot of teams called Fitz about Shimon Nemich. And every time this was a non-starter, he was not up for trade. We were not even going to discuss it. And he hung up the phone.

[00:12:30] Well, this year things are very different. Mainly Seamus Casey is a big one, right? I think everybody was surprised at just how good offensively this kid was. And then like we said before, Nemich struggled a little bit. Then there's Jonathan Kovacevic. Jonathan Kovacevic, his people are talking right

[00:12:52] now on an extension. If Kovacevic signs an extension with New Jersey, that will legitimately lock out one of these guys because the defensive pipeline down in Utica is clogged right now. And a trade is the Drano, right? We got to unclog it. I do believe that one of these guys, if a trade is on the table,

[00:13:17] something that is going to help this double team moving forward this year, a forward, a winger to play with Jack, whoever, right? If Tom Fitzgerald feels that he has to get player X to come to New Jersey, but we have to get Nemich or Casey to go the other way, I think this year it gets done. Now, again, I have no information about this. I have no inside sources about this. This is reckless

[00:13:42] speculation at its best, but it makes sense. If you didn't love Kovacevic, you wouldn't be entertaining the idea of signing him to an extension. If you're not going to sign him to the extension, well then, okay, we have some room. Then you have other contracts that might be a little easier to move next year, like Dougie Hamilton's, but I don't see that happening. I do think it's

[00:14:07] going to be Shimon Nemich. I think that he's more of the known quantity to other NHL executives. I think Seamus Casey is a bit more of an unknown. Casey's small, has a lot of upside, but his defensive game needs to come along. Nemich, like I said, more of a known quantity. Second overall pick teams are going to be chomping at the bit to get their hands on them. If the right guy is available for Nemich, I do think he's going to end up going. And last year,

[00:14:36] that was unheard of. Now, last year we were depleted in defense and guys that we expected to have better years like John Marino and Jonas Siegenthaler. They really didn't live up to what they were supposed to do for this team. Hamilton's out. And now all of a sudden, all these big minutes are laid on Luke Hughes and Shimon Nemich and their narrow little 20 year old shoulders. Anyway, I don't think they are in love with Shimon Nemich anymore. And I think that they're really kind of

[00:15:05] thinking maybe Casey can take this spot, especially if there's talk of Siegenthaler coming back by the playoffs. Okay. Maybe we can stop gap that position right now with Seamus Casey for 25 games. We can send Shimon Nemich somewhere else and get a nice piece back to play with Jack. And now this team, okay, because come playoff time, Sieg's healthy, you're not going to hear boo out of Seamus Casey if he's

[00:15:32] got to go sit up in the box. You're not going to say shit or he's going to go down and play Utica's not going to make the playoffs. So they're not going to be playing, but he's not going to say boo. Shimon Nemich, we know has made gripes. Now, valid, invalid, you know, we, when I say we, I'm talking about the other puckers, like we are part of the Lula Marella kind of ways of the devil. People never made comments like that. And if you did, yeah, you were probably not there very long.

[00:15:58] Now I'm not saying that this administration acts like that or treats their players like that. I'm just a little bit more old school and that shit kind of doesn't fly. So are they showcasing one of them for a trade? Are they just really, you know, Hey, look, whoever plays better over the next maybe five, six, seven, eight games is going to get that position until sees is back and somebody that we might be able to trust going into a playoff series if

[00:16:25] sees isn't ready, but that's very interesting. And I think something that we should really kind of keep our eye on. Um, if Casey's going to play where, um, how many games is he going to get? Are one of these guys on the block? Is there something in the works to, uh, you know, why they're up here? I don't, I don't necessarily know. Um, those are the only things that make any sense to me, but real curious devil fans, what you guys think, am I completely off base here?

[00:16:54] Um, is there no way that they would ever trade any of either of these guys? Um, you know, maybe, uh, also if anybody is interested in picking up one of these awesome kick-ass uncle Pucker stickers here and there's a really super cool logo, all your friends will be jealous. They'll want to know where you got it and you know, you don't have to tell them, uh, put it on your car, put it on your laptop, put it on your water bottle, give it to a ranger fan, whatever it is that you want to do. All you have to do is go to uncle puckers.com, fill out the contact info.

[00:17:24] We get the email and we will send it out to you free of charge ASAP. Um, we sent them a ton of them already all over the country. Uh, a couple in Canada. Um, not sure about how much that's going to cost on the tariffs and stuff, but anyway, let us know what you think. Big game. So psyched and so happy to have devil's hockey back tomorrow. And also we will be doing a live stream tomorrow. Um, four of us, uh, for the puckers doing the live stream is going to probably go in live around 930,

[00:17:54] 945. We'll throw something out on social, let you guys know. Uh, so if you're up after the game, you want to hop on, you want to talk about it with us and whatever other stupid shit we're doing, we would love to have you guys really appreciate it. Thanks for checking out this video. Um, be well and, uh, it's over Johnny. It's over.