With the NHL’s holiday break over, the Washington Capitals and New Jersey Devils start the second half with a key Metropolitan Division clash Saturday in Newark, N.J.
Both teams entered the three-day hiatus on losing streaks. Still, they remain in the thick of the divisional and Eastern Conference playoff chase.
This time last year, the Devils led the division with 49 points in 37 games. Coach Sheldon Keefe’s team is eight points off that pace this season, and New Jersey is currently on the outside of a playoff spot. However, the Devils have also played roughly half their season without Jack Hughes, who is still tied for the team lead in goals with 11 and ranks fifth overall with 21 points despite only playing 19 games.
“If you look back at it, considering the way the season has gone, the number of injuries that we’ve had at different times, the quality of players that we’ve played without for long stretches of time, the fact that we’re still very much in the fight through the first half is good,” Keefe said after Tuesday’s 2-1 loss to the New York Islanders.
Hughes returned last Sunday after missing 18 games because of a finger injury he suffered during a team dinner on Nov. 13. The Devils went 8-10-0 without the 24-year-old center, who finished second on the team in goals (27) and points (70) last season.
The Devils are on a two-game losing streak since Hughes’ return, but he did score a goal in his first game back against the Buffalo Sabres.
The Capitals have lost three straight (0-2-1) and six of their last seven (1-4-2).
“The next portion of the season is going to determine a lot of what we’re about and where this team goes,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said after the team’s 7-3 home loss Tuesday to the New York Rangers. “That’s just a fact, because if you look at our schedule and what we’re about to embark on at the end of December and into January, it’s go time.”
Tom Wilson, who leads the Capitals with 17 goals and 34 points, missed Tuesday’s game with an illness. He last scored a goal on Dec. 5 at Anaheim and has just three assists in his last seven games.
The 31-year-old winger has nine goals and 27 points in 47 regular-season games against the Devils. Wilson’s 18 assists are the most he’s had against any team in his 13-year career.
Carbery said he expects defenseman Rasmus Sandin to play Saturday after an upper-body injury forced him to sit out Tuesday.
Logan Thompson, the Capitals’ top goalie, is 14-9-3 this season with a .917 save percentage and a 2.24 goals-against average, which rank fifth and sixth, respectively, in the league. However, the 28-year-old is just 1-3-1 in his last five games, having given up 17 goals and posted an .891 save percentage. In five career games against New Jersey, Thompson is 2-0-3 with a 3.24 GAA and an .892 save percentage.
Jacob Markstrom and Jake Allen, both 35, have split time in the Devils’ crease, both starting 18 games. Markstrom is 9-8-1 with a 3.33 GAA and an .883 save percentage, while Allen is 10-8-0 with a 2.47 GAA and a .912 save percentage. Against Washington, Markstrom is 2-8-3 in 13 games with a 3.28 GAA and an .892 save percentage, while Allen is 6-6-0 in 12 games with a 3.60 GAA and an .885 save percentage.
