Islanders vs. Devils: Betting odds, lineups, Jordan Eberle needs to score

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NEWARK, NEW JERSEY – SEPTEMBER 21: Anders Lee #27 of the New York Islanders moves in on Cory Schneider #35 of the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on September 21, 2019 in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils defeated the Islanders 4-3. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

The New York Islanders start 2020 with a nationally televised game against the New Jersey Devils. Hopefully, they don’t play down to their opposition.

Over the month of December, the New York Islanders have gone 4-4-1 against teams currently outside of a playoff position. The Islanders just aren’t beating teams they should be beating.

Through their last five games against non-playoff teams, the Isles are 1-3-1 with a -7 goal differential. When playing lower-tier opponents, the Islanders find a way to somehow play down to their opponents.

At home, in a nationally televised game, the Islanders welcome the New Jersey Devils who are well out of the playoffs and struggling mightily. On paper, the Islanders are vastly superior to the Devils who recently lost their best player for a few prospects and some conditional picks. But will they be able to keep up their winning form?

Again, in every sense of the word, the Islanders are better than the Devils. The Isles have a better record, they score more goals (barely), they allow fewer goals against, and their special teams are more efficient.

But, we’ve seen the Islanders completely forget what makes them successful when the opposition isn’t of a higher caliber. And that’s a real shame. With the parity in this league, you can’t switch off for a second. The Devils might be at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, but they can still make you pay if you don’t give them enough respect.

Tale of the Tape

Betting Odds

There’s no question that the Islanders are the favorites in this game. They’re the home team and have a superior record. Courtesy of the Action Network, the Isles Moneyline is set at -210, at the time of writing. The Devils sit at +175.

NEWARK, NJ – OCTOBER 4: Nikita Gusev #97 of the New Jersey Devils celebrates scoring a goal during the first period against the Winnipeg Jets at the Prudential Center on October 4, 2019 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Adam Hunger/Getty Images) /

Players to Watch

Jordan Eberle. RW. . New York Islanders.

Jordan Eberle hasn’t put up a point in his last three games. Worst yet is that he has a single goal to his name over his last 13 games. Eberle needs to start putting pucks in the back of the net.

At his current pace, he’s going to end the season with eight goals to his name. His lowest return is 16 goals, and that’s from the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season.

The Islanders need Eberle to start finding the net and soon. The Isles might have found more goals with Mathew Barzal becoming a 30+ goal scorer, but it isn’t ‘found’ if Eberle regresses to this sub-15 goals-a-season player.

If he’s going to break that he might want to get the puck on net more frequently. He has seven shots over his last three games, an average of 2.3 per game.

Nikita Gusev. LW. . New Jersey Devils.

After a slow start to the season, Nikita Gusev has been showing why the Devils were willing to give up two second-round picks and $9 million over two years even though he hadn’t played a single NHL game.

The Russian is riding a four-game point streak with six points. Over 36 games this season he has 23 points, putting him on pace for 52 at the end of the year.

Islanders fans were hoping to bring in Gusev and Lou even inquired about the winger. But the Isles GM soured over contract demands.

Now we get to see Gusev up close for the first time this season. We get to see for ourselves is the Isles could have used Gusev or not.

Lineups

New York Islanders

Noah Dobson and MIchael Dal Colle, who have been the healthy scratches, out early along with Jordan Eberle working with both goalies before #Isles morning skate. They host #NJDevils tonight at Coliseum.
— Andrew Gross (@AGrossNewsday) January 2, 2020

Lee-Barzal-Kuhnhackl
Beauvillier-Nelson-Brassard
Johnston-Bailey-Eberle
Martin-Cizikas-Komarov

Pelech-Pulock
Toews-Mayfield
Leddy-Boychuk

Varlamov (Greiss)

Semyon Varlamov gets his third straight start for the first time this season. With a combined 0.939SV% and 2.00GAA over his last two starts, Varlamov has earned the right to keep playing. Greiss, for his part, with a combined 0.820SV% and 3.66GAA over his last three games played, hasn’t been good enough to get back in nets.

While pointless over his last three games, it would be surprising if Jordan Eberle sits out today’s game. He was likely out there early with the two scratches to get some much-needed work in.

New Jersey Devils

https://twitter.com/amandacstein/status/1212777533596479488

First overall pick from last year’s draft Jack Hughes is out tonight with an upper-body injury. With 16 points in 36 games, Hughes has had a decent rookie season, but he hasn’t yet been that transcendent player the Devils need going forward.

Jersey’s second-round pick in 2015 MacKenzie Blackwood gets the start for the Devils. He hasn’t been great so far. In 30 games played he holds a 13-10-5 record and has averaged a 0.907SV% and 2.85GAA.

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