The Prudential Center will play host to an early Thanksgiving feast as the New Jersey Devils invite Columbus over for a hockey celebration.
Guess who’s coming to town for an early Thanksgiving Eve dinner at the Rock? Yep, you guessed it, John Tortorella.
The New Jersey Devils welcome the Columbus Blue Jackets in a Metropolitan Division battle in Newark, NJ prepping fans for Thanksgiving tomorrow.
Coming off a 1-2 road trip last week with the lone win coming on Sunday in Vancouver, the Devils return to familiar surroundings as they enter the Thanksgiving break.
#NJDEVILS WIN! Cory Schneider stood on his head, making 36 saves in the Devils 3-2 victory! #RELENTLESS #NJDvsVAN pic.twitter.com/0jGieeCaST
— New Jersey Devils (@NHLDevils) November 23, 2015
Devils netminder Cory Schneider went 1-1 last week, defeating the Canucks with a brick wall of a performance in the team’s win. He is showing that he is worthy of being mentioned as one of the game’s elite, and creeping up to the likes of New York Rangers Henrik Lundqvist, Montreal Canadiens Carey Price, and Nashville Predators Pekka Rinne as one of the best.
Despite not having a glamorous record in his Devils career, he has consistently ranked as one of the top goalie statistically.
His career numbers of 2.16 goals against average and .926 save percentage ranks Schneider as one of the best in the game today.
This season, the Devils goaltender is once again at the top of the NHL goaltenders this season. He’s tied for sixth in wins (10), ranks fifth in among active goaltenders who have played over 16 games this season with a 2.05 goals against average and save percentage with .928.
Unfortunately, Schneider was on the losing end the last time he faced the Blue Jackets earlier this season, giving up three goals on 14 shots in a 3-1 loss on October 27th.
However, the Devils appear to have positivity on their side, heading into tonight.
The team’s power play has scored a goal in five straight games and are ranked fourth in the NHL. On the defensive side, their penalty kill is in the top ten with a 83.8 kill percentage.
That bodes well against the Blue Jackets, who are in the middle of the pack in Special Teams: 19.5% with the man-advantage and 80.8% shorthanded (14th in NHL).
Also, tonight may mark the return of one of the longest standing Devils on the current roster, Patrik Elias. New Jersey’s all-time leading scorer could make his season debut on the third line.
Patrik Elias: "I think I'm in."
— Tom Gulitti (@TGfireandice) November 24, 2015
According to NHL.com, he was seen practicing with Jacob Josefson and Stefan Matteau.
Devs' lines: Cammalleri-Henrique-Stempniak; Kalinin-Zajac-Palmieri; Elias-Josefson-Matteau; Farnham-Gionta-Tootoo; Tlusty, O'Neill, Kennedy.
— Tom Gulitti (@TGfireandice) November 24, 2015
Elias also rotating in on the one PP unit with Stempniak.
— Tom Gulitti (@TGfireandice) November 24, 2015
But another storyline to watch will be the return of Torts to the Prudential Center.
READ MORE ON TORTS: John Tortorella Will Succeed With Columbus Blue Jackets Despite Past
Devils fans are more than familiar with his antics at the Rock when he was the head coach of the Rangers:
Even though the names and places have changed, the memories still remain. Torts is now driving the ship of the Blue Jackets and appears to be a calmer, gentler person.
But, let’s not fool ourselves here, the fiery disciplinarian is in there.
And New Jersey may have the right PITCHFORK to poke and prod that out of him!
