New Jersey Devils Dish Taylor Hall
(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

The New Jersey Devils go on the road to the Capital One Arena in Washington D.C. to avenge a tough OT loss last night. 

  • New Jersey Devils (22-9-6)
  • Washington Capitals (23-13-3)
  • NHL, East, Friday, Dec. 30, 2017, 7 p.m. ET, MSG+
  • Capital One Arena, Washington DC

The New Jersey Devils were close, yet so far away from completing their first undefeated 6 game home stand in team history. Unfortunately, they faltered late and fell to the Buffalo Sabres in overtime. Taylor Hall scored what appeared to be the go-ahead goal with under 8 minutes to go in the game, but was waved off due to offsides. The Devils would go on to lose on a Rasmus Ristolainen goal.

Looking forward to tonight, the Devils will play their last game of 2017, and it was a year that really showed the transition that the Devils have made. After five long seasons, the Devils finally have a direction and can be a top team in this league. They will look to remain first place in the Metropolitan division and a win tonight would keep them there entering 2018.

Marcus Johansson, who has already had three IR stints this season makes his return to Washington in his first game back since being traded this summer. In 19 games this season he has five goals and three assists. Hopefully, for him, he gets into a rhythm and can stay on the ice for extended periods of time. He also notched his first goal of the six-game homestand last night.

Washington is led by Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Nicklas Backstrom, and defenseman John Carlson. Ovechkin leads the team in goals with 24 and seemingly scores every time they play New Jersey. In 46 regular season games against the Devils, Ovi has 22 goals and 27 assists.

Active/Inactive

The Devils will be going with the same lineup tonight that they used last night in their home game against Buffalo. Cory Schneider will make his ninth start in a row. He has had his struggles playing Washington.


John Hynes addressed the media and confirmed lines at 4:50 today.

Here are the lines that the Caps used in their morning skate today.

Washington Capitals coach Barry Trotz has confirmed that Holtby will be in goal tonight.

After Saturday’s game, the Devils will play on Tuesday in their second game of a four-game road stand.

Both New Jersey and Washington are 6-2-2 in their last ten games.

Other Devils News, Stories: 

  • Check out my article about Taylor Hall and how he has become to love New Jersey
  • Learn a little bit about the newest Devil Sami Vatanen in my article for ESNY
  • Also, check out nj.com writer Chris Ryan’s 6 observations about the last homestand.
I'm a Communications Major at St. Thomas Aquinas College and have a passion for sports. My favorite teams are the Devils, Giants, Yankees, Knicks, and Tottenham Hotspurs. I'm excited to be able to share my love of sports on the site.