Devils vs. Lightning: Game 3 Prediction

The New Jersey Devils will be home tonight for Game 3 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The series is 2-0 in favor of the Bolts, and the Devils will be looking to get a spark from newly inserted netminder Cory Schneider.

Earlier in the day, we touched upon the news that New Jersey Devils head coach John Hynes would be switching goalies for Game 3. Instead of Keith Kinkaid, who began the first two and was pulverized, it’ll be Cory Schneider. We also noted how that won’t really matter if the Devils don’t feel like playing defense. It’s also not going to matter for the fact that Schneider has been as bad as anyone else Hynes could possibly throw out there anyway.

In all honesty, if the Devils and their fans want to gain any hope of a comeback, then the team has to play better. By that we mean they have to play a lot better. Don’t look ahead to Game 4 simply because you’ll still be somewhat alive. It has to be in Game 3. You know, the one that is going to ultimately salt away their season if they don’t put their heads on the collective swivel.

Certainly, it’s easy enough to say “play better,” but right now, the Tampa Bay Lightning have struck twice with complete games from their scoring depth. That element was noted earlier in these playoffs as well. It doesn’t appear to be slowing anytime soon. You also never want to find out another goalie is being submitted in net when your starter isn’t injured. That’s bad news bears for any playoff team.

The silver lining is that the Devils popped three behind Andrei Vasileskviy on Saturday. Their own production is coming around, so that helps. We don’t want to completely disregard any and all hope (it’s over). Then again, Steven Stamkos for the Bolts only has two points and his team has score 10 goals. Who do you key in on? With that, let’s take a few swipes at some three-eyed raven type predictions for this one.

Predictions

1. Stamkos goes off for two goals and an assist. Stamkos as mentioned has been relatively quiet, but tonight he won’t be. As of now, he hasn’t had to be a hero or star for the Bolts. If they, for whatever reason, struggle to get chances tonight, look for him to take charge and truly get off the Schneid(er).

2. Cory Schneider gets pulled in favor of Keith Kinkaid who gets pulled in favor of any fan who wants to come down and try stopping this Bolts club. Supposedly it’ll be by raffle.

3. Devils left winger Marcus Johansson returns tonight after dealing with a concussion. It seems to be big news for New Jersey. We’re not sure why. His 14 regular season points will offer no factor, but that minus 11 just may.

Game 3 Final Score: Tampa Bay Lightning 6, New Jersey Devils 2.

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