How Devils are splitting squad for Monday's games

The Devils practiced in two groups today at Barnabas Health Hockey House at Prudential Center.

The early group headed out shortly after getting off the ice for a flight to Prince Edward Island, where the Devils face the Senators on Monday night in a split-squad preseason game, the NHL’s Kraft Hockeyville game in O’Leary, a small town in Western P.E.I. that also received $100,000 in arena upgrades to O’Leary Community Sports Centre from the league after being selected

Both the Devils and Senators will also do some community meet-and-greets before playing the game, which will be broadcast without any local blackouts on NHL Network, the Devils said.

Meanwhile, the later group was the one that will be in Brooklyn on Monday night to face the Islanders.

Here’s how the two game rosters shake out:

Vs. Senators at P.E.I.

Goalies – Cory Schneider, Mackenzie Blackwood

Defensemen – Andy Greene, Dalton Prout, Steven Santini, Will Butcher, Tim Erixon, Viktor Loov, Mirco Mueller, Jacob MacDonald

Forwards: Nico Hischier, Taylor Hall, Adam Henrique, Kyle Palmieri, John Quenneville, Nathan Bastian, Drew Stafford, Pavel Zacha, Blake Coleman, Marcus Johansson, Jesper Bratt, Ryan Kujawinski, Jan Mandat

Vs. Islanders at Brooklyn

Goalies – Keith Kinkaid, Scott Wedgewood, Ken Appleby

Defensemen – Michael Kapla, Yaroslav Dyblenko, Ben Lovejoy, Damon Severson, Brian Strait, Joshua Jacobs, Colton White, John Moore

Forwards – Bracken Kearns, Brian Gibbons, Joseph Blandisi, Jimmy Hayes, Blake Pietila, Michael McLeod, Stefan Noesen, Miles Wood, Nick Lappin, Kevin Rooney, Blake Speers, Austin Cangelosi, Ben Thomson, Brandon Baddock

Some notes, particularly on the PEI group:

1. Per coach John Hynes, here are the top three lines against the Senators:

Taylor Hall-Pavel Zacha-Kyle Palmieri

Marcus Johansson-Nico Hischier-Drew Stafford

Jesper Bratt-Adam Henrique-John Quenneville

2. As you can see, Johansson, a left wing with the Capitals, was used as a top-line center his first two preseason games with the Devils in between Taylor Hall and Kyle Palmieri. For now, it’s back to left wing.

“We wanted to get Marcus some live reps and practice reps at center,” Hynes said. “When you talk to him, you know center and left wing is where he’s going to play so we’d like to get him a game at left wing, a couple of practices at left wing. Zacha looks like he’s done well in his games in the middle. Adam, we know can play center and done a good job and Nico, he’s comfortable there. We’ll give those guys an opportunity to play and put Marcus on the left side to see what the lineup looks like. We’re just trying to toy around with that a little bit.”

3. So, I asked Hynes, if Travis Zajac is out and Brian Boyle is not back by the Oct. 7 regular-season opener, who does he rely on for the key faceoffs?

Hynes, I thought, made an interesting point about the new faceoff violation crackdown in relation to his answer and how that might help the Devils.

“I think Adam, possibly,” Hynes said. “I think Pavel has done a good job so far, he’s improved. There’s some wingers, Stafford is decent on draws. A guy like Hayes, if he happens to make the team. We’ll go through all the stats by the end of the preseason and look at the faceoffs.

“The other difference with the younger centers right now with the new rules on faceoffs is if you’re skilled, quick stick, good hand-eye coordination, you will do well on faceoffs as opposed to getting outmuscled or outwitted by veteran players. That’s advantageous for us.”

4. Hynes said Schneider would play the full game against the Senators and Kinkaid will play the full game against the Islanders. Second full games for each of the Devils two NHL goalies.

5. Scott Wedgewood, after stopping all 14 shots he faced in the 4-1 win over the Capitals in the preseason opener, certainly deserves to get another look in preseason. But with the 25-year-old needing waivers to be sent to Binghamton (AHL) and with Wedgewood headed to the B-Devils because Schneider and Kinkaid are the Devils’ tandem, I don’t think the Devils want to showcase Wedgewood’s skills to the rest of the NHL right now.

6. Roster cuts coming Tuesday after these split-squad games so last chance for a lot of the prospects and depth candidates to state their cases.

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