The New Jersey Devils look to get back in the win column when they face a division rival on Saturday night at the Nations Capitol. The Washington Capitals open their 50th season at home when they host the Devils at 7 p.m. Eastern.

REQUIRED: How to Watch Devils Game vs. Washington Capitals can watch; Projected lines, notes and more

The Devils held the morning skate before the Til with the Caps, and it appears head coach Sheldon Keefe made an adjustment to the lineup following New Jersey’s 4-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.

Ondrej Palat is now on the fourth line alongside Curtis Lazar and Nathan Bastian. As for Paul Cotter, he has been promoted to the third line alongside Erik Haula and Stefan Noesen.

This is what the workflow looked like this morning:

Devil’s Morning Skate*

Come on

Timo Meier – Jack Hughes – Jesper Bratt

Tomas Tatar – Nico Hischier – Dawson Mercer

Paul Cotter – Erik Haula – Stefan Noesen

Ondrej Palat – Curtis Lazar – Nathan Bastian

Defenders

Brenden Dillon – Dougie Hamilton

Jonas Siegenthaler – Johnathan Kovacevic

Seamus Casey – Simon Nemec

Kurtis MacDermid

Goalkeepers

Jacob Markstrom

Jake Allen

*Setup subject to change

Relegation of Ondrej Palat

It’s certainly not an ideal situation to have Palat on the fourth line. The Devils signed the former two-time Stanley Cup champion to a five-year, $30 million contract (average annual value $6 million) three summers ago. Since arriving in New Jersey, Palat hasn’t exactly made the offensive contributions he did with the Tampa Bay Lightning. In 122 games with the Devils, spanning more than two seasons, Palat scored a total of 19 goals and 54 points. In two games this year, he has yet to find the scoresheet in any capacity, and he has been net negative in CF%, xGF% and scoring chance differential.

However, Cotter has found the back of the net twice and has not only been a physical monster but has also shown an attacking upside that you can imagine will lead to more scoring opportunities in an expanded role.

“I’d say it’s more Cotter. I don’t know if we can call it our fourth rule either,” Keefe explained. “Those guys have been consistently good every game, right through to preseason. They were probably our most effective line in our last game. I’m trying to get the simplicity and competitiveness of Lazar and Bastian and the direct nature of their playing to continue and get the best out of Palat. Cotter, I liked him with what he brought to that line when I had him there in Prague as well. So it’s a bit of trying to get the Haula group going and give the pairs like Lazar and Bastian some consistency.

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