On this week’s Power & Politics – was a federal investigation into COVID-19 deaths at New Jersey nursing homes motivated by politics?

And commuter costs are cutting into the wallets of residents going across the Hudson as congestion pricing goes into effect and PATH fares go up. Eric Landskroner sat down with Micah Rasmussen, director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey politics, to discuss how Gov. Phil Murphy will speak on that and more in his final State of the State address.

Also, New Jersey Senate Minority Leader Anthony Bucco speaks about issues affecting the state.

Firefighters responded to a massive building fire in Salem County, New Jersey, early Saturday morning.

The fire broke out at a store called A Cheerful Giver, located on Front Street in the Borough of Elmer, just before 1 a.m. The blaze reached two alarms.

The locally owned store offered homemade candles, jewelry, and home decor items.

There have been no reported injuries, and the cause of the fire has not yet been revealed.

THE SCOOP

The Devils have struggled since returning from the holiday break, winning only two of their seven games in that span: a 4-2 home win over the Hurricanes on Dec. 27 and a 3-2 win in Seattle against the Kraken on Jan. 6. In their most recent game against the New York Rangers, the Devils fell 3-2 in overtime at Madison Square Garden. Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt scored for the Devils in the loss. The Rangers’ two regulation goals were on the power play with Adam Fox and Artemi Panarin each scoring one. Sam Carrick had the overtime winner.

New Jersey is averaging 3.16 goals per game which is 11th in the NHL. Throughout the season, the Devils have limited their opponents to 2.55 goals per game which is fourth in the league. When it comes to special teams, the Devils have had one of the best power plays in the league through the first half. Currently, New Jersey’s power play is second, scoring 28% of the time. The Devils penalty kill is tenth in the league (82.1%).

Captain Nico Hischier leads the Devils with 19 goals and his 36 points are third on the team. Jack Hughes leads New Jersey with 50 points and is tied for the most assists (34) with Jesper Bratt. Hughes is also tied for the second most goals (16) with Stefan Noesen. Speaking of Noesen, his 16 goals through his first 44 games is a new career-high in a single season. Bratt’s 49 points are second on the team and his 15 goals are fourth. Jacob Markstrom has stood out for his strong play, especially over the last five weeks, as the Devils netminder has a 20-8-3 record through his 31 games played this season. He is averaging 2.20 goals against and has a .911 save percentage. Jake Allen makes up the other half of the goaltending tandem with a 5-7-1 record. He’s allowing 2.83 goals against on average and has a .901 save percentage.

Saturday kicks off a two-game homestand as the Devils host both Florida teams, with the second game on Jan. 14 against the Panthers. Following, the team heads to Toronto to face the Maple Leafs on Jan. 16.

After a four-game losing skid, the Lightning have bounced back with a pair of wins, beating the Carolina Hurricanes (Jan. 7, 3-2 W) and Boston Bruins (Jan. 9. 4-1 W). In their most recent game on Thursday, Tampa Bay saw goals from Anthony Cirelli (SHG), Michael Eyssimont, Brandon Hagel (EN), Braydon Point (PPG) while Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 27 of the 28 shots he faced.

The Lightning are averaging 3.69 goals per game which leads the NHL and they are allowing the eighth fewest goals on average per game (2.74). Tampa Bay is strong with their special teams units. Their power play is fifth in the league, scoring on 26.5% of their opportunities while their penalty kill is eighth, killing off penalties 82.7% of the time.

Braydon Point’s 25 goals are a team-high and his 47 points are second on the team. Nikita Kucherov leads Tampa Bay with 41 assists and 58 points while his 17 goals are fourth. The Lightning have four player with 40 or more points through Tampa Bay’s first 39 games this season: Kucherov (58), Point (47), Hagel (45), and Jake Guentzel (40). Vasilevskiy has carried the majority of the Lightning’s workload this season, playing 31 games this season with a 18-12-1 record. He’s averaging 2.31 goals against and has a .916 save percentage. Jonas Johansson has played nine games this season with a 4-3-1 record. He’s averaging 3.32 goals against and has a .898 save percentage.

Saturday is the first stop on a three-game roadtrip for the Lightning who continue on to Pittsburgh and Boston before returning home.

WHO’S HOT

Devils: Paul Cotter has three goals in the six games back from the holiday break, including two in his last three games (SEA, SJS). The forward is only three goals away from tying his single season career-high in goals that he set during the 2022-23 season with the Vegas Golden Knights. Cotter has 16 points this season through 44 games played.

Lightning: Brandon Hagel enters Saturday on a two game goal and points streak with three points during the last two games (2G, 1A). Hagel also leads the NHL with 15 goals from the low-slot region (per NHL Edge). Hagel is third in goals (19) and points (45) on the Lightning, while his 26 assists are second on Tampa Bay.

INJURIES

Devils: Haula (ankle, day-to-day), Hatakka (shoulder, IR)

Lightning: Moser (lower-body, IR)

REGULAR-SEASON RESULTS