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NHL Game Preview: New Jersey Devils vs. Tampa Bay Lightning - 12/12/11

December 12, 2011, 3:39 PM ET [ Comments]
Todd Cordell
New Jersey Devils Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Matchup- Devils (14-13-1 - 29 points) @ Lightning (12-15-2 - 26 points)
TV - Versus (HD), TSN 2, RIS (HD)
Puck drop - 7:00 PM ET
Last 10: New Jersey 4-6-0 / Tampa Bay 3-7-0
Projected starting goalies - Johan Hedberg (NJ) vs. Dwayne Roloson (TB)

Battle of the stats

Goals for/against per game

Tampa Bay - 2.52 / 3.24
New Jersey - 2.32 / 2.82

Powerplay/Penalty Kill percentage

Tampa Bay - 14.7% / 82%
New Jersey - 12.6% / 93.4%

Here are the projected lines (subject to change) for the Lightning:

Ryan Malone - Steven Stamkos - Steve Downie
Tom Pyatt - Vincent Lecavalier - Teddy Purcell
Nate Thompson - Dominic Moore - Ryan Shannon
Blair Jones - Adam Hall - Dana Tyrell

Victor Hedman - Eric Brewer
Marc-Andre Bergeron - Matt Gilroy
Brett Clark - Bruno Gervais

Here are the projected lines (subject to change) for the Devils:

Zach Parise - Adam Henrique - Ilya Kovalchuk
Petr Sykora - Patrik Elias - David Clarkson
Dainius Zubrus - Ryan Carter - Nick Palmieri
Eric Boulton - Tim Sestito - Mattias Tedenby

Bryce Salvador - Matt Taormina
Henrik Tallinder - Adam Larsson
Mark Fayne - Alexander Urbom

Notes: Anton Volchenkov has been placed on IR and obviously will not play...Matt Taormina and Urbom will remain in the lineup...Mark Fraser will sit...Rod Pelley will sit as well...Cam Janssen is healthy enough to play tonight but will not go...Johan Hedberg will start, Brodeur tomorrow...A win tonight would put the Devils in a tie for 8th place in the Eastern Conference.

Lightning to watch out for:

Ryan Shannon - He had two points in the only meeting between the two teams thus far. It was a 4-2 loss.

Steven Stamkos - He has been heating up as of late as he has 11 points (5G, 6A) in the last ten games.

Dwayne Roloson - The Lightning's goaltender has been below average all season long. They could use a solid performance from Roloson tonight.

Devils to watch out for:

Adam Henrique - His seven game point streak was just snapped. Will he start another streak tonight?

David Clarkson - He had two points, including the game winning goal, in the only meeting between the two teams thus far.

Matt Taormina - He is getting an opportunity to play on the powerplay. If he plays well there, he could earn himself a permanent spot on the roster on that alone.

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Note - Brendan Ross and I released our collaborated top 30 2012 draft rankings at TheHockeyGuys.net for December. Click here to check them out.

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