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Red hot Devils look for 4th consecutive win as they host the Penguins

February 5, 2012, 9:30 AM ET [74 Comments]
Todd Cordell
New Jersey Devils Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Match-up- Penguins (30-18-4 - 64 points) @ Devils (29-19-3 - 61 points)
TV - ROOT (HD), MSG Plus
Puck drop - 1:00 PM ET
Last 10: Pittsburgh 9-1-0 / New Jersey 6-3-1
Projected starting goalies - Marc-Andre Fleury (PIT) vs. Martin Brodeur (NJ)

Battle of the stats

Goals for/against per game

Pittsburgh - 2.92 / 2.52
New Jersey - 2.65 / 2.82

Powerplay/Penalty Kill percentage

Pittsburgh - 18.5% / 87.5%
New Jersey - 16.4% / 89.4%

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

Penguins lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com

Chris Kunitz - Evgeni Malkin - James Neal
Steve Sullivan - Cal O'Reilly - Tyler Kennedy
Matt Cooke - Dustin Jeffrey - Pascal Dupuis
Richard Park - Joe Vitale - Craig Adams

Brooks Orpik - Kris Letang
Paul Martin - Zybnek Michalek
Deryk Engelland - Matt Niskanen

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

Zach Parise - Patrik Elias - Ilya Kovalchuk
Petr Sykora - Dainius Zubrus - David Clarkson
Alexei Ponikarovsky - Jacob Josefson - Steve Bernier
Eric Boulton - Brad Mills - Peter Harrold

Bryce Salvador - Matt Taormina
Anton Volchenkov - Kurtis Foster
Andy Greene - Mark Fayne

Notes: Martin Brodeur is expected to start...As of 9:30 AM ET there has been no word on if one, or both, of Adam Larsson and Adam Henrique will return today.The Devils have won three consecutive games after losing three consecutive. Ilya Kovalchuk has seven points in the past three games.

Penguins to watch out for:

Chris Kunitz - He has three points (2G, 1A) in three games against the Devils this season.

Paul Martin - Most players have at least limited success against their former team and Martin is no different. He has two points in two games against New Jersey this year.

Marc-Andre Fleury - He has won nine consecutive starts and has posted a save percentage of .940 or better in five of them.

Devils to watch out for:

Ilya Kovalchuk - He has two consecutive three point games and has six points (2G, 4A) in three games against the Penguins this season.

Kurtis Foster - After being benched against the Canadiens, Foster bounced back with a three point game (2G, 1A) in Philadelphia.

Martin Brodeur - In two starts against Pittsburgh this season Brodeur is 2-0-0 with a 1.00 goals against average and a .972 save percentage.

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