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The scorching hot Ducks are in New Jersey for a date with the Devils

February 17, 2012, 2:41 PM ET [49 Comments]
Todd Cordell
New Jersey Devils Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Match-up- Ducks (24-24-9 - 57 points) @ Devils (32-20-4 - 68 points)
TV - MSG-Plus, Prime Ticket (HD)
Puck drop - 7:00 PM ET
Season series - N/A
Last 10: Anaheim 6-2-2 / New Jersey 6-2-2
Projected starting goalies - Jonas Hiller (ANA) vs. Martin Brodeur (NJ)

Battle of the stats

Goals for/against per game

Anaheim - 2.56 / 2.81
New Jersey - 2.66 / 2.73

Powerplay/Penalty Kill percentage

Anaheim - 17.2% / 83.6%
New Jersey - 17.0% / 88.5%

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

Ducks lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com

Jason Blake - Ryan Getzlaf - Corey Perry
Bobby Ryan - Saku Koivu - Teemu Selanne
Matt Beleskey - Nick Bonino - Andrew Cogliano
Niklas Hagman - Rod Pelley - George Parros

Francois Beauchemin - Cam Fowler
Luca Sbisa - Lubomir Visnovsky
Toni Lydman - Sheldon Brookbank

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

Zach Parise - Adam Henrique - Ilya Kovalchuk
Petr Sykora - Patrik Elias - David Clarkson
Alexei Ponikarovsky - Dainius Zubrus - Steve Bernier
Eric Boulton - Jacob Josefson - Nick Palmieri

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

Notes: Martin Brodeur will start...Adam Larsson will continue to sit with a lower-back injury...Stephane Veilleux and Cam Janssen will sit...Eric Boulton will draw back in...Nick Palmieri will play his first game since being recalled.

Ducks to watch out for:

Corey Perry - The NHL's reigning MVP is really heating up of late. He now has five goals, including a hat trick, in his past three games.

Jason Blake - The Ducks record is ridiculously good with him in the lineup. Believe it or not his injury really, really hurt the Ducks. Though his personal stats won't show it, he's been playing very good hockey for Anaheim.

Jonas Hiller - Hiller, like the rest of the Ducks, has been playing fantastic hockey as of late. I know he struggled early in the season, again like the rest of the team, but he's back to his old self. In my opinion he's the NHL's most underrated goaltender.

Devils to watch out for:

Adam Henrique - He tallied two points in his first game back between Ilya Kovalchuk and Zach Parise. What does he have in store for New Jersey tonight?

Petr Sykora - He scored in his first game back on a line with Patrik Elias. Throughout his career he's been a streaky player, is a solid offensive streak on the horizon?

Nick Palmieri - He is playing his first game with the Devils since being recalled. I'm sure he'll have a jump in his step tonight.

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