Match-up - Devils (35-22-5 - 75 points) @ Capitals (32-26-5 - 69 points)
Road/Home records - 19-11-2 -------------- 21-8-2
TV - CSN-MA, MSG Plus
Puck drop - 7:00 PM ET
Season series - Devils lead 2-1
Last 10: New Jersey 4-4-2 / Washington 4-5-1
Projected starting goalies - Johan Hedberg (NJ) vs. Michal Neuvirth (WSH)
Battle of the stats
Goals for/against per game
Washington - 2.71 / 2.78
New Jersey - 2.62 / 2.71
Powerplay/Penalty Kill percentage
Washington - 16.7% / 81.1%
New Jersey - 16.4% / 88.5%
Here are the projected lines (subject to change) for the Capitals:
Capitals lines courtesy of Dailyfaceoff.com
Alex Ovechkin - Marcus Johansson - Keith Aucoin
Jason Chimera - Mathieu Perreault - Alexander Semin
Matt Hendricks - Brooks Laich - Troy Brouwer
Jay Beagle - Jeff Halpern - Joel Ward
Karl Alzner - John Carlson
Jeff Schultz - Mike Green
Dmitri Orlov - Dennis Wideman
Here are the projected lines (subject to change) for the Devils:
Zach Parise - Adam Henrique - Ilya Kovalchuk
Petr Sykora - Patrik Elias - Steve Bernier
Dainius Zubrus - Jacob Joseson - David Clarkson
Eric Boulton/Cam Janssen - Ryan Carter - xxxxxx
Anton Volchenkov - Marek Zidlicky
Bryce Salvador - Adam Larsson
Andy Greene - Mark Fayne
Matt Taormina - xxxxxx
Notes: Johan Hedberg will start...Alexei Ponikarovsky will sit due to injury...Matt Taormina will dress as the 7th defenseman...Steve Bernier has moved up to the second line...Dainius Zubrus is back on the Devils third line...The Devils have lost four consecutive games.
Capitals to watch out for:
Jason Chimera - He has been extremely successful against the Devils this season, scoring four goals in three games.
Alexander Semin - He has been the Alexander Semin of old as of late as he has 11 points (4G, 7A) in his last 11 games.
Michal Neuvirth - He has been lights out since 2012 has started. He has a 2.18 goals against average and a .928 save percentage since January 1st.
Devils to watch out for:
Ilya Kovalchuk - He had two points (1G, 1A) in his only game against the Capitals this year. He missed the other meetings due to injury.
Marek Zidlicky - Though he's only had one full practice with the Devils, he has now played in three games with them. Is this the game he breaks out?
Johan Hedberg - If I recall correctly Hedberg was very good in his last start after a long lay-off. Will history repeat itself?
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