*stats based on playoffs.
*** means player is questionable for the game
Match-up - Devils (48 wins, 102 points) @ Panthers (38 wins, 94 points)
Road/Home records - 24-15-2 -------------- 21-9-11
TV - TSN2 (HD), NHL Network (US), RDSI, MSG-Plus (HD)
Puck drop - 6:30 PM ET
Series score - Tied at 2
Projected starting goalies - Martin Brodeur (NJ) vs. Jose Theodore (FLA)
Battle of the stats
Goals for/against per game *
Florida - 2.50 / 3.00
New Jersey - 3.00 / 2.50
Powerplay/Penalty Kill percentage *
Florida - 37.5% / 73.3%
New Jersey - 26.7% / 62.5%
Here are the projected lines (subject to change) for the Panthers:
Panthers lines courtesy of DailyFaceoff.com.
Tomas Fleischmann - Stephen Weiss - Kris Versteeg
Sean Bergenheim - Marcel Goc - Mikael Samuelsson
Jerred Smithson - Shawn Matthias - Scottie Upshall
Marco Sturm - John Madden - Tomas Kopecky
Jason Garrison *** - Brian Campbell
Dmitry Kulikov - Mike Weaver
Ed Jovanovski - Erik Gudbranson
Here are the projected lines (subject to change) for the Devils:
Zach Parise - Travis Zajac - Ilya Kovalchuk
Petr Sykora - Patrik Elias - Dainius Zubrus
Alexei Ponikarovsky - Adam Henrique - David Clarkson
Ryan Carter - Stephen Gionta - Steve Bernier
Bryce Salvador- Marek Zidlicky
Andy Greene - Mark Fayne
Anton Volchenkov - Peter Harrold
Notes: Martin Brodeur will start...Cam Janssen, Eric Boulton and Adam Larsson are expected to sit as healthy scratches .
Panthers to watch out for:
Mikael Samuelsson - After recording points in the first three games of the series, Samuelsson was held off the board in Game 4. With the Panthers lack of offensive punch up front, he'll likely have to get back on the score sheet tonight if they're going to win this game.
Stephen Weiss - The Panthers seem to go as Stephen Weiss goes. He had his two best games in Game 2 and Game 3 and the Panthers won. He couldn't create much in Game 1 or Game 4 and they lost both games. Expect the same pattern to go in effect tonight depending on how he performs.
Brian Campbell - With Jason Garrison out of the lineup in Game 4, the onus was on Campbell to shut down the Devils top line. While he didn't do a horrific job, he certainly could have done better. He'll be better today.
Devils to watch out for:
Travis Zajac - He has been very good this series and was exceptionally good in Game Four, recording a goal and an assist. Through four games he's the Devils leader in scoring with four points (2G, 2A).
Anton Volchenkov - He was plus-2 and played his best game of the series by far in Game 4. If he can put forth another strong outing today, the Devils will have a good shot at taking a 3-2 series lead back to New Jersey.
Martin Brodeur - After a bad outing in Game 3, he recorded a shutout in Game 4 to become the all-time leader in playoff shutouts with 24. Which Brodeur will we see tonight?
Keys to the game
Florida - Good start
After their poor performance in Game 4, they'll certainly be looking to rebound tonight. They're at home with the series tied and there's nothing they would rather do than jump out to an early lead and get the fans into it early. New Jersey needs to try and prevent this from happening.
New Jersey - Quality goaltending
The Devils are deep enough and have enough star power up front to compete with good teams as long as their goaltending holds up. If Brodeur plays like he did in Game 4, the Devils will be in great hands.
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