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NHL Gameday Preview: New Jersey Devils @ New York Islanders - Game 15

February 16, 2013, 1:06 PM ET [44 Comments]
Todd Cordell
New Jersey Devils Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Match-up - New Jersey Devils (9-2-3) @ New York Islanders (5-7-1)
Road/Home records - 3-1-2 -------------- 1-5-0
TV - MSG Plus, MSG Plus 2
Puck drop - 7:00 PM ET
Season series - Devils lead 2-1
Last 10: Devils 6-2-2 / Islanders 3-6-1
Projected starting goalies - Johan Hedberg (NJ) vs. Evgeni Nabokov (NYI)

Battle of the stats

Goals for/against per game

New York (I) - 3.00 / 3.54
New Jersey - 2.86 / 2.14

Powerplay/Penalty Kill percentage

New York (I) - 25% / 88.1%
New Jersey - 20.7% / 82.8%

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

Lines courtesy of the Islanders official website.

Matt Moulson - John Tavares - Brad Boyes
Josh Bailey - Frans Nielsen - Kyle Okposo
Michael Grabner - Keith Aucoin - Eric Boulton
Matt Martin - Casey Cizikas - Colin McDonald

Andrew MacDonald - Lubomir Visnovsky
Travis Hamonic - Brian Strait
Joe Finley - Mark Streit

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

Alexei Ponikarovsky - Travis Zajac - Ilya Kovalchuk
Patrik Elias - Adam Henrique - David Clarkson
Ryan Carter - Stephen Gionta - Steve Bernier
Krys Barch - Jacob Josefson - Bobby Butler

Bryce Salvador - Henrik Tallinder
Andy Greene - Adam Larsson
Marek Zidlicky - Anton Volchenkov

Notes: Johan Hedberg will start...Henrik Tallinder draws back into the lineup in place of Mark Fayne...Peter Harrold and Stefan Matteau are the other healthy scratches...Ilya Kovalchuk is just one point shy of 800 for his career...The Ryan Carter - Stephen Gionta - Steve Bernier line has nine points (4G, 5A) in three games against the Islanders this season.

Islanders to watch out for:

Brad Boyes - He's off to a good start on Long Island as he has 10 points through 13 games. Boyes enters tonight's game on a three-game point-streak.

Kyle Okposo - He has really been struggling this season having recorded just four points through 13 games. Okposo is also pointless in his last four games and is minus-7 in that span.

Lubomir Visnovsky - Lubo seems to have came to New York in good spirits and ready to play. Through three games as an Islander, Visnovsky has three assists and ten shots while averaging about 22 minutes per game.

Devils to watch out for:

Patrik Elias - He has been on an absolute tear of late picking up 12 points (2G, 10A) in his last six games.

Ilya Kovalchuk - Kovalchuk picked up three assists Friday night and is now just one point shy of 800 for his career. I think he'll get it tonight.

Johan Hedberg - Hedberg is 4-1-0 with two shutouts and a 0.81 goals-against average against the Islanders since becoming a Devil.

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