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NHL Gameday Preview: New Jersey Devils @ Calgary Flames - Game 5

October 11, 2013, 1:58 PM ET [142 Comments]
Todd Cordell
New Jersey Devils Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
You can follow Todd on Twitter @ToddCordell!

Match-up - New Jersey Devils (0-1-3) @ Calgary Flames (2-0-2)
Road/Home records - 0-1-2 -------------- 1-0-1
TV - MSG Plus 2, Sportsnet-West
Puck drop - 9:00 PM ET
Season series - 0-0
Last 10: Devils 0-1-3 / Flames 2-0-2
Projected starting goalies - Martin Brodeur (NJD) vs. Joey MacDonald (CGY)

Goals for/against per game

Calgary - 3.75/3.5
New Jersey - 2.25/3.25

Power play/Penalty Kill

Calgary - 14.3%/60%
New Jersey - 12.5%/88.9%

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

Sven Baertschi - Sean Monahan - Lee Stempniak
Curtis Glencross - Ben Street - T.J. Galiardi
Lance Bouma - Mikael Backlund - Jiri Hudler
Tim Jackman - Joe Colborne - Brian McGrattan

Mark Giordano - T.J. Brodie
Kris Russell - Dennis Wideman
Chris Butler - Shane O'Brien

Notable injuries: Matt Stajan, David Jones, Mike Cammalleri

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

Dainius Zubrus - Patrik Elias - Jaromir Jagr
Ryane Clowe - Adam Henrique - Michael Ryder
Rusty Olesz - Travis Zajac - Damien Brunner
Jacob Josefson - Stephen Gionta - Steve Bernier

Bryce Salvador - Marek Zidlicky
Andy Greene - Adam Larsson
Anton Volchenkov - Peter Harrold

Some thoughts:

- Pete DeBoer has decided to juggle the lines but I like that he kept the Zubrus - Elias - Jagr line together. Those three were by far the Devils best players against the Canucks as they created tons of chances and accounted for the teams only two goals.

- Mark Fayne had a few defensive lapses in his season debut and as a result will sit once again. Larsson, who has struggled this year, will draw back into the lineup. The Devils need a good game from him.

- Jacob Josefson will make his season debut. Personally I'd like to see Ryan Carter on the 4th line left wing spot and have Josefson play in place of Gionta, but that's just me. Either way, Josefson should be full of energy and ready to prove his worth tonight. He'll need to do just that if he hopes to remain in the lineup.

- Only Jagr, Brunner, Elias and Ryder have scored for the Devils thus far. They can't carry the load every night and will need some other players to start chipping in.

- Through four games, the Devils power play has really struggled. Luckily for them, the Flames have had a heck of a time killing off penalties to this point. Will the Devils be able to take advantage of the Flames poor penalty killing?

- The Flames are pretty thin down the middle and have been getting killed in the faceoff circle all season. They're struggling worse than the Devils in that regard as they have won less than 42% of their faceoffs. If the Devils can win the majority of the draws tonight, it should lead to a few extra scoring opportunities.

- Four games in, the Flames are 27th in the league in possession with a 44% rating. Their 4th line in particular has been bad and the Devils will need to take advantage of that.

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