Match-up - New Jersey Devils (0-3-3) @ Ottawa Senators (2-2-2)
Road/Home records - 0-3-2 -------------- 2-2-2
TV - MSG Plus, Sportsnet-Ottawa
Puck drop - 7:30 PM ET
Season series - 0-0
Last 10: Devils 0-3-3 / Senators 2-2-2
Projected starting goalies - Martin Brodeur (NJD) v. Craig Anderson (OTT)
Goals for/against per game
Ottawa - 2.5/3.0
New Jersey - 1.83/3.17
Power play/Penalty Kill
Ottawa - 20%/80.6%
New Jersey - 6.7%/81.2%
Here are the projected lines (subject to change) for the Sens:
Clarke MacArthur - Kyle Turris - Bobby Ryan
Milan Michalek - Jason Spezza - Cory Conacher
Colin Greening - Zack Smith - Chris Neil
Matt Kassian - J.G. Pageau - Erik Condra
Marc Methot - Erik Karlsson
Jared Cowen - Patrick Wiercioch
Chris Phillips - Joe Corvo
Notable injuries: none.
Here are the projected lines (subject to change) for the Devils:
Patrik Elias - Adam Henrique - Jaromir Jagr
Mattias Tedenby - Travis Zajac - Michael Ryder
Dainius Zubrus - Andrei Loktionov - Damien Brunner
Ryan Carter - Stephen Gionta - Steve Bernier
Bryce Salvador - Adam Larsson
Andy Greene - Marek Zidlicky
Anton Volchenkov - Peter Harrold
Some thoughts:
- Pete DeBoer loves to use the Zajac line against opposing teams big name players, though I think he'd be smart not to put him up against Spezza's line. Besides his big game against Phoenix, Spezza has been pretty quiet this year and the Turris line has been carrying the load for the Sens, as Travis Yost has written about in great detail.
Turris has been the Sens' best center and arguably best player through six games. The Sens are getting 60% of all shot attempts during 5 v. 5 close situations while Turris is on the ice, and he has five points in six games. If he goes up against lesser competition, it could be a bloodbath.
- Tedenby will be playing in his first game of the season. He had a pretty good preseason, so it wouldn't surprise me to see him produce more than he has in the past. The Devils have looked quite slow to this point so Tedenby's speed and energy could be exactly what the doctor ordered.
- No defensive changes for the Devils tonight which means DeBoer will run out a Volchenkov - Harrold pairing. The game is in Ottawa so they'll have last change, and you can bet Paul MacLean will take advantage of that. If he gets the Spezza or Turris line up against them at any point, which he will, it may get ugly in a hurry.
- The Sens 3rd defensive pairing has been less than spectacular this year so the Devils will need to take advantage of that. They have three pretty good scoring lines and a solid 4th line, so they should be able to generate some offense against them regardless of who's on the ice.
- Brodeur has a 3.19 goals against average and .878 save percentage in three starts this year. He'll need to be good if the Devils want to have a chance in this hockey game.
- Ottawa's coming off a win against a tough Phoenix team to end their road trip, so they'll come into this feeling pretty good about themselves. The Devils can't afford a slow start.
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