Match-up - New York Rangers (27-23-3) New Jersey Devils (22-19-11)
Road/Home records - 15-10-0 -------------- 12-6-6
TV - NBC, CBC
Puck drop - 12:30 PM ET
Season series - Devils lead 3-0
Last 10: Ragers 6-3-1 / Devils 5-2-3
Projected starting goalies - Henrik Lundqvist vs Martin Brodeur



Projected lines for the Rangers:

Chris Kreider - Derek Stepan - Rick Nash
Carl Hagelin - Brad Richards - Ryan Callahan
Benoit Pouliot - Derick Brassard - Mats Zuccarello
Brian Boyle - Dominic Moore - Daniel Carcillo

Ryan McDonagh - Dan Girardi
Marc Staal - Anton Stralman
John Moore - Kevin Klein

Projected lines for the Devils:

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

Andy Greene - Mark Fayne
Bryce Salvador - Marek Zidlicky
Anton Volchenkov - Eric Gelinas

Injuries: Pete Harrold.

Game notes:

- After a slow start to the season, Alain Vigneault has the Rangers playing some pretty good hockey. They're a solid possession team at 5 vs 5, their special teams are good and their goaltending continues to get better. They're a pretty well rounded team so the Devils will need to bring their A game if they want to move to 4-0-0 against New York on the season.

- The Devils need to make sure they don't get caught up in the moment and keep their game simple today. The ice might be a little choppy and it's going to be cold, so it'd be best if the Devils play a north-south game and focus on simplifying their game. Typically they don't try and be fancy too often and today's probably not the time to change that.

- One interesting aspect of today's game will be the ability for Martin Brodeur to play pucks. He loves playing the puck, obviously, but he's playing on an ice surface he's never played on and he won't be too familiar with the boards and how the puck bounces off them. Might the lack of knowledge in that regard be enough to keep him in his crease more than usual?

- Daniel Carcillo is a terrible (possession) player and since he's arrived in New York the possession rates for his linemates Brian Boyle and Dominic Moore have also went down. More often than not their hemmed in their own zone and with the Devils being one of the top 5 vs 5 possession teams in hockey, they should be able to take advantage of that.

- Joe Whitney's brief stint on the top line is over as he's been reassigned to Albany. Jacob Josefson, who's shown signs of promise but has never consistently produced, will be given a shot on the top line opposite side Jaromir Jagr. It was only preseason, but Josefson looked pretty good playing on a scoring line with Damien Brunner and Patrik Elias so I look forward to seeing how he can handle it. Josefson is certainly the most defensively responsible player of the bunch we've recently seen at top line left wing.

- The Devils will need to know where Rick Nash is at all times today. He's riding a four-game point streak and has 10 goals over his last 10 games, so the Devils will need to stick to him like glue. I'm guessing Nash will see a lot of the Zajac line and the Greene defense pairing.

- New Jersey has won four straight games and picked up at least a point in eight of their last nine, and have flew up the standings as a result. If they're able to beat the Rangers in regulation today the Devils will move into 2nd place in the Metropolitan division and pass five Eastern Conference teams in the process, depending on other game results.

**

- Why the Devils may soon be in the market for a top-6 left winger

- I recently posted my midseason rankings for the top-30 first-year NHL draft eligible players from the OHL. You can view that here.

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