Follow me on Twitter @ToddCordell

Match-up - Detroit Red Wings (12-5-5) @ New Jersey Devils (9-10-3)
Road/Home records - 4-3-3 -------------- 3-3-2
TV - FS-Detroit, MSG+
Puck drop - 7:00 p.m. ET
Season series - 1-0 Detroit
Last 10 - Detroit: 6-2-2 ------- New Jersey: 3-6-1
Projected starting goalies - Peter Mrazek vs Cory Schneider



Projected lines for the Red Wings via DailyFaceoff.com:

Gustav Nyquist - Henrik Zetterberg - Justin Abdelkader
Stephen Weiss - Pavel Datsyuk - Darren Helm
Tomas Tatar - Riley Sheahan - Johan Franzen
Drew Miller - Luke Glendening - Tomas Jurco

Jonathan Ericsson - Niklas Kronwall
Kyle Quincey - Danny DeKeyser
Xavier Ouellet - Jakub Kindl

Injured: Brendan Smith, Jonas Gustavsson.

Projected lines for the Devils:

Dainius Zubrus - Adam Henrique - Jaromir Jagr
Mike Cammalleri - Patrik Elias - Martin Havlat
Tuomo Ruutu - Travis Zajac - Michael Ryder
Steve Bernier - Jacob Josefson - Stephen Gionta

Andy Greene - Damon Severson
Pete Harrold - Marek Zidlicky
Seth Helgeson - Adam Larsson

Injured: Ryane Clowe, Jon Merrill, Bryce Salvador.

Game notes:

- The Detroit Red Wings have given the Devils a lot of trouble over the last few years and Pavel Datsyuk, who has 13 points in 11 games, recently returned from injury so the Devils will have their hands full tonight. They're going to need to be a lot better than they were in Western Canada if they're going to have a shot.

- The Devils struggle against teams with a lot of speed and the Wings certainly fit that description. New Jersey can't afford to lolly gag around or they're going to miss out on a lot of loose pucks and Detroit is going to burn them.

- I touched on this a couple days back, but over the last few seasons New Jersey's regularly outplayed/out shot/out possessed teams but have piled up losses due to an inability to fill the net. This year, especially of late, the Devils seem to have long lulls where they look terrible and have been outplayed more often than not. If things don't turn around quick I think Pete DeBoer is going to lose his job.

- Jagr and Zajac are pointless in five of their last six. Cammalleri has one point in his last five. Ryder has one in his last four. If the Devils are going to right this ship and start picking up points someone is going to have to step up offensively, because right now not many guys are getting things done.

- With New Jersey struggling to put the puck in the net Cory Schneider has to play well or the Devils won't have much of a chance.

Recent posts

Veterans at the forefront of NJ's offensive struggles

Is this the beginning of the end for Pete DeBoer?

Devils need more from Travis Zajac

Perron+ for Anisimov?

Comparing Greene - Severson to the NHL's best pairings

Hotstove: Will the Flames make the playoffs?

Join the Discussion: » 69 Comments » Post New Comment

» Thank you

» On the Chayka rumors and finalists for the Devils' GM job

» Notes on quotes from Lindy Ruff's appearance on 31 Thoughts

» The New Jersey Devils may not have hired the coach they wanted

» Notes on quotes from Ruff, Fitzgerald, and Devils ownership