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Two of the early season surprise teams will square off this afternoon at the Prudential Center as the New Jersey Devils host the Vancouver Canucks.
Expectations surrounding the Devils were as low as anyone entering the year yet they currently own a 7-5-1 record and are tied for 8th in the Eastern Conference in points.
On the other side of things the Canucks were not expected to duplicate last season's success and make the playoffs but are well on their way to doing so. They enter today's game with a 6-4-4 record and are tied for 2nd in the Pacific Division.
Both teams have enjoyed similar success thus far but the Devils look to have the advantage entering today's game as they are rested, and have won seven of their last nine, while the Canucks are tired and have dropped three of their last five.
We'll see if those trends continue today.
LINEUPS
Cammalleri - Henrique - Stempniak
Tlusty - Zajac - Palmieri
Kalinin - Josefson - Tootoo
Farnham - Gionta - O'Neill
Greene - Larsson
Merrill - Severson
Moore - Schlemko
Kinkaid
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Sedin - Sedin - Vrbata
Burrows - Sutter - Virtanen
Baertschi - Horvat - Hansen
Higgins - McCann - Dorsett
Edler - Tanev
Hamhuis - Bartkowski
Hutton - Weber
THREE KEYS
1) The Canucks go as the Sedins go so if the Devils can limit the damage they cause they'll probably walk away with another two points.
2) Score first. The best way to drain an already tired team is to force them to shorten the bench and play from behind all game. If the Devils score the game's first goal they'll stand a very good chance of winning for the eighth time in 10 games; especially with the way Cory Schneider is playing right now.
3) Get the duo going. Mike Cammalleri and Adam Henrique were piling up the points early on in the season but they've combined for just one point in the last five games. They need to start producing.
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