Match-up - New Jersey Devils (19-18-10) @ Montreal Canadiens (26-15-5)
Road/Home records - 9-12-4 -------------- 14-7-3
TV - MSG Plus, RDS, TSN-Habs
Puck drop - 7:30 PM ET
Season series - Canadiens lead 2-0
Last 10: Devils 4-3-3 / Canadiens 5-3-2
Projected starting goalies - Martin Brodeur vs Carey Price



Projected lines for the Canadiens:

Travis Moen - Tomas Plekanec - Brian Gionta
Max Pacioretty - David Desharnais - Brendan Gallagher
Danny Briere - Lars Eller - Rene Bourque
Michael Bournival - Brandon Prust - George Parros

Josh Gorges - PK Subban
Andrei Markov - Alexei Emelin
Douglas Murray - Raphael Diaz

Injuries: Alex Galchenyuk, Davis Drewiske.

Projected lines for the Devils:

Dainius Zubrus - Travis Zajac - Jaromir Jagr
Ryan Clowe - Adam Henrique - Michael Ryder
Ryan Carter - Stephen Gionta - Steve Bernier
Reid Boucher - * - Mike Sislo

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

Injuries: Pete Harrold, Damien Brunner, Patrik Elias.

Game notes:

- The Devils are down 2-0 in the season series against the Canadiens, however, both games were very close and it easily could be 2-0 in favor of New Jersey. The Devils have played Montreal very tough this season so they should be confident entering tonight's game. New Jersey is catching a bit of a break, too, as the Habs will be without Alex Galchenyuk, one of their top young forwards and likely a future star in this league.

- Montreal is a weird team in that they have a lot of high end talent in Pacioretty, Subban, Price, etc. but for some reason like to shoot themselves in the foot by dressing guys like Parros and Murray, both of whom serve as anchors bringing the Habs down, on a regular basis. This more or less hinders the Canadiens' ability to roll four lines and also makes the 3rd defense pairing weak.

The Devils aren't loaded with high end talent, but they're getting contributions from all four lines right now so they should be able to take advantage of that.

- In part due to those mentioned above, the Canadiens haven't been a great 5 vs 5 team this year. They do a good chunk of their work on special teams so if the Devils stay disciplined, unlike against Toronto the other night, they should have a good chance to win this hockey game.

- PK Subban is the Canadiens leading point getter this season but enters the game cold having gone four straight games without a point and only putting up six shots in that span. Even though the Devils have neutralized him pretty well this year, it wouldn't surprise me if he bounces back tonight. The Devils will need to watch him closely and make sure they stay tight to him at the point. Don't let him use that lethal shot of his.

- Martin Brodeur is getting the nod in goal after sitting the last three games. He's coming in nice and fresh and always seems to play well against Montreal, especially at the Bell Centre, so I'm expecting a good performance from him tonight.

- The Devils are 0-7 in shootouts this year so it'd be good if they could, you know, avoid going there again tonight.

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