On Saturday night the New Jersey Devils put forth a much better effort than we've seen of late but once again they didn't get results.
The Devils dropped their fifth consecutive game in regulation and, thanks to an empty-netter, allowed three or more goals for the 14th time over the last 15 games.
Tonight they have their work cut out for them again as they take on a New York Rangers team that happens to lead the league in goals.
Though the Rangers are without a coupe key forwards in Mika Zibanejad and Pavel Buchnevich, there is still more than enough talent to make life difficult for the Devils; especially with the way they have been defending.
I expect the Devils will put up a fight, but don't be surprised if their losing streak continues to extend this evening.
Here are the expected line combinations for New Jersey:
Taylor Hall - Travis Zajac - Mike Cammalleri Miles Wood - Adam Henrique - Kyle Palmieri Sergey Kalinin - Jacob Josefson - Nick Lappin Luke Gazdic - Vern Fiddler - Devante Smith-Pelly
Andy Greene - Ben Lovejoy Jon Merrill - Damon Severson John Moore - Kyle Quincey
Cory Schneider
And the expected lines for the Rangers (via dailyfaceoff.com):
Chris Kreider - Derek Stepan - Mats Zuccarello J.T. Miller - Kevin Hayes - Rick Nash Jimmy Vesey - Oscar Lindberg - Jesper Fast Michael Grabner - Matt Puempel - Marek Hrivik
Ryan McDonagh - Dan Girardi Marc Staal - Nick Holden Brady Skjei - Kevin Klein
Henrik Lundqvist
A few notes:
1) The Rangers are known for their high-powered offense but they've been getting good results defensively of late. Over the last 10 games, the Rangers have been one of the league's best teams at suppressing 5v5 goals on a 60 minute basis. Meanwhile the Devils have been one of the worst. Not ideal.
2) New Jersey's blue liners will need to be quick and decisive when it comes to their puck movement in the defensive zone. The Rangers have all kinds of team speed and will be able to close/pressure quickly, so if the Devils hold onto the puck a second too long they could get themselves into deep trouble.
3) The Rangers have very good special teams units -- they rank top-10 in power play and penalty kill -- so the Devils probably won't win that battle. They're going to have to stay disciplined and get things done at full-strength.
Tonight's game is scheduled for 7:30 pm eastern and can be seen on MSG and MSG+.
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