For much of the game the New Jersey Devils were the better team but they couldn't put the Montreal Canadiens away when they had the chance and it came back to haunt them.
Tonight the Devils will try their luck again in hopes of a different result at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
The Habs have been incredible at home this season (9-2-1) but they looked very beatable on Friday without the likes of Brendan Gallagher and Carey Price and I expect it will be no different tonight.
It's still early in the season but the Devils have dropped some points they could have had of late and that's not something they can afford to do in a very tough Metro Division.
If they can get a win tonight they'd collect three of four possible points against the NHL's No. 1 ranked team. That would make for a pretty good weekend at the office, one would think.
LINEUPS Cammalleri - Henrique - Stempniak Kalinin - Zajac - Palmieri Elias - Josefson - Tootoo Farnham - Gionta - Kennedy
Greene - Larsson Moore - Severson Gelinas - Merrill
Schneider
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Pacioretty - Plekanec - Smith-Pelly Eller - Galchenyuk - Andrighetto Fleischmann - Desharnais - Weise Byron - Flynn - Holloway
Markov - Subban Emelin - Petry Gilbert - Beaulieu
Condon
WHAT TO WATCH 1) The Cammalleri - Henrique - Stempniak line played just three even-strength minutes against the Markov - Subban pairing last night. Expect that number to go way up tonight with Montreal having last change.
2) Cory Schneider has allowed two goals or less in 10 of his last 11 starts and has posted a .920SV% in 10 of his last 11. The Devils' offense has gone a little dry of late so he'll need to play well for them to have a shot tonight.
3) The Pacioretty - Plekanec - DSP line combined for just one point last night but they had 10 shots and a handful of scoring chances. The Devils need to do a better job of limiting their opportunities in this one.
The game is at 7 eastern and can be seen on MSG, CITY and TVA Sports.
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