Tonight the New Jersey Devils host the Boston Bruins in a battle of teams on two-game losing streaks.
It could also be looked at as a battle between two teams holding onto wild card spots by a string.
Of the two the Bruins seem to have the advantage entering tonight's game as the Devils have scored just one goal in their last two and will be without Mike Cammalleri, Patrik Elias and John Moore, among others.
The Bruins are also missing a couple bodies - notably David Krejci - but they have the offensive depth to make up for that whereas the Devils certainly do not.
Both teams enter this game with 4-5-1 records in their last 10 but the Bruins have controlled ~50% of the shot attempts at full-strength in that span while the Devils rank last hovering ~44%.
With a lineup full of AHL call ups picking up a win will not be easy for the Devils but a win is certainly necessary as the Devils next four games are on the road; three of which come against current playoff teams.
LINEUPS Tlusty - Zajac - Palmieri Kalinin - Henrique - Stempniak Matteau - O'Brien - Thompson Farnham - Gionta - Tootoo
Greene - Severson Gragnani - Larsson Gelinas - Merrill
Schneider
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Eriksson - Bergeron - Pastrnak Beleskey - Spooner - Connolly Vatrano - Kemppainen - Hayes Rinaldo - Talbot - Ferraro
Chara - K. Miller Seidenberg - C. Miller Krug - Morrow
Rask
1) Cory Schneider is important to the Devils as any player in the league but that's the case even more so tonight. The already offensively challenged Devils are without a few key offensive contributors so they surely won't score much. Schneider will have to hold the Bruins to two or less for the Devils to win.
2) The Devils always try and play a low-event style but doing so is especially important in this game. If the Devils are loose defensively and this turns into a game where the two sides trade chances the Devils' will struggle to keep up and their lack of offensive depth will be exposed.
3) They say your best players have to be your best players in order to win and that applies tonight. With Jordin Tootoo leading the bottom-6 in scoring with eight points in 40 games it's probably safe to assume the Devils won't get much offense from their depth players in this one. Kyle Palmieri, Travis Zajac and the Devils' top dogs need to step up.
The game is at 7:00 eastern and can be seen on NESN and MSG+.
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