The New Jersey Devils are in Arizona tonight looking to end their road trip the same way they started it: with a win.
After opening the trip with a 2-1 win over Minnesota the Devils have dropped the last two games by an aggregate score of 8-2.
With the injuries piling up they are struggling to fill the net with any regularity and, because their offensive game is slowing down, they've been forced to spend more time chasing play in the defensive zone.
That obviously hasn't worked out for them so, in an effort to stop the bleeding, the Devils have recalled forwards Reid Boucher and Brian O'Neill.
Both are expected to play against the red hot Coyotes (6-1-3 in their last 10).
LINEUPS Note: no confirmed line combo's released for Devils.
Blandisi - Henrique - Stempniak Boucher - Zajac - Palmieri Kennedy - Kalinin - O'Neill Matteau - Gionta - Tootoo
Greene - Larsson Moore - Severson Merrill - Schlemko
Schneider
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Domi - Vermette - Boedker Rieder - Hanzal - Duclair Martinook - Richardson - Doan Chipchura - Gordon - Tikhonov
Ekman-Larsson - Murphy Dahlbeck - Michalek Grossman - Stone
Domingue
Notes
1) The Domi - Vermette - Boedker line is good at creating offense. Their play in the defensive zone is another story. With that trio on the ice the Coyotes get just 41% of the shot attempts and 41% of the scoring chances. John Hynes should try and get his top offensive units against that line whenever he can.
2) The Coyotes have last change so it won't be easy to play the matchup game but if there's a pairing to target it's Nicklas Grossman and Michael Stone. With those two on the ice the Coyotes generate 43% of the shot attempts and 45% of the scoring chances. They can be exposed.
3) Reid Boucher has 14 goals, 25 points and a league-leading 116 shots in 30 games with Albany. Perhaps he can jumpstart the Devils' struggling offense.
The game is at 2:00 eastern and can be seen on MSG+ and FS-Arizona
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