At this point the playoffs are an extreme long shot for the New Jersey Devils - especially if Cory Schneider's out for a while - but if there's a game they need to win to give themselves a remote shot it's this one.
Entering play the Devils are five points back of the Pittsburgh Penguins - and have played two more games - so this is certainly not a game they can afford to drop.
The Penguins have been playing some pretty good hockey over the last little while (well, since the coaching change) but the one thing the Devils have going for them is the Pens played ~24 hours ago while the Devils are rested.
It'll be interesting to see if fatigue becomes a factor because the Devils could certainly use every possible advantage.
LINEUPS Boucher - Henrique - Smith-Pelly Kalinin - Zajac - Palmieri Blandisi - Josefson - Kennedy Farnham - Gionta - Tootoo
Greene - Larsson Moore - Schlemko Merrill - Severson
Schneider
--
Kunitz - Crosby - Hornqvist Hagelin - Malkin - Kessel Wilson - Bonino - Rust Kuhnhackl - Cullen - Archibald
Maatta - Letang Daley - Drumlin Cole - Pouliot
Murray
Notes
1) Remember at the start of the season when Sidney Crosby was struggling and people started to write him off? Well, No. 87 has not so quietly scored 21 goals and tallied 44 points while recording 119 scoring chances in his last 33 games. He's as dangerous as ever.
2) Since the Pens made a coaching change on December 12th the Penguins rank 2nd in the NHL generating a 54.7% share of 5 v 5 shot attempts. The Devils rank 29th in that span at 45.7%. The Pens definitely have the decisive advantage at full-strength.
3) Dating back to Devante Smith-Pelly's last game with the Canadiens he has goals in three straight games and has tallied four points in that span.
The game is at 5:00 eastern and can be seen on MSG+ and ROOT.
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