Match-up - New Jersey Devils (6-4-2) @ St. Louis Blues (8-3-1) Road/Home records - 4-2-0 -------------- 4-2-0 TV - MSG, FS-MW, NHLN-US Puck drop - 8:00 p.m. ET Season series - 1-0 St. Louis Last 10 - New Jersey: 4-4-2 ------- St. Louis: 7-2-1 Projected starting goalies - Cory Schneider vs Jake Allen
Projected lines for the Blues:
Patrik Berglund - David Backes - Dmitrij Jaskin Alex Steen - Paul Stastny - Joakim Lindstrom Jaden Schwartz - Jiri Lehtera - Vladimir Tarasenko Steve Ott - Maxim Lapierre - Ryan Reaves
Jay Bouwmeester - Alex Pietrangelo Carl Gunnarsson - Kevin Shattenkirk Ian Cole - Barret Jackman
Injured: T.J. Oshie.
Projected lines for the Devils:
*playing for injured Henrique
Ryane Clowe - Travis Zajac - Jaromir Jagr Dainius Zubrus - Patrik Elias - Michael Ryder Damien Brunner - Jacob Josefson - Steve Bernier Tuomo Ruutu - Stephen Gionta - Mike Sislo*
Andy Greene - Damon Severson Bryce Salvador - Marek Zidlicky Eric Gelinas - Adam Larsson
Game notes:
- The Devils are going to need a quick start tonight. St. Louis defends leads as well as anybody and, on top of their excellent defensive play, they've had stellar goaltending all season long. If the Devils spot them an early goal or two, the game may be over before it gets started.
- New Jersey really needs to do a better job of defending Vladimir Tarasenko. The Devils won't be able to get the matchups they want because they're on the road, but they have to mark Tarasenko a lot better than they did Tuesday. He's been one of the league's best players this year and he had four or five wide open looks. Not exactly a recipe for success.
- Cory Schneider has allowed two goals or less in five of his last six starts, and has posted a .940SV% or better in five of those games. With Mike Cammalleri, Martin Havlat and now Adam Henrique out of the lineup New Jersey has struggled to score, so he'll need to be good once again for them to have a chance.
- They haven't played together a lot this year, but Gelinas and Larsson were very good together last season and seemed to have carried that over. The Devils need some offense from the backend right now and those two should be able to contribute.
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