Match-up - New Jersey Devils (13-18-7) @ Detroit Red Wings (19-9-9) Road/Home records - 8-12-2 -------------- 12-4-6 TV - MSG+, MSG+2, FS-D Puck drop - 7:30 p.m. ET Season series - 2-0 Red Wings Last 10 - Devils: 2-5-3 ------- Red Wings: 3-3-4 Projected starting goalies - Cory Schneider vs Jimmy Howard
Projected lines for the Red Wings via DailyFaceoff.com:
Henrik Zetterberg - Pavel Datsyuk - Justin Abdelkader Tomas Tatar - Riley Sheahan - Tomas Jurco Johan Franzen - Darren Helm - Gustav Nyquist Drew Miller - Luke Glendening - Stephen Weiss
Jonathan Ericsson - Niklas Kronwall Kyle Quincey - Danny DeKeyser Brendan Smith - Xavier Ouellet
Injured: Jonas Gustavsson, Jakub Kindl.
Projected lines for the Devils:
Dainius Zubrus - Scott Gomez - Jaromir Jagr Michael Cammalleri - Travis Zajac - Mike Sislo Tuomo Ruutu - Adam Henrique - Steve Bernier Stefan Matteau - Joe Whitney - Martin Havlat
Andy Greene - Pete Harrold Jon Merrill - Marek Zidlicky Adam Larsson - Eric Gelinas
Injured: Patrik Elias, Michael Ryder, Jacob Josefson, Ryane Clowe, Damon Severson, Bryce Salvador.
What to watch:
1) It will be interesting to see how much ice Gelinas gets. He has averaged almost 18 minutes per game this year, but has only played 27 minutes in two games since coaching changes were made. The Devils are nine points out and have played four more games than the Rangers, so if we're being realistic their season is about done. May as well play the kids and see what they have.
2) Stefan Matteau isn't positioned to play big minutes, but I'm curious to see how he does in his season debut. He hasn't produced a lot of offense in the AHL this year, but perhaps some extra incentive in playing for an NHL job could get him going.
3) Detroit is a very fast team, and New Jersey tends to struggle against speed. I think they will even more so without one of their mobile minute-eating defensemen in Damon Severson, and think the Red Wings could expose the Devils in that regard.
4) Tonight could be a good old fashioned goaltending duel. Cory Schneider is just below a .920SV% on the year, while Jimmy Howard is sitting pretty at .921SV%. New Jersey can't score and the Wings have struggled of late, so this figures to be a relatively low-scoring contest.
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