Match-up - New Jersey Devils (12-14-6) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (21-10-1) Road/Home records - 7-9-3 -------------- 13-3-0 TV - MSG Plus, ROOT, RDS Puck drop - 7:00 PM ET Season series - Tied 1-1 Last 10: Devils 3-6-1 / Penguins 7-2-1 Projected starting goalies - Cory Schneider vs Marc-Andre Fleury
Goals for/against per game
Pittsburgh - 3.00/2.22 New Jersey - 2.28/2.41
Power play/Penalty Kill
Pittsburgh - 26.1%/86.8% New Jersey - 17.7%/86.5%
Projected lines for the Penguins:
Chris Kunitz - Sidney Crosby - Pascal Dupuuis Jussi Jokinen - Evgeni Malkin - Jayson Megna Chris Conner - Brandon Sutter - Joe Vitale Craig Adams - Zach Sill - Chuck Kobasew
Olli Maatta - Kris Letang Deryk Engelland - Matt Niskanen Simon Despres - Robert Bortuzzo
Injuries: Beau Bennett, Tanner Glass, Brooks Orpik, Paul Martin, Rob Scuderi, Tomas Vokoun.
Projected lines for the Devils:
Dainius Zubrus - Travis Zajac - Jaromir Jagr Damien Brunner - Patrik Elias - Steve Bernier Reid Boucher - Adam Henrique - Michael Ryder Tim Sestito - Jacob Josefson - Cam Janssen
Andy Greene - Mark Fayne Eric Gelinas - Jon Merrill Anton Volchenkov - Marek Zidlicky
Injuries: Ryane Clowe, Stephen Gionta, Bryce Salvador, Adam Larsson, Ryan Carter.
Some notes:
- Cory Schneider returns the crease as the start after a couple consecutive highly mediocre efforts from Martin Brodeur. Schneider hasn't had much goal support this season and that's been well documented, but he has found a way to win games more often than not of late. Schneider is 3-1-1 in his last five and has posted a .924 save percentage in that span. Against a high powered Penguins team he'll need to be on his game tonight. The Devils need a good effort from him to have a chance, and they need a win.
- If you think the Devils play well in games against top teams and consistently lose games against teams they should beat, you're right. The Devils are above .500 on the season when playing Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay and Boston, three of the top-4 teams in the East, yet are under .500 against the rest of the crop. Perhaps a game against the Penguins is just what the Devils need to bust out of this mini-slump.
- Between injuries and suspensions the Penguins lineup is absolutely battered right now. They're extremely top heavy up front and on defense so the Devils depth could provide a problem for them.
- Travis Zajac will go toe-to-toe with Sidney Crosby for much of the night, which should be fun to watch. Zajac has done an exceptional job of shutting down opposing team's top players for much of the year, so I look forward to seeing how he fares against the best. Literally.
- Michael Ryder has scored in two straight games and has four goals over his last five. Considering his line will likely draw bottom-6 forwards and lesser defense pairings, he should have plenty of opportunities to build on this hot streak.
- The Devils need to be disciplined tonight if they hope to have a chance. As good as their penalty kill has been this season, the Penguins power play has been as good or better. With the talent they have on that power play, it'd be best if Damien Brunner and Marek Zidlicky avoided taking the penalties they seemingly take every night.
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