Match-up - St. Louis Blues (33-10-5) New Jersey Devils (20-19-11) Road/Home records - 15-5-3 -------------- 10-6-6 TV - MSG Plus, FS-MW Puck drop - 7:00 PM ET Season series - 0-0 Last 10: Blues 7-3-0 / Devils 4-3-3 Projected starting goalies - Brian Elliott vs Cory Schneider
Projected lines for the Blues:
Alex Steen - David Backes - Jaden Schwartz Patrik Berglund - Vladimir Sobotka - TJ Oshie Magnus Paajarvi - Derek Roy - Chris Stewart Brendan Morrow - Adam Cracknell - Ryan Reaves
Alex Pietrangelo - Jay Bouwmeester Kevin Shattenkirk - Barrett Jackman Jordan Leopold - Roman Polak
Projected lines for the Devils:
Reid Boucher - Travis Zajac - Jaromir Jagr Dainius Zubrus - Patrik Elias - Damien Brunner Ryan Clowe - Adam Henrique - Michael Ryder Ryan Carter - Stephen Gionta - Steve Bernier
Andy Greene - Mark Fayne Bryce Salvador - Marek Zidlicky Anton Volchenkov - Eric Gelinas
Injuries: Pete Harrold.
Game notes:
- The Devils' lineup is as healthy as its been all season with the recent return of Patrik Elias and Damien Brunner expected to play tonight, but their depth will be tested in a big way as the Blues come to town. They're extremely deep and get steady production all throughout the lineup so they'll pose a very difficult task for the Devils. The Blues are big, strong, fast and have nine players with at least 29 points this season. By comparison, the Devils have one.
- St. Louis has won seven of their last 10 and nine of their last 12 games so they're coming in feeling pretty confident about their game. The Devils need to come out firing and try and get an early leg-up.
- The Blues enter tonight's game .2 behind Pittsburgh for the top power play in the league so the Devils best stay disciplined and try to keep things 5 vs 5, where they've carried play on a pretty consistent basis this season.
- With Elias and Brunner back in the lineup, the Devils now have three 2nd lines, per say, and one of the best 4th lines in hockey. I really like what Pete DeBoer has done trying to balance all the line combinations. I also like that he put the Elias-Brunner duo back together. Brunner has been at his best when playing with Elias so I think it's a smart move to put him with someone he'll be comfortable with, especially in his first game back from an injury.
- Cory Schneider has played excellent all season long, but he's been even better of late. He's 2-0-2 in his last four starts and has a .964 save percentage along with a .94 goals against average in that span. If the Devils were able to score a little more for him, he'd probably have four wins instead of two. With the Devils lineup fully healthy and the offense not missing any parts, perhaps the Devils will finally start to give him some goal support.
- Quick tidbits: Eric Gelinas leads the Devils in power play points with 12 and Ryane Clowe enters the game having recorded nine points in his last seven games. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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