Match-up - Nashville Predators (8-6-2) @ New Jersey Devils (4-7-5) Road/Home records - 4-4-1 -------------- 2-1-2 TV - MSG Plus, FS-TN Puck drop - 7:00 PM ET Season series - 0-0 Last 10: Predators 5-3-2 / Devils 4-4-2 Projected starting goalies - Carter Hutton (NSH) v. Martin Brodeur (NJD)
Goals for/against per game
Nashville - 2.31/2.94 New Jersey - 1.88/2.50
Power play/Penalty Kill
Nashville - 22.4%/81.5% New Jersey - 17.9%/84.0%
Projected lines for the Predators:
Colin Wilson - Mike Fisher - Viktor Stalberg Eric Nystrom - David Legwand - Patric Hornqvist Taylor Beck - Matt Cullen - Craig Smith Richard Clune - Paul Gausted - Nick Spaling
Seth Jones - Shea Weber Roman Josi - Kevin Klein Mattias Ekholm - Ryan Ellis
Projected lines for the Devils:
Dainius Zubrus - Andrei Loktionov - Jaromir Jagr Damien Brunner - Travis Zajac - Steve Bernier Mattias Tedenby - Adam Henrique - Michael Ryder Ryan Carter - Jacob Josefson - Cam Janssen
Andy Greene - Peter Harrold Anton Volchenkov - Marek Zidlicky Eric Gelinas - Adam Larsson
Notable injuries: Ryane Clowe, Patrik Elias, Stephen Gionta, Bryce Salvador, Jon Merrill.
Some notes:
- The Devils defense was taking the bulk of the blame early in the season, but their offense has been their biggest weakness of late. Elias has missed the last few games and is a big reason why they're struggling, but regardless of who's playing four goals in four games is unacceptable.
- Nashville isn't exactly an offensive dynamo, either, so this game will likely be tight-checking and come down to the wire. It wouldn't surprise me if the game went to a shootout, which wouldn't bode well for the Devils. Thanks to the losses of Ilya Kovalchuk and Zach Parise over the last couple years the Devils went from one of the best shootout teams to a team that can't score in the shootout. Literally. Devils shooters are 0-14 in shootouts on the year.
- Travis Zajac hasn't been getting much credit for his play - quite the opposite, actually - but I can't complain about what I've seen from him this year. He isn't putting up big numbers, but nobody on the team is. He has created many quality chances for teammates but, due to team-wide lack of goal scoring ability, most of the chances he creates don't end up in the back of the net.
Speaking of Zajac, he's been an absolute rock defensively and he's not getting enough credit for it. I think he played his best game of the year against Toronto when he went up primarily against the Phil Kessel line and absolutely torched them. No. 19 put on a clinic and it was quite something to watch. ExtraSkater's numbers indicate Zajac was on for 20 shot attempts for during 5 v. 5 play and just one against. That's unbelievable - especially when you look at the competition he was going up against.
- After going pointless for a few games Eric Gelinas seems to have again found his offensive touch. He has assists in back-to-back games and has eight shots over that span.
- Adam Henrique started the season slow but he's been quite effective of late. He's been playing in all situations, driving possession and scoring goals. He has five in his last 12 games.
- Jaromir Jagr is just one point away from 1,700 in his career. When he records his next point he'll become just the 8th player in NHL history to reach the 1,700 point plateau.
- I've been impressed with Martin Brodeur of late. He started the season extremely slow and was letting in a lot of questionable goals, but he's been quite good lately. He has three wins in his last four starts and has allowed just five goals over that span.
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