Match-up - New Jersey Devils (8-8-5) @ Los Angeles Kings (15-6-1) Road/Home records - 4-6-3 -------------- 8-3-0 TV - MSG Plus, FS-W Puck drop - 10:30 PM ET Season series - Kings lead 1-0 Last 10: Devils 6-3-1 / Kings 7-2-1 Projected starting goalies - Cory Schneider v. Ben Scrivens
Goals for/against per game
Los Angeles - 2.68/2.14 New Jersey - 2.19/2.29
Power play/Penalty Kill
Los Angeles - 20.7%/82.6% New Jersey - 18.1%/84.9%
Projected lines for the Kings (courtesy of DailyFaceoff.com):
Dustin Brown - Anze Kopitar - Justin Williams Dwight King - Mike Richards - Tyler Toffoli Dan Carcillo - Jarret Stoll - Matt Frattin Tanner Pearson - Linden Vey - Trevor Lewis
Jake Muzzin - Drew Doughty Robyn Regehr - Slava Voynov Willie Mitchell - Alec Martinez
Notable injuries: Jeff Carter, Kyle Clifford, Matt Greene, Jonathan Quick.
Projected lines for the Devils:
Dainius Zubrus - Travis Zajac - Jaromir Jagr Mattias Tedenby - Patrik Elias - Michael Ryder Adam Henrique - Andrei Loktionov - Steve Bernier Ryan Carter - Stephen Gionta - Cam Janssen
Andy Greene - Marek Zidlicky Eric Gelinas - Adam Larsson Peter Harrold - Mark Fayne
Notable injuries: Ryane Clowe, Bryce Salvador, Anton Volchenkov, Jon Merrill.
Some notes:
- The Devils are in the 2nd half of a back-to-back scenario and they're going up against a fresh Kings team that has been playing outstanding hockey of late. They'll need to keep it simple and they'll need a good effort from Schneider in goal or they won't have much of a chance in this one.
- I thought Travis Zajac was fantastic again last night, as he has been for much of the season. His defensive work had always been great but now he's putting it together offensively as well. No. 19 has points in four of his last five games.
- Speaking of Zajac, he'll go up against the Kopitar line again tonight. I thought he did a very good job against that unit the last time these two teams played, and he'll need to do more of the same for the Devils to have a chance.
- With Jagr's goal last night, he has now recorded 15 points over his last 14 contests.
- More Jagr: he is now just one goal behind Mario Lemieux for 9th all-time and is just 18 points behind Lemieux for 7th all-time. If he keeps playing the way he's playing he'll surpass those totals in no time.
- One key for the Devils tonight is to make sure they collapse to their net when in the defensive zone. Schneider isn't a great puck-handler so the Devils need to make sure they always have a player or two close by to give him a quick outlet. If they force Schneider to try and make stretch passes or frequently play the puck, it could be ugly.
- Another key: actually scoring a goal. The Devils have given Schneider zero offensive support this season, which is why he only has one win in nine starts despite owning a 1.98 goals against average and .918 save percentage. How bad has it been? Well, the Devils have scored a total of one goal over Schneider's last three starts. It's tough to win like that.
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