Match-up - New Jersey Devils (3-6-4) @ Minnesota Wild (7-4-3) Road/Home records - 1-5-2 -------------- 5-1-2 TV - MSG Plus, FS-N Puck drop - 8:00 PM ET Season series - 0-0 Last 10: Devils 3-5-2 / Wild 6-3-1 Projected starting goalies - Cory Schneider (NJD) v. Niklas Backstrom (MIN)
Goals for/against per game
Minnesota - 2.43/2.29 New Jersey - 2.00/2.69
Power play/Penalty Kill
Minnesota - 24.1%/75.0% New Jersey - 19.2%/84.2%
Here are the projected lines (subject to change) for the Wild:
Zach Parise - Charlie Coyle - Dany Heatley Nino Niederreiter - Mikko Koivu - Kyle Brodziak Matt Cooke - Mikael Granlund - Jason Pominville Justin Fontaine - Zenon Konopka - Torrey Mitchell
Ryan Suter - Jonas Brodin Clayton Stoner - Keith Ballard Marco Scandella - Jared Spurgeon
Here are the projected lines (subject to change) for the Devils:
Dainius Zubrus - Andrei Loktionov - Jaromir Jagr Mattias Tedenby - Adam Henrique - Michael Ryder Rusty Olesz - Jacob Josefson - Damien Brunner Ryan Carter - Stephen Gionta - Steve Bernier
Andy Greene - Mark Fayne Jon Merrill - Marek Zidlicky Eric Gelinas - Adam Larsson
Notable injuries: Ryane Clowe, Travis Zajac, Patrik Elias, Bryce Salvador, Peter Harrold, Anton Volchenkov.
Some notes:
- Schneider will make his first start since suffering a lower body injury. With the Devils in the second half of a back-to-back scenario, he'll need to shake off the rust quickly and give the Devils a quality start. They don't have a chance, otherwise, especially with three top-9 forwards and two top-6 forwards out of the lineup.
- The Devils were a terrible faceoff team as is, but things are even worse with Zajac injured. Minnesota's winning almost 55% of their faceoffs so it could be another ugly night in the dot for New Jersey.
- No. 11 on Minnesota will square off against the Devils for the first time since leaving the team two summers ago. It will be...interesting, for lack of a better word. New Jersey could certainly use him right now.
- Speaking of Parise, he's been an exceptional possession player this year. He's over 60% in close situations (tied or within one in the first two periods) and has put up pretty good offensive numbers, scoring six goals in 14 games. The Devils defense will have their hands full tonight.
- Not expecting much from the Jagr line tonight. They'll likely see a steady dose of the Suter - Brodin pairing and with Elias out, I don't think they'll be able to generate much of anything. The other lines will need to step up.
- Ryder has three points (two goals, one assist) in his last 10 games. The Devils are struggling to fill the net right now and they need a lot more from him if they want to compete for a playoff spot.
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