Match-up - New Jersey Devils (11-13-6) @ New York Rangers (15-14-0) Road/Home records - 6-8-3 -------------- 5-6-0 TV - MSG Plus, MSG Puck drop - 7:30 PM ET Season series - Devils lead 2-0 Last 10: Devils 4-5-1 / Rangers 5-5-0 Projected starting goalies - Martin Brodeur vs Henrik Lundqvist
Goals for/against per game
New York - 2.24/2.48 New Jersey - 2.17/2.30
Power play/Penalty Kill
New York - 19.6%/85.9% New Jersey - 17.4%/86.9%
Projected lines for the Rangers:
Chris Kreider - Derek Stepan - Rick Nash Mats Zuccarello - Brad Richards - Ryan Callahan Carl Hagelin - Derick Brassard - J.T. Miller Brian Boyle - Dominic Moore - Benoit Pouliot
Dan Girardi - Ryan McDonagh Anton Stralman - Marc Staal John Moore - Michael Del Zotto
Injuries: Derek Dorsett
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 - Andrei Loktionov - Cam Janssen
Andy Greene - Mark Fayne Eric Gelinas - Jon Merrill Anton Volchenkov/Pete Harrold - Marek Zidlicky
Injuries: Ryane Clowe, Stephen Gionta, Bryce Salvador, Adam Larsson, Ryan Carter.
Some notes:
- Devils held an optional morning skate today and many chose not to take the ice, so the line combinations are up in the air for tonight. Pete DeBoer said there will be some changes. One change will be Brunner returning to the lineup in place of Jacob Josefson, who I actually thought was pretty good last night. Nevertheless, I'm expecting Brunner to be back on a line with Elias considering he's the only player Brunner has enjoyed any success with. Don't hold me to that, though.
- It sounds as if Pete DeBoer may reinsert his son, Pete Harrold, into the lineup. Harrold has sat quite a few games in a row after playing almost 20 minutes a game on a nightly basis. Harrold started to sit around Thanksgiving so perhaps he was impolite at the dinner table and was grounded as a result. Bad, Pete!
- As a team the Devils didn't generate near enough offense last night. Not only were they held off the scoreboard, but they only recorded 11 shots. That's not good enough to beat anyone, especially when you allow three goals. The Devils will need to be a lot better offensively and throw many more pucks on net if they hope to beat Lundqvist a few times.
- Jon Merrill played a fine game against Detroit, and had it not been for Anton Volchenkov's 6:23 of short handed time, Merrill would have finished 2nd among Devils' defenseman in ice time. Merrill was an even player and saw almost 21 minutes of ice in the loss. DeBoer has really embraced the youth movement on defense so it wouldn't surprise me to see Merrill and his partner in crime, Eric Gelinas, play upwards of 20 minutes again tonight. They're earning their ice.
- Jaromir Jagr has quietly went cold. He's now pointless in his last four games and has only seven shots in that span. His ice time average has increased from about 18 or 19 minutes a night to 22 minutes per game over that four game span. That might be too much for him to handle at this point in his career.
- Speaking of Jagr, he has three points in two games against the Rangers this season, so perhaps a game against them will help him break out of his slump.
- Brad Richards enters tonight's contest with points in five consecutive games and six points over that span. I'm guessing he'll be shadowed by Zajac quite a bit.
- Martin Brodeur will get the nod in goal against the Devils' cross-river rivals. Schneider has been 'meh' each of the last two starts and this is a back-to-back scenario, so I agree with the decision to start Brodeur. Hopefully he provides the Devils with a spark because, well, they need it.
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