Match-up - Pittsburgh Penguins (12-7-0) @ New Jersey Devils (6-8-5) Road/Home records - 4-4-0 -------------- 3-2-2 TV - MSG Plus, ROOT Puck drop - 7:00 PM ET Season series - Penguins lead 1-0 Last 10: Penguins 5-5-0 / Devils 5-3-2 Projected starting goalies - Marc-Andre Fleury v. Martin Brodeur
Goals for/against per game
Pittsburgh - 2.84/2.26 New Jersey - 2.00/2.32
Power play/Penalty Kill
Pittsburgh - 22.1%/83.0% New Jersey - 16.9%/85.9%
Projected lines for the Penguins:
Chris Kunitz - Sidney Crosby - Pascal Dupuis Jussi Jokinen - Evgeni Malkin - James Neal Beau Bennett - Brandon Sutter - Matt D'Agostini Tanner Glass - Joe Vitale - Craig Adams
Paul Martin - Brooks Orpik Deryk Engelland - Kris Letang Olli Maatta - Matt Niskanen
Projected lines for the Devils:
Dainius Zubrus - Travis Zajac - Jaromir Jagr Damien Brunner - 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:
- A red-hot Brodeur will get the nod in goal tonight. No. 30 enters this game having won five of his last six starts. In those six starts, he's only allowed seven goals, has recorded two shutouts, and overall has stopped 111 of the last 115 shots he's faced. That's a .965 save percentage. The Devils will need another good effort from him with the team struggling to score.
- After a strong start to the season, Damien Brunner's offensive output has been non-existent of late. The 27-year-old Swiss native has recorded just two points in his last 13 games.
- Another player the Devils need more from: Michael Ryder. He has just one goal and two points over his last eight games.
- Crosby is the best player in the world so I'm guessing Zajac's line will primarily be used to try and slow him down. I'm guessing the Malkin line will see a lot of Elias' line, though that matchup is still favorable to Pittsburgh.
- Jagr has 11 points in his last 12 games and is just 21 points behind Mario Lemieux for 7th in all-time scoring.
- The Devils need to stay disciplined if they want to have a chance to win this game, as the Penguins power play is loaded with talent and producing at a pretty good rate.
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