Match-up - Phoenix Coyotes (35-26-12) @ New Jersey Devils (31-28-13) Road/Home records - 14-14-9 -------------- 18-10-7 TV - FS-Arizona, MSG Puck drop - 7:00 p.m. ET Season series - Coyotes lead 1-0 Last 10: Coyotes 6-3-1 | Devils 5-5-0 Projected starting goalies - Thomas Greiss vs Martin Brodeur
Projected lines for the Coyotes:
Mikkel Boedker - Antoine Vermette - Shane Doan Brandon McMillan - Martin Hanzal - Radim Vrbata Martin Erat - Jeff Halpern - David Moss Rob Klinkhammer - Kyle Chipchura - Paul Bissonnette
Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Zybnek Michalek Keith Yandle - Michael Stone Chris Summers - Brandon Gormley
Projected lines for the Devils:
Dainius Zubrus - Travis Zajac - Jaromir Jagr Adam Henrique - Patrik Elias - Damien Brunner Ryane Clowe - Stephen Gionta - Tuomo Ruutu Eric Gelinas - Ryan Carter - Michael Ryder
Andy Greene - Mark Fayne Bryce Salvador - Marek Zidlicky Jon Merrill - Pete Harrold
Game notes:
- The perception about the Coyotes is that they're this boring, old defensive team that can't score. Well, they're about the opposite of that - at least this year. They've scored at a high rate all season and their power play is among the best in the league. Mediocre goaltending and a poor penalty kill are the only reasons they're not actually a higher seed in the Western Conference right now.
- The Coyotes' defense is very young, mobile and extremely talented offensively. New Jersey's forwards will need to stick with them all night because they'll likely be very active and look to jump into the play to create offense.
- Don't let the media fool you: Mike Smith's injury is not a crushing blow for Phoenix. He's been very mediocre for the Yotes this season while Greiss, though in only 17 games played, owns an impressive .925 save percentage. He's more than capable of giving the Coyotes quality starts while Smith is down.
- With Eric Gelinas in the lineup, I'm confident in saying the Devils power play should be able to take advantage of Phoenix's poor penalty killing unit. They'll probably need to because they typically struggle to score 5 vs 5.
- Speaking of Gelinas, he will play forward tonight. Pete DeBoer loves the decision he made because now he can keep his favorite son, Pete Harrold, with Jon Merrill. In all seriousness Harrold was very good with Merrill the other night, so it's probably best to keep them together until they stop playing so well.
- Who's hot: After recording an assist on Sunday, Clowe now has nine points in his last 13 games. Meanwhile, Elias and Henrique have tallied 16 and 14 points respectively since the Olympics ended.
- Devils are three points out of a playoff spot if they win tonight and their next three games are against the Islanders, Panthers and Sabres. If they're going to make a push, now is the time.
- I'm scouting potential top-5 pick Michael Dal Colle and the Oshawa Generals as they look for the sweep tonight against the Mississauga Steelheads. The Devils win a lot of games when a) I'm not watching and; b) Eric Gelinas is playing, so I like their chances tonight.
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