Matchup:  The New Jersey Devils take their two game losing streak on the road into Madison Square Garden tonight. The Rangers are coming off a 3-2 win over Buffalo but currently lead the Eastern Conference with 84 points. This is the 4^th time the Devils and Rangers will meet this season and the Devils lead the series, 2-1. The two game losing streak that the Devils are currently trying to snap has dropped them from 4^th place to 6^th place in the East.

Keys to the Game: Shoot the damn puck. Against the Tampa Bay Lightning and their weak defense, the Devils managed 22 shots on net. Unacceptable and when you are going up against Henrik Lundqvist and his big pads. The Rangers are 4^th in the NHL when it comes to blocking shots so NJ is going to need to keep firing the puck. The good news for NJ is that the Rangers are 21^st in the league at putting their own shots on net, so it’s not outrageous to believe that NJ can outshoot the Rangers, as long as they don’t play like they did yesterday. The Defense will need to do a much better job than they did yesterday. The lightning found the back of the net 4 times on only 16 shots. Adam Larsson will return to the lineup tonight.

Injuries:  The Devils will be without Travis Zajac (sore ACL) and Henrik Tallinder (leg). … Rangers defenseman Michael Sauer (concussion) is out indefinitely.
 
Players To Watch:

The Rangers wouldn’t be where they are if it weren’t for Henrik Lundqvist sitting in between the pipes. His numbers this season have been outstanding and certainly having it looking like he will win the Vezina this season. Lundqvist has a .940 save percentage (.945 at even strength) which is just disgusting if you are a fan of any other team.

As for the Devils, my eyes will be on Zidlicky tonight. Game 1 against the Lightning didn’t get off to the start that I would have liked to seen but what was clear is that he did a better job on the power play than the man he replaced, Kurtis Foster. Zidlicky is more mobile and extremely creative with the puck which should help the power play score more goals.

Playoff Watch: The Devils currently sit in 6^th place, one point behind idle Philadelphia and three points behind Pittsburgh. The Devils have the same amount of points as 7^th place Ottawa but have 3 games in hand so I’m not worried about losing ground there. Two points would be HUGE tonight

Morning Skate: It’s tough to figure out the lines for tonight’s game as the Devils held an optional skate this morning. Marek Zidlicky, David Clarkson, Petr Sykora, Patrik Elias, Dainius Zubrus and Bryce Salvador skipped the optional skate. Cam Janssen, Jacob Josefson, Steve Bernier, Ryan Carter, Adam Henrique, Ilya Kovalchuk, Zach Parise and Eric Boulton (who cleared waivers at noon) were on the ice. Defensemen who skated were Andy Greene, Matt Taormina, Mark Fayne, Adam Larsson, Anton Volchenkov as well as goalies Martin Brodeur and Johan Hedberg.

Matchup:  The Devils return home tonight looking for their 5^th straight win but that isn’t going to be an easy task since the Vancouver Canucks will be the other team on the ice tonight. The Devils are an impressive 8-1-1 in their last 10 but that is matched by the Canucks who are also 8-1-1 and coming off a shootout win that ended Detroit’s record setting consecutive home wins last night.

Keys to the Game: This on rests on the defense who better show up tonight because we are going to need their help. The Canucks are second overall in the NHL in totals goals scored with 192. Compare that to our Devils who rank 14^th with 158. The Canucks rank 8^th on the list in total shots with 1905 compared to NJ who has 1630, 28^th best in the league. So, as you can see, the Canucks aren’t afraid to shoot and they are pretty good about finding the net. On the other side of the puck, the Canucks have a decent defense and a decent goalie who know how to stop the puck. The Devils will need to put some pucks on net tonight in hopes that something gets through. This Canucks team scares me as they almost had the cup last season and appear to be a team that has enough tools to make another run at it again this season.

Injuries: For Vancouver,  winger Byron Bitz has missed back-to-back games due to a sore hip, while defenseman Keith Ballard is out with a neck injury. … For the Devils, defensemen Larsson (back), Foster (back) and Carter (right hand), who all skated with the team on Thursday, are probable. DefensemanHenrik Tallinder (blood clot) and center Travis Zajac (left Achilles tendon) are out.

 
Players To Watch:

For the Canucks, it almost isn’t about 1 player as it is about their top line. Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin and Alex Burrows have combined for 9 goals and 21 points in just the last 5 games. Wow, that is some production so the Devils are going to need to be focused on trying to slow that line down, which on paper is A LOT to ask. Henrik Sedin leads the league in Assists with 53 and is 5^th in the league with 73 points. Of course, you have to ask yourself, is that picture Henrik or is that Daniel?

It’s going to be a defensive effort that gets us a win tonight but defense isn’t going to score goals, we are going to need someone to step up and get us on the board. Adam Henrique continues to have an amazing rookie season and has a goal and five assists in his last 4 games. He leads all rookies with 41 points and appears to be in the driver’s seat for the Calder.

Doc Emrick

Tonight we honor Doc Emrick for the many years he was a part of our organization. Emrick, “The Voice of Hockey,” was an announcer with MSG Networks for 23 years, winning seven New York Emmy Awards, and spent 21 years in the New Jersey Devils’ broadcast booth, in which he called three Stanley Cup seasons.

Matchup:  The Devils roll into Toronto tonight to take on the 8^th place Maple Leafs. The Devils are coming off a 3-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens, which brough NJ’s current winning streak to 3 straight games. The Devils are also 8-1-1 over their last 10 games. The Leafs are coming off of a 6-2 loss in Vancouver and haven’t been playing the best hockey as of late. Toronto is 4-5-1 in their last 10 and currently in a battle with Winnipeg and Washington for the 8^th and final playoff spot. This is the third meeting between the Leafs and the Devils with each taking a game on the other's ice.

Keys to the Game: Don’t let the Leafs current position in the standings fool you, they actually do have a lot of fire power and the ability to score goals so NJ will need to play a smart defensive game tonight. Phil Kessel leads the team with 30 goals, which happens to be 3^rd best league wide in that category and Joffrey Lupal is another scoring threat with 23 goals. The Devils have issues on their blue line because of injuries so defense will need to be a team effort. Marty is in net and been playing some outstanding hockey as of late, which he will need to do again tonight.

Offensively, the Devils  will keep looking to Kovalchuk, Parise, Clarkson and Elias for some scoring. I believe the real key to winning tonight is keeping the Leafs top two players quiet and finding a way to put 2 pucks past Gustavsson. Yes, I believe 2 goals is enough to skate past the Maple Leafs tonight.

Injuries: According to head coach Peter DeBoer, we should expect to see Anton Volchenkov in the lineup tonight but is still considered questionable. Also on the questionable list is Kurtis Foster (stiff back). The Devils blue line is still taking a hit with  Henrik Tallinder (blood clot) and Adam Larsson (bruised back) on the injured list. Toronto's lone injured-reserve denizen, Carl Gunnarson, has missed three games with an ankle injury, but is expected to play according to coach Ron Wilson. Joffrey Lupul missed practice Monday, but he, too, is expected to be in the lineup. 
 
Players To Watch:

I’ve got my eye on Phil Kessel. He’s been very quiet in the goal scoring department lately and for the Leafs to find some success, I believe he needs to start pumping in some goals to go along with his assists. The Leafs started out the season on a tear and Kessel’s ability to score lots of goals back then was a key part to their success.

 

There have been a number of Devils that have been playing outstanding hockey recently but if NJ is going to continue to hold on to the 4^th spot in the east (barring injury, I think the Rangers too far out of reach for us), then Marty is going to have to continue to play spectacular hockey. While he’s not the 35-30 year old version of Marty Brodeur, he has been coming up big lately. With guys like Kessel, Lupal and Grabovski, he will need to again tonight.

Trip Down Memory Lane:

It was just over two years ago. The Leafs were in town and Ilya Kovalchuk was making his Devils debut. Down 3-1 with just 3 minutes to go, the Devils do all the right things and knock off the Leafs 4-3 in regulation. This is definitely one of my favorite moments in recent years.

                                                                         TV: NBCSN (HD) RADIO: WFAN (660 AM)

Matchup: The New Jersey Devils skate their way into Montreal today looking for a third straight win and eighth in their last ten games. The Devils enter play today at 33-20-4 (70 points), while Montreal sits at one game under five-hundred (24-25-10). These two teams aren't strangers; this is the fourth and final meeting between New Jersey and Montreal this season. The Devils, after losing to the Canadiens on December 10 (2-1), have won back-to-back games against Montreal since then, both by a score of 5-3.

Stats:

 

Keys to the Game: Solid defense will be key in today's game. If New Jersey can play fundamental hockey, a victory is likely against the lowly Canadiens. In their last ten contests, the Devils are 7-1-2 and the Canadiens are 5-4-1. Martin Brodeur will be in net for the Devils; Brodeur has dominated the Canadiens throughout his career, collecting 42 wins and nine shutouts.

Injuries: For New Jersey, Ryan Carter (finger), Henrik Tallinder (blood clot), Travis Zajac (Achilles) and Adam Larsson (bruised lower back) will sit today. For Montreal, Travis Moen is questionable; however, Brian Gionta (bicep surgery), Petteri Nokelainen (leg), Andrei Markov (knee), and Mike Blunden (knee) will not play today.

Prediction: I'm predicting a 4-1 Devils victory this evening. Ilya Kovalchuk and Zach Parise have come alive offensively for the Devils. Since the start of the calendar year, the Devils have won 12 of 20 games (60%). With a win today and a Pittsburgh loss, the Devils will move into the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference. 

It’s amazing how much a week changes the feeling about your hockey team. One week ago we were entering a game against the Rangers, which we came out of with a 1-0 victory and 5 game winning streak and felt very strong about this team. We then lost in a shootout to St.Louis and didn’t feel awful about it as we got a point and let the other just slip away but coming off the performance against Florida on Saturday, I can say I certainly have a different feeling going into the matchup against the Sabres tonight than I did against the Rangers last week.

A quick look shows Buffalo sits in 14^th place in the Eastern Conference but a closer looks shows that they are 8 points out of 8^th. What’s that mean? If Buffalo wants to get into the playoffs, they are going to be playing hard desperate hockey which isn’t the type of team you want to play. Could be a dog fight tonight.

In the last 10, Buffalo and NJ are pretty even but it’s the 6-0 killiing of the Boston Bruins in Buffalo last Wednesday that stands out in my mind because for one night, the Sabres figured it out.

Last 10 Games – Buffalo  is 5-4-1 while NJ is 5-3-2

This is the fourth and final meeting this season. After the Devils won the first two games, the Sabres scored a 2-1 victory via the shootout on Jan. 24 at Prudential Center. 

So how do you beat the Sabres? Shoot the puck, that’s how. The Sabres defense is pretty pathetic and allows 31.3 shots per game, 5^th worst in the NHL. NJ generated 28 shots against the Panthers on Saturday and hopefully will put more on net tonight.

Hopefully NJ finds a way back to the win column tonight

The injury report is pretty much the same as it has been for NJ.  New Jersey - defenseman Adam Larsson has missed the last five games with a bruised lower back. Defenseman Henrik Tallinder (blood clot) and forwards Travis Zajac (Achilles) and Ryan Carter (broken finger) are on injured reserve. … Buffalo - forward Cody McCormick (upper body) is day-to-day. Forward Jochen Hecht (concussion) is on injured reserve.

When people talk about Buffalo, Pat Lafontaine is still the first thing to bounce into my head and when ever I think of Lafontaine, I immediately hear the La-la-la-la-la-la-Lafontaine call.

The Devils have won 5 in a row and are looking to put their 6 straight in the win column as the St. Louis Blues come to town tonight. St. Louis shouldn’t be taken lightly that’s for sure. What was once the model of consistency in the NHL has returned from the depths of mediocrity and are in a good position to play some postseason hockey. Shockingly, they are doing so with two players we desperately needed to ship out of town last season.

Jamie Langenbrunner – 50 games – 4 goals / 14 assists
Jason Arnott – 49 games – 12 goals / 12 assists

Ok, so they aren’t exactly the reason the Blues are currently in 4^th place in the Western Conference but they are there and they do make their return to NJ. What will the fans do? I don’t really care that much but they shouldn’t boo them.

NJ in their last 10 – 7-2-1
St. Louis in their last 10 – 6-2-2

Two very hot teams about to battle it out on the ice tonight.

So what do we want tonight? Well another win duh!! Oh, and if given the opportunity to attempt an empty net or play the puck deep, where playing the puck deep is a sure thing, send it deep!!

Hedburg is in, Marty might sit on the bench or in the stands, no one is sure at the moment. His ankle still an issue from the Callahan bump the other night.

Probably Lines

Zach Parise - Patrik Elias - Ilya Kovalchuk
Petr Sykora - Dainius Zubrus - David Clarkson
Alexei Ponikarovsky - Adam Henrique - Steve Bernier
Eric Boulton - Jacob Josefson - Cam Janssen
 
Andy Greene - Mark Fayne
Bryce Salvador - Anton Volchenkov
Matt Taormina - Kurtis Foster
 
Johan Hedberg gets the start; Martin Brodeur (ankle) is the probable backup.

I know it’s not the big game that everyone is focusing on today but the battle against the Pennsylvania teams continues today as the Devils come home to take on the Penguins. This weekend’s schedule looked like it was going to begin with an absolute massacre with NJ finding a 6-0 lead halfway through the game in Philadelphia but somehow the Flyers made a game of it and made us start to worry a little bit when they closed the gap to 6-4 in the 3^rd.

Let’s hope the game today has a different look and by that I mean no cheap shots and no need for our $100 million dollar man to drop the gloves, although that was one hell of a right Kovalchuk landed on Schenn!!

The Penguins have been HOT lately, slowly climbing their way up the standings. They are 9-1-0 in their last 10 and are coming off a win in Boston last night. Matt Cooke, who has been known for his dirty stuff in recent years certainly started quietly this year as to not cause trouble but lately he has been figuring out how to be physical and stay within the lines of clean hockey. His physical play could certainly cause the Devils some issues today.

The thing that confuses me about the Penguins is that they are 9-1-0 in their last 10 and doing it without Crosby and Jordan Staal. Malkin has been the man getting it done this season as he has 28 goals and 60 points on the season.

This will be the 4^th meeting this season and the Devils lead the season series 2-1 with 3-1 victories the last time these two met. In fact, all the games so far this season have one thing in common: the losing team has been held to 1 goal in each game. So the goal today is to find that all important 2^nd goal.

Certainly hope NJ plays a full 60 minutes today. They didn’t yesterday and while you can try to let them off the hook for it because they were up 6-0 after 40 and it’s hard to keep up the intensity when you are up so far, they need to figure out how to do it.

I look for Pitt to be a much harder opponent than the Flyer proved to be through the first 40 minutes yesterday.

In case you missed it yesterday, here is Kovalchuk looking very comfortable dropping his gloves. A note to Brayden Schenn... you got knocked the f&$% out yesterday because you were defending that piece of garbage Zac Rinaldo. Might want to make a better decision next time.

The Devils are on a small roll having completed come from behind victories against the  Rangers and then the Canadiens. What do those come from behind victories have in common? David Clarkson!! He’s been a huge part of the wins this week and hopefully he can continue his hot streak as the Devils travel to one of those places we hate – Philadelphia, PA.

This will be the 4th time we meet up with the Flyers this season and to be honest, the two of those three meetings didn’t go well at all. The Devils opened the season at home against the Flyers and were shutout 3-0. They also lost to the Flyers at home 4-1 on Jan 21^st. If there has been any good in the series with the Flyers this season, it’s that our only victory against them came in their building, a 4-3 shootout win on Nov 3^rd. Maybe Philadelphia is exactly where we want to be today

Marty will sit which means Hedburg will get the call which will be his first since a 2-1 overtime win in Edmonton on Jan. 11. The news on Henrique seems to be positive as they say that he is getting closer to returning to the ice and while he hasn’t been ruled out against the Penguins on Sunday, he has been for the Flyers game. The list of injuries for NJ is starting to pile up.

NJ Injuries - Adam Larsson (bruised lower back) Ryan Carter (sore hand) Travis Zajac (sore left Achilles tendon) Henrik Tallinder (blood clot in left leg) Adam Henrique (groin) Bryce Salvador (ankle) but is probable.

Winning in Philly won’t be easy, it never is. The Flyers are coming off of a win against Nashville and are 6-2-2 in their last 10. As I mentioned earlier, NJ is coming off big come from behind victories against NY and Montreal and are 6-3-1 in their last 10. Philly currently sits in 4^th place in the Eastern Conference (2^nd in the Atlantic) with 66 points (3 behind NY and 7 ahead of NJ) while NJ sits in 7^th place in the Eastern Conference (4^th in the Atlantic) and sits 1 point ahead of 8^th place Toronto and 3 points ahead of 9^th place Washington. Points are desperately wanted by both of these teams.

I’d like to see a game where NJ doesn’t need to battle from behind. While they were able to do so against NY and Montreal, Philly to me is a much more physical team and probably would give NJ a lot tougher battle should Philly find a lead. NJ has to watch out for Giroux, who has been having a great season. The other guy that will need a little attention is James van Riemsdyk because it always seems that he raises his game whenever NJ is on the ice against him.

It certainly would be nice to keep rolling with a win this afternoon.

When it comes to NJ in Philly, how can you not think of Elias's finest moment in their building?

I know it was only one game but the way in which NJ battled back against the Rangers the other night still has me feeling good two days later. Now we get ready for the Habs as they come to town.  It’s hard to believe how far they’ve fallen in such a short amount of time. Two years ago they scratched and clawed their way to the Eastern Conference final, losing to Philly in 5 games. Last year, they took an early exit in the first round, losing to the eventual champion Boston Bruins but it took OT for Boston to win that game 7. Now, the Habs are closer to the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings than they are to the top 8. They are 10 points out of the playoffs and being 10 points out on February 2^nd pretty much means you’ll be finished after 82 games.

Montreal has been dealing with injuries this season but when all teams seem to go through a period of injuries, can you really lean on that as to the reason why your team is 10 points out of the playoff picture? Still, injuries have hit them. For example, look at tonight’s injury report for Montreal..

Travis Moen (upper body) has missed the last two games and Petteri Nokelainen (upper body) has missed the last three. Ryan White (sports hernia surgery), Brian Gionta (right biceps surgery) and Andrei Markov (knee surgery) are all on the injured reserve list.

Those are some pretty important guys on that list.

The big story /question going into tonight’s game for the Devils has to be, can they build on the momentum they gained in their come from behind shootout victory over the Rangers? After the win the other night, I realized that the Devils have played a number of 1 goal games this season and I wondered what their record was in 1 goal games this season

In 49 games they are 16-4-3 in games decided by 1 goal. Compare that record to their record in games decided by 3 goals where they are 4-8 and I don’t think I’m alone when I wish for more 1 goal games the rest of the way.

Speaking of the rest of the way, Peter Deboer announced that he is going to ride Brodeur for the rest of the season, but he will still use Johan Hedberg in back-to-back situations, which means Marty will be in net tonight and we will most likely see Hedberg this weekend at somepoint.

Tonight marks the 3^rd of 4 meetings this season. Each team has come away with a win in the other teams building, which isn’t a great stat for us going into this game.

As for tonight, the Devils need to continue what they did against the Rangers. Battle for the puck and generate some shots on goal. Montreal isn’t a team that dominates a game when it comes to puck control so NJ will have chances. I would like to see a more consistent game from the Devils defense. The other night against the Rangers, the D would look very good one minute and be chasing the puck around the next. As much as I blame Marty for quickly giving the lead back to NY after the Kovalchuk goal, the defense looked pretty soft on that goal.

Tonight’s lines should look something like this…

Petr Sykora - Patrik Elias - David Clarkson
Zach Parise - Dainius Zubrus - Ilya Kovalchuk
Alexei Ponikarovsky - Ryan Carter - Steve Bernier
Eric Boulton - Jacob Josefsen - Brad Mills

But apparently the defense is a little more confusing as Salvador was missing from the morning skate with a leg injury. There were D guys on the ice this but they weren’t grouped into pairs so it’s a little early to call the defensive pairings.

By the looks of it, Janssen is going to be a scratch again tonight which begs the question, why is he still here?

When it comes to Devils vs Canadiens games, you can’t help but think of that night Marty scored his first career goal.

This was the cbc feed because the Fox Sports feed was extreme poor in quality but if you want to hear docs call, this is it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ul1uMdwoQQ0

With 34 games left in the regular season and 9 of those 34 games coming against either the Bruins, the Flyers or the Rangers, there is no easing back into it for the New Jersey Devils. Tonight, the hated Rangers come to town and it appears that Henrik Lundqvist has the night off. Not sure if that means the Rangers don’t take us seriously or that they just need to res t Lundqvist after the All-Star weekend.

I actually don’t remember the last time that we got this far into the schedule and we can say that we’ve only played the Rangers once. That’s going to change real quick as we’ll see the Rangers 5 times between now and March 19^th. I’m sure every Devils fan remembers the last and only meeting between these two so far this season. The Rangers beat us 4-1 and used a shorthanded goal against us to really put the game away.

The Rangers were well represented in Ottawa for All-Star weekend. Marian Gaborik, Henrik Lundqvist, Dan Girardi, Carl Hagelin and John Tortorella made the trip to Ottawa so we can only hope that they return to the ice tonight a little worn out, of course Lundqvist gets the night off. The Devils however didn’t make the trip to Ottawa so hopefully they return to the ice as a well-rested bunch.

Last 10: New York 7-3-0; New Jersey 5-4-1

Injuries are a major concern for NJ. Adam Henrique who still appears to have a groin issue did not take part in Monday’s practices. Travis Zajac is still out with a sore Achilles tendon which is starting to me people wonder if 2011/2012 is just going to be a lost season for him. Tallinder is still gone for a good chunk of time. Andy Greene has returned to practice but isn’t expected to return to the lineup tonight.

The Devils recalled Jacob Josefsen, Matt Taormina and Steve Bernier from Albany of the AHL on Monday.

Much has been said about the Devils struggles against  the top teams in the conference this season. A good way of shutting people up would be to skate away with a win tonight. The Devils are currently in the middle of a season-long six game homestand  and have gone 1-2-1 so far, so a win tonight is very much needed.

Need something to get you pumped up for tonight? I invite you to revisit 1992 as the benches emptied after the Devils tied the 7 game series at 3-3 following game 6