About the Devils - 12-31-11
A preview of the Devils.
When and where: 3 p.m., EST. Prudential Center.
TV: Root Sports, MSG Plus.
Record: 20-15-1, 41 points. The Devils are in sixth place in the Eastern Conference and fourth place in the Atlantic Division.
Leading Scorer: Patrik Elias, 31 points (13 goals, 19 assists).
Last Game: 3-1 home win against the Sabres, Wednesday. Former Penguin Petr Sykora (right)scored two goals for the Devils. Fire Ray Shero.
Last Game against the Penguins: 4-1 road loss, Oct. 22. Jordan Staal scored two goals for the Penguins.
Devils Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Elias. He has nine points in his past seven games.
Ex-Penguins on the Devils: Johan Hedberg, G; Petr Sykora, RW.
Ex-Devils on the Penguins: Arron Asham, RW; Bill Guerin, player development coach; Paul Martin, D; Steve Sullivan, LW.
Useless Devils Trivia Vaguely Related to the Penguins: Bill Guerin is one of two former Penguins who have worn No. 12 for the Devils. The other is Mark Johnson.
Best Devils Video We Could Find: If Marc-Andre Fleury wants to score a goal, he should take some advice from New Jersey's Martin Brodeur:
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Probable goaltenders: Marc-Andre Fleury (19-8-2, 2.27 GAA, .915 SV%) for the Penguins and Martin Brodeur (10-9-0, 2.96 GAA, .888 SV%) for the Devils.
Injuries: For the Penguins, defensemen Robert Bortuzzo (head), Kris Letang (head), Paul Martin ("lower body"), centers Sidney Crosby (head), Dustin Jeffrey (knee) and right winger Richard Park (foot) are on injured reserve. For the Devils, defenseman Andy Greene (toe) and center Jacob Josefson (clavicle) are on injured reserve.
Potential lines and defensive pairings: The Penguins' did not practice with a full crew yesterday. Based on Thursday's lineup against the Flyers and some recent lineup changes, consider this a guess:
Chris Kunitz - Evgeni Malkin - James Neal
Pascal Dupuis - Jordan Staal - Tyler Kennedy
Matt Cooke - Joe Vitale - Steve Sullivan
Arron Asham - Craig Adams - Steve MacIntyre
Brooks Orpik - Matt Niskanen
Simon Despres - Zbynek Michalek
Deryk Engelland - Ben Lovejoy
-The Devils's primary lines and against the Sabres Wednesday were:
Zach Parise - Adam Henrique - Ilya Kovalchuk
Petr Sykora - Patrick Elias - Dainius Zubrus
Mattias Tedenby - Travis Zajac - David Clarkson
Eric Boulton - Tim Sestito - Cam Janssen
With Henrik Tallinder returning to the lineup, here are the expected defensive pairings:
Henrik Tallinder - Mark Fayne
Bryce Salvador - Adam Larsson
Anton Volchenkov - Kurtis Foster
Notes:
-Engelland returns from a suspension.
-With a win tonight, Dan Bylsma will break a tie with Michel Therrien for second-most coaching wins in franchise history. Each has 135. Eddie Johnston holds the record with 232.
-Our live blog begins at approximately 2:45 p.m. Please tune in.
(Photo: Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)