About the Devils - 01-07-12
A preview of the Devils.
When and where: 7 p.m. MSG Plus.
TV: Root Sports, MSG Plus.
Record: 22-16-2, 46 points. The Devils are in seventh place in the Eastern Conference and fourth place in the Atlantic Division.
Leading Scorer: Patrick Elias (right), 37 points (14 goals, 23 assists).
Last Game: 5-2 home win against the Panthers, last night. Ilya Kovalchuk scored two goals for the Devils.
Last Game against the Penguins: 3-1 home win, Dec. 31. Marc-Andre Fleury made 18 saves for the Penguins.
Devils Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Kovalchuk. He has four points in two games against the Penguins this season.
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/Rockies/Scouts Trivia Vaguely Related to the Penguins: Two former Penguins have served as captain of the Devils/Rockies/Scouts franchise. Rene Robert and Simon Nolet.
Best Devils Video We Could Find: Former Devils defenseman Scott Niedermayer fighting Rangers forward Valeri Kamensky and punting Kamensky's jersey:
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Probable goaltenders: Marc-Andre Fleury (19-10-2, 2.28 GAA, .913 SV%) for the Penguins and Martin Brodeur (11-10-1, 3.00 GAA, .888 SV%) for the Devils.
Injuries: For the Penguins, right winger Arron Asham (knee) is questionable. Center Jordan Staal (knee) is out. Centers Sidney Crosby (head), Dustin Jeffrey (knee) and defenseman Kris Letang (head) are on injured reserve. For the Devils, center Travis Zajac (left Achilles tendon) is out. Defensemen Andy Greene (fractured toe) Anton Volchenkov (right leg) and center Jacob Josefson (fractured right clavicle),
Potential lines and defensive pairings: Based on Staal's injury, consider this a guess at the lines:
Chris Kunitz - Evgeni Malkin - James Neal
Matt Cooke - Pascal Dupuis - Tyler Kennedy
Richard Park - Joe Vitale - Steve Sullivan
Steve MacIntyre - Craig Adams - Colin McDonald
Last night's primary defensive pairings were:
Brooks Orpik - Matt Niskanen
Zbynek Michalek - Paul Martin
Deryk Engelland - Ben Lovejoy
-The Devils' primary lines and defensive pairings last night against the Panthers were:
Zach Parise - Adam Henrique - Ilya Kovalchuk
Petr Sykora - Patrik Elias - Dainius Zubrus
Tim Sestito - Steve Zalewski - David Clarkson
Eric Boulton - Ryan Carter - Cam Janssen
Bryce Salvador - Adam Larsson
Henrik Tallinder - Mark Fayne
Matt Taormina - Kurtis Foster
Notes:
-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.
-Fleury has appeared in 399 career games.
-Martin has 197 career points.
-Park has 97 career goals.
-The Penguins will be wearing their blue "Frankenstein" mish-mash jerseys tonight.
-Our live blog begins at approximately 6 p.m. Please tune in.
(Photo: Christian Petersen/Getty Images)