Game 25: Hurricanes Come To NJ

The Matchup
Carolina Hurricanes (9-10-5) visit the New Jersey Devils (9-10-5). These two teams are currently battling it out for 4^th and 5^th place in the Metropolitan Division with NJ sitting in 4^th and Carolina sitting in 5^th but both have 23 points in 24 games played. The Devils are coming off a disappointing 3-1 loss at home to Winnipeg, which was their second straight loss while the Hurricanes are coming off a 4-1 win at home against the Senators

Projected Lines for the Carolina Hurricanes
Nathan Gerbe – Eric Staal – Tuomo Ruutu
Jiri Tlusty – Jordan Staal – Pat Dwyer
Jeff Skinner – Riley Nash – Elias Lindholm
Drayson Bowman – Manny Malhotra – Radek Dvorak

Justin Faulk – Andrej Sekera
Brett Bellemore – Ron Hainsey
Ryan Murphy – Jay Harrison

Projected Lines for the New Jersey Devils: 
Dainius Zubrus – Travis Zajac – Jaromir Jagr
Adam Henrique – Patrik Elias – Steve Bernier
Ryan Carter – Andrei Loktionov – Michael Ryder
Mattias Tedenby – Jacob Josefson – Cam Janssen

Andy Greene – Marek Zidlicky
Eric Gelinas – Mark Fayne
Jon Merrill – Pete Harrold

Injury Notes

Hurricanes forward Alexander Semin (concussion) and goalie Anton Khudobin (lower body) are on injured reserve. … Forward Stephen Gionta (ankle) and defensemen Adam Larsson (lower body) and Anton Volchenkov(lower body) are questionable for the Devils. Defenseman Bryce Salvador (fractured foot), and forward Ryane Clowe(concussion) are doubtful.

Random Thoughts For This Game

Cam Janssen will get the spot in the lineup and Damien Brunner will be a healthy scratch again. He was a healthy scratch last week against the Kings but put in poor performances against the Sharks and Jets which gets him the night off. Cam was a good story when he came up and scored two quick goals in his first 3 games but that’s long over and time for Cam to get his bus ticket back to Albany.

Broduer gets the nod in goal tonight and he’s been playing well so it’s not a shock or at least shouldn’t be. According to TG, Cory Schneider is a little frustrated with his lack of playing time but to be fair, you knew what the situation was when you got traded here. No way are you going to make Marty Brodeur ride the bench for most of the season. With that said, be patient because you are the future of the NJ Devils and that future probably starts next season. On top of that, the Devils play Friday and then again Saturday night, starting this weekend and following through for the next 6 weeks so you are due to start playing more. First Friday night they don’t play is January 10^th.

I’m excited to see Merrill in again tonight. I want this kid to succeed. I just have a soft spot in my heart for Wolverines, what can I say. I thought he showed some good promise the other night.

Hopefully the Devils can halt Eric Staal. It sounds like he’s coming off his best game of the season so I would imagine you will see Travis Zajac on him a lot.

NHL 14 Simulation Results:

Unfortunately for the Devils, it was a disaster of a game. The ‘Canes came out strong, struck early and kept going. Let’s hope it doesn’t go the way of the simulation because if it does, Cory Schneider will be playing in this game, much like he did when he relieved Marty after a 5 goals on 17 shots got in. The ‘Canes rolled to a 5-1 victory in this matchup.