Game 54: Devils Host Canes, Eye Critical Points

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The Carolina Hurricanes visit the New Jersey Devils tonight at The Prudential Center. Carolina is 5-5-0 in their last 10 while the Devils are 7-1-2 in their last 10. For an official preview of the game, head over to NHL.com

TV – MSG(HD) – Radio – 660 AM WFAN

Probable Lines: (based on Sunday’s Game)

Illya Kovalchuk, Travis Zajac, Nick Palmieri
Dainius Zubrus, Patrik Elias, Brian Rolston
Tim Sestito, Rod Pelley, David Clarkson
Vladimir Zharkov, Jason Arnott, Mattias Tedenby

Colin White, Anton Volchenkov
Mark Fayne, Henrik Tallinder
Andy Greene, Anssi Salmela

Johan Hedberg
Mike McKenna

That’s right, the Devils have recalled Mike McKenna from Albany to back up Hedberg tonight. There is very little information about Marty’s injury at the moment or how long we should expect McKenna to be here.

Game Notes

– The Carolina Hurricanes are 5-5-0 in their last ten have lost 4 of the last 5 on the road. They are coming off a 4-3 victory over the Thrashers.

– Yes, it is true the Devils sit 1 point of out last place in the conference, they only trail the 8th place Hurricanes by 16 points. The Devils aren’t in any playoff picture yet but getting 2 points tonight sure wouldn’t hurt.

– Eric Staal leads the ‘Canes in Goals and points, and is far above any of the Devils leaders in those categories.

– The ‘Canes have a -5 in goal differential this season while the Devils have an eye opening -41.

– These two teams have only met once this season, with Carolina winning 6-3 on Jan. 1 but will get real familiar over the next 12 days as the will meet 3 times and finish out the season series. If the Devils want to push towards getting into the playoffs, these points are crucial.

Make sure to stick with us on twitter during the game as we like to chat with our fans.

 

 

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