Overview

Coming off a commanding 2-1 victory over the Rangers on Thursday, the New Jersey Devils will take on the Chicago Blackhawks today at the United Center. New Jersey played strong hockey against the Rangers after a 5-1 loss to the Islanders, proving they can handle a tough, playoff-like matchup. Now, the Devils enter the final month of the season with a game against the basement-dwelling Chicago looking to leap into first place.

The Devils own a record of 47-20-8 and are in second place in the Metropolitan Division, one point behind the Carolina Hurricanes with 102. The Blackhawks, on the other hand, are 24-45-6 and sit in last place in the Central Division. 

Lines and Pairings

Devils –

Forwards

Meier-Hischier-Mercer

Palat-Hughes-Bratt

Tatar-Haula-Boqvist

Wood-McLeod-Sharangovich

Defense

Siegenthaler-Hamilton

Graves-Marino

Bahl-Severson

Goalies

Vanecek

Blackwood

Blackhawks –

Forwards

Reichel-Athanasiou-Bjork

Johnson-Dickinson-Raddysh

Katchouk-Khaira-Anderson

Wagner-Towes-Johnson

Defense

Jones-Jones

Kaiser-Murphy

Englund-Zaitsev

Goalies

Mrazek

Stalock

Keys to the Game

Offense to Pick It Up

Although the Devils played a great all-around game against the Rangers, they only scored two goals. This wasn’t entirely their fault as they ran into one of the hottest goalies in the league in Igor Shesterkin, but they also only scored one goal against the Islanders.

Over the next half month, every aspect of the team will need to get hot, so look for the offense to explode today against a bottom-feeding Blackhawks squad.

Playoff Race Update

As of now, the Devils are still in second place in the Metropolitan Division. With their win against the Rangers, they now lead them by three points with a game in hand. They trail first-place Carolina, who has a game in hand on New Jersey, by one point.

If the season ended today, this is what the Eastern Conference playoff picture would look like:

Boston Bruins (A1)	Pittsburgh Penguins (W2)
Toronto Maple Leafs (A2)	Tampa Bay Lightning (A3)
Carolina Hurricanes (M1)	New York Islanders (W1)
New Jersey Devils (M2)	New York Rangers (M3)

Tonight’s game can be seen on MSGSN at 8:00 PM EDT.