After a quick trip out to the Midwest, the New Jersey Devils (29-29-2, 7th Metropolitan) will return home to face the Florida Panthers (30-27-3, 7th Atlantic) tonight.

Overview

The Devils got a much-needed 3-1 win over the Blues on Saturday, snapping a five-game losing streak in the process. They played well overall as New Jersey ticked all the right boxes with strong performances from Jacob Markström, the Jack Hughes line, and the snake-bitten Timo Meier and Dougie Hamilton. They’ll need to get all their parts working in tandem again as they face a tougher opponent.

Florida, reeling from a 5-4 loss to the Islanders on Sunday, is in much the same position as New Jersey. They started the season with high expectations after winning consecutive Stanley Cups, but have become a backmarker in the Eastern Conference as injuries and underperformance have taken their toll. They are still without key pieces, Seth Jones and Alexander Barkov, and are eight points out of a playoff spot. They still have their Cup-winning identity, however, and can be a dangerous team to face on any given night.

The Panthers beat the Devils 1-0 last time they played on November 20.

Lines and Pairings

Devils-

Forwards

Meier-Hischier-Mercer

Gritsyuk-Hughes-Brown

Bratt-Glass-Hameenaho

Cotter-Bjugstad-Tsyplakov

Defense

Hughes-Pesce

Siegenthaler-Hamilton

Dillion-Nemec

Goalies

Markstrom

Allen

Panthers-

Forwards

Verhaeghe-Rodrigues-Reinhart

Samoskevich-Bennett-Tkachuck

Luostarinen-Lundell-Marchand

Vilmanis-Boqvist-Greer

Defense

Forsling-Ekblad

Mikkola-Kulikov

Sebrango-Petry

Goalies

Bobrovsky

Tarasov

Keys to the Game

Bratt On His Own Line

Head coach Sheldon Keefe moved Jesper Bratt to the third line with Cody Glass and Lenni Hämeenaho on Saturday, a move that could help spark both him and the Glass line. Keefe likely moved Bratt out of the top-six because he can drive his own line, letting him spread the team’s top talent around the lineup. Keefe tends to roll out his top three lines fairly evenly, so this isn’t exactly a demotion for the Swede. The Bratt line didn’t play great against St. Louis, with a 47.81 expected goal percentage (xG%), at five-on-five, so look for an improvement out of those three.

Trade Deadline Looming

Neither team is in a prime position to sell off players at this year’s trade deadline on Friday, but tonight’s game could have an impact all the same. For the Devils, Dougie Hamilton could be on the move, and teams will be keeping tabs on his performance today. For the Panthers, Sergei Bobrovsky’s status as a pending unrestricted free agent makes him prime trade bait.

Where to Watch

Tonight’s game can be seen on TNT at 7:00 pm ET.