Match Overview

After losing 2-1 to Edmonton in overtime on Saturday night, the Devils host the Florida Panthers looking to get back in the win column. The Devils were outshot unmercifully by a total of 43-20 against Edmonton. Thankfully, Cory Schneider was up to the task after a rough outing Friday against Toronto where he was pulled after allowing 3 goals on 5 shots. Schneider stopped 41/43 shots he faced and made a handful of great saves throughout the game to keep the Devils in it.

Meanwhile, in Florida, the Panthers have struggled to find their game amid a tumultuous season. Gerard Gallant was fired early in the season and the team has been plagued by a number of significant injuries to key players. They’ll be without Aleks Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, and Nick Bjugstad tonight, three of their top scorers.

Projected Lines

Florida 

Marchessault/Trocheck/Jagr
Jokinen/McCann/Smith
Malgin/Sgarbossa/Sceviour
McKegg/MacKenzie/Thompson

Yandle/Demers
Matheson/Ekblad
Pysyk/Kindl

Luongo

New Jersey 

Hall/Zajac/Parenteau
Cammalleri/Henrique/Palmieri
Wood/Zacha/Bennett
Kalinin/DSP/Lappin

Merrill/Lovejoy
Quincey/Severson
Helgeson/Santini

Schneider

What to Watch 

• Aside from Friday’s clunker, we got to see vintage Cory Schneider over the past week. He stopped over .950% of the shots he faced in three of four starts last week, including a shutout against the Bruins and a 41 save performance against Edmonton Saturday night. The Devils probably aren’t going to make the playoffs, but if they want to make things competitive over the final half of the season, they’ll need Schneider to be at his best.

• Goals have been tough to come by for both teams, as they both sit at 25th in the league with 95 goals for. The Panthers also have the lowest even-strength shooting percentage in the league at 5.8%. As long as the Devils don’t make things easy for them, which is certainly possible, they should be in pretty good shape. Especially with the number of key injuries Florida has.

• The Devils fourth line of Gazdic/Kalinin/Lappin was absolutely caved in at even-strength Saturday night. They were a combined +8/-48 in shot attempts, by far the worst of the Devils forwards that night. John Hynes has made some interesting lineup decisions over the past few weeks, but putting Beau Bennett back in is certainly the right move. He may not score a lot, but he’s one of the Devils best drivers of possession in their bottom six, which is something they’re in desperate need of.

Tonight’s game can be seen on MSG+ at 7 PM