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New Jersey Devils (25-30-12) vs. Arizona Coyotes (23-35-8) 8:00 P.M.

Here are tonight’s starting goaltenders for the game courtesy of Left Wing Lock.

Match Overview

The slumping New Jersey Devils are hoping to end their winless streak at nine tonight. In order to do that they will have to go through Radim Vrbata and the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena. The Coyotes are only one of two teams who have less points than the Devils with 54, in comparison to New Jersey’s 62. The Devils now find themselves all alone in last place of the eastern conference. Arizona is 13th in the west out of 14 teams leading only the Colorado Avalanche.The last game between these two sides came on October 25, where the Devils came away with a 5-3 victory.

New Jersey did just lose to the mile-high team by a score of 3-2 on Thursday night thanks to a hard wrist shot from Francois Beauchemin with only 1:14 left in regulation. The Coyotes are also coming off a heartbreaking overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators on Thursday as well.

Keys to the Game

It is important for the Devils to get a fast start if they want to end the losing streak. They will need to generate a lot of shots in this game and way more early scoring chances. Prior to their last game they only scored two goals in their last four contests, being shutout three times. Scoring is an issue for the Coyotes as well, so if the defense shows up to play this could be a very good night for the goaltenders and the game may only be decided by a single goal.

Players to Watch

Travis Zajac is out for tonight’s game as he flew back to New Jersey to witness the birth of his third child. It will be up to the usual suspects to step up for tonight’s game. Adam Henrique, Kyle Palmieri and Taylor Hall have got to get the team going because they do not want this losing streak to hit double digits. For Arizona, it is always important to look at Vrbata considering he is the leading scorer with 15 goals and 33 assists, just two points shy of 50. Oliver Ekman-Larsson is another player to be on watch for because he is a high talented defenseman who can strike at any time on the ice.

Prediction

The Devils have had a lot of luck against the Coyotes recently winning the last four match-ups including two wins on the road. The crowd does not play much of a factor so New Jersey should look to take advantage of that. The Devils will continue their good luck against the Coyotes tonight, winning by a final score of 3-1 and ending the nine game winless streak.