The Devils look to break their losing streak against Columbus tonight in their final matchup of the season (Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)
Match Overview
In the back end of a home-and-home, the Devils are looking to snap their losing streak against the Blue Jackets in their final meeting of the season. The Devils lost in Columbus last night 6-3. After being down 3-0, they managed to tie the game at 3 after Kyle Palmieri scored his 27th goal of the season, but Columbus scored soon after to make it 4-3 and never looked back after that.
Goaltending has been a problem for the Devils since Cory Schneider went down with an injury. Keith Kinkaid was pulled early in the 2nd period last night after giving up 3 goals on 19 shots. Yann Danis took over, but did not fair much better. He gave up 3 goals on 15 shots in less than 40 minutes of ice time.
According to Michal Belsan and other sources in the Czech Republic, Vojtech Mozik may be making his NHL debut for the Devils tonight. He has 13 points in 49 games in Albany and leads the team in +/- at +26. With no morning skate today, any line up changes won’t be confirmed until later this afternoon.
UPDATE: According to Tom Gulitti, there’s a chance we Scott Wedgewood in net today. This would be Wedgewood’s first career start if that’s the case. In Albany this season, Wedgewood is 9-2-1 with a .928 save percentage and 1.69 goals against average.
Projected Lines
New Jersey
Kennedy/Henrique/Smith-Pelly
Boucher/Zajac/Palmieri
Blandisi/Kalinin/Sislo
Farnham/Gionta/Ruutu
Greene/Larsson
Moore*/Schlemko
Merrill/Severson
Wedgewood
Columbus
Hartnell/Dubinsky/Foligno
Saad/Jenner/Atkinson
Calvert/Wennberg/Bjorkstrand
Karlsson/Chaput/Campbell
Savard/Jones
Murray/Prout
Tyutin/Goloubef
Bobrovsky
Players to Watch
Cam Atkinson celebrates with his teammates after scoring a power play goal last night (Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)
Travis Zajac…He’s been playing well as of late. He collected 2 assists in last night’s loss and has 5 points in his last five games. On the season he has 38 points in sixty-four games and is just 4 assists away from thirty on the season. The days of Zajac of being a 60-point center seem to be long gone, but he’s rebounded from last season where only totaled 25 points in 74 games. He’s seemed to have found some chemistry with Reid Boucher and Kyle Palmieri, which will be important for the team heading into next season.
Cam Atkinson…He scored on the power play last night and has 9 points in twelve career games against the Devils. Atkinson has been one of the Blue Jackets better players this season tallying 25 goals and 21 assists in 70 games while being a 50.8% possession player on one of the weaker possession teams in the league.
What to Watch
Who’s in Goal?…As mentioned previously, Scott Wedgewood could be making his first career NHL start tonight. The Devils have struggled in net since Schneider went down with injury. Kinkaid’s save percentage is just .899 on the season and only .873 in the six starts he’s made since filling in for Schneider. Wedgewood has played well in Albany in limited action and just returned to action after recovering from a shoulder injury. A good start from him tonight could give him another start or two until Schneider returns from injury.
When and Where to Watch
Fox Sports Ohio and MSG+ at 5PM