NEW YORK -- New Jersey Devils center Travis Zajac will be in the lineup Sunday against the New York Rangers (1 p.m. ET; SN, MSG+, MSG) after missing the previous game with a lower-body injury. Zajac will replace Tuomo Ruutu, who has an unspecified injury.
"He's ready to go," Devils coach John Hynes said of Zajac.
In addition, the Devils have two other lineup changes from their 2-1 shootout loss to the San Jose Sharks on Friday.
Defenseman Eric Gelinas will replace Jon Merrill, who Hynes said is not available because of a sickness. Forward Stefan Matteau will replacing Brian O'Neill.
The Devils (0-3-1) are seeking their first win of the season.
Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist will start his sixth consecutive game to open the season. It's unclear when backup goalie Antti Raanta will make his Rangers' debut. New York plays Monday against the Sharks and Thursday against the Arizona Coyotes, with each game at Madison Square Garden.
Lundqivst has a .933 save percentage and 2.21 goals-against average, but the Rangers (3-2-0) have lost two in a row in regulation to the Winnipeg Jets (4-1) and Montreal Canadiens (3-0).
The lack of offense forced coach Alain Vigneault to juggle the forward lines and defense pairs in practice on Saturday.
Here are the projected lineups:
DEVILS
Mike Cammalleri - Adam Henrique - Lee Stempniak
Jiri Tlusty - Travis Zajac - Kyle Palmieri
Reid Boucher - Jacob Josefson - Jordin Tootoo
Stefan Matteau - Stephen Gionta - Sergey Kalinin
David Schlemko - Damon Severson
Injured: Tuomo Ruutu (undisclosed)
Scratched: Brian O'Neill, Jon Merrill
RANGERS
Rick Nash - Derek Stepan - Mats Zuccarello
Chris Kreider - Derick Brassard - Jesper Fast
Oscar Lindberg - Kevin Hayes - J.T. Miller
Viktor Stalberg - Dominic Moore - Jarret Stoll
Injured: none
Scratched: Dylan McIlrath, Emerson Etem, Tanner Glass
Status report: Etem, who made his Rangers debut on Saturday against Montreal, likely will be scratched for the fifth time in six games. Stoll, who did not play against the Canadiens, should be in the lineup after playing in the first five games.
Who's hot: Schneider is coming off a 33-save performance in the shootout loss to the Sharks. He has allowed four goals on 64 shots (.938 save percentage) in two appearances this season. … Henrique, who scored New Jersey's goal Friday, is the only Devils player with two goals.
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