Zajac, Volchenkov out for Devils against Bruins

NEWARK, N.J. -- The Devils will be without both center Travis Zajac and defenseman Anton Volchenkov for Wednesday's game against Boston (7:30 p.m., NBC Sports Network).

Devils GM Lou Lamoriello said that Volchenkov, who missed Monday's game in Ottawa with a lower-body injury, "is still resting his leg." He added that Zajac, who missed the first 30 games of the season after having surgery on his left Achilles tendon in August, is experiencing soreness and is day-to-day.

Zajac has played in every game since making his season debut against Dallas on Dec. 16, but he has been given the occasional day off to rest. He did not take part in Tuesday's optional practice either.

"He has a little soreness and we won't take any chances," Lamoriello said. "We have spoken to the doctors. There is nothing structurally wrong. He's OK, but we're going to rest him and he'll be day to day."

Lamoriello said the doctors told him that Zajac would likely experience soreness after returning to the ice. He said it's similar to what Zach Parise went through after his surgery last year to repair a torn ACL.

"This is normal," Lamoriello said. "Anybody with these types of injuries, there's going to be soreness. It's part of rehabilitation. We actually waited a week more than we had to when the doctor released him, but we're going to take every precaution possible."

Devils coach Peter DeBoer said that Tim Sestito will go into the lineup and Ryan Carter will move up into Zajac's spot to center the third line between David Clarkson and Mattias Tedenby.

"We were mentally prepared and warned that there was going to be some bumps in the road here," DeBoer said. "Obviously a real significant injury and he was coming back at the front end of the time period they had allotted for it, so I'm not concerned about it. We'll just keep moving forward."

Lamoriello also confirmed that defenseman Andy Greene (fractured foot) is out of his cast and in a walking boot, but is still a few weeks away from playing.

Here are the Devils projected forward lines and defense pairs for Wednesday's game against Boston:

Zach Parise - Adam Henrique - Ilya Kovalchuk
Petr Sykora - Patrik Elias - Dainius Zubrus
Mattias Tedenby - Ryan Carter - David Clarkson
Eric Boulton - Tim Sestito - Cam Janssen

Henrik Tallinder - Mark Fayne
Bryce Salvador - Adam Larsson
Matt Taormina - Kurtis Foster

Martin Brodeur will make his fourth straight start, backed up by Johan Hedberg.

Follow Dan Rosen on Twitter at: @drosennhl