New Jersey continues its four-game homestand against all Western Conference teams Thursday night when it hosts the Winnipeg Jets. Puck drop is at 7:08 p.m. ET on MSG+2 and the Devils Hockey Network.
Former Devil Travis Zajac will be honored for playing 1000 NHL games on Thursday. The Devils 20th overall pick in the 2004 draft played 15 NHL seasons almost completely with New Jersey. Zajac played 1,024 games for the Devils and 13 with the New York Islanders. Over his career, the center had 203 goals and 349 assists for a total of 552 points.

YOUR GAME-DAY ESSENTIALS

GAME DAY VIDEO
WATCH:
Devils Minutes | Building off Wins
WATCH:

BY THE NUMBERS
Stats Comparison: Devils vs. Jets
Media Game Notes: Devils vs. Jets
Devils Player Statistics
Jets Player Statistics
NHL Standings
RECENT VIDEOS
DEVILS NOW: Zajac's Veteran Presence
3-ON-3: Hischier Hot Streak
FEATURE: Paralympian Jack Wallace
GENDER EQUALITY: Amrisa Niranjan
RECENT BLOGS & ARTICLES
PROSPECT REPORT: Bahl Taking Advantage of Size, Angles
PODCAST: Scott Wheeler
BLOG: Zajac's Continued Influence
RELEASE: Prudential Center Updated COVID 19 Policy
THREE THINGS: Best OT Goals
TV & RADIO
You can watch tonight's game on MSG+2.
You can listen to tonight's game on the Devils Hockey Network.
There are still tickets available.
Purchase them here
.

INSIDE THE DEVILS

Keep up to date on the latest details from Devils practices and injury updates including the team's practice Wednesday.
>> READ MORE IN THE INSIDE THE DEVILS BLOG

PRE-GAME STORY

NEWARK, N.J. -The Devils continue their four-game homestand against the Winnipeg Jets. And for the second consecutive game, the club will be without its captain. Nico Hischier will not play due to a lower-body injury.
"Nico is just dealing with a pain tolerance thing. He didn't skate today, he worked out off ice," head coach Lindy Ruff said. "We'll just go day-to-day with him."
Hischier, 22, is a captain that will do whatever it takes to win. And sometimes that means blocking shots. The downside to that mentality is it could sometimes result in lost games.
"We've used the phrase 'whatever it takes to win a game.' He's one of those guys that whatever it takes means a lot to him," Ruff said. "That means blocking a shot at a key time. Has blocking a shot cost him some games? Yeah, it has cost him some games."
Winning Culture
The Devils are in the process of building a winning culture in New Jersey. And that project took a few big steps forward this week with back-to-back victories against tough Western Conference teams in St. Louis and Colorado. The Devils expressed their belief that they would overcome a 3-0 deficit against the Avalanche, the best team in the NHL, and they indeed did with a 5-3 victory Tuesday night.
"A winning culture takes time. That was a really good step," forward Jesper Bratt said of the win. "Those are wins that really sit good in the locker room and they're something that brings a lot of excitement for guys that come back to the rink the next day."
The challenge continues against the …
J-E-T-S
It was a wild one the last time these two teams met, Dec. 3 in Winnipeg. In that contest, the Jets charged out to a 3-0 lead just 7:39 into the game. The Devils responded in full might with four straight goals to take a 4-3 lead. But the Jets answered with five unanswered goals to pull out an 8-4 win.
"We know from previous meetings with them that we've had the lead and they've come back," Bratt said. "All we want to do is focus on what we did well in the last game and what we did against Colorado. That's where our focus is.
"We know they're a great team and we're going to need a another similar performance to beat that team. We're extremely excited about it, especially having two wins at home in front of the fans. We're extremely excited to be back here and play tonight's game."
Keeping It 1,000
The Devils will honor former Devil Travis Zajac for playing over 1,000 games with the club with a pre-game puck drop ceremony. Zajac, who was born in Winnipeg, played 15 seasons with the Devils and signed a one-day contract to retire as a member of the team.
Since then, Zajac has remained living with his family in New Jersey and has attended some Devils practices, working with the players and team in various aspects of the game, including faceoffs.
"It's been awesome. Great guy to have around, knows the game inside out," Ruff said. "I just think he's an asset. Here's a guy that's played 1,000 games with one team, and played really good hockey for us until he went to the Islanders. I just think it's an added bonus, an added asset to have him in the locker room and to come on the ice with us."

PREVIEW

DEVILS (21-31-5) vs. JETS (25-22-10)
TV: 7:00 p.m. ET; Televised on MSG+2
RADIO: Devils Hockey Network
Head-to-Head:
This is the second and final meeting between these teams this season. The first matchup was on Dec 4, 2021, and was a 8-4 loss for the Devils in Winnipeg. Despite being down 3-0, the Devils rallied back starting in the second half of the first period to score four answered goals. However, the Jets responded with five unanswered goals of their own to take the win.
Devils Team Scope:
The Devils are coming off of two huge wins over two of the best teams in the West: a 3-2 overtime win over the St. Louis Blues on Sunday, and a 5-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche Tuesday. Halfway through its homestand, the Devils have picked up all four possible points against the two hardest opponents of the four contests at home.
Despite being down 3-0 in the first 30 minutes of Tuesday's game, the Devils rallied back to score five unanswered goals to beat the best team in the NHL. Tomas Tatar, Ty Smith, Damon Severson, Nathan Bastian, and Yegor Sharangovich all scored in the win, with Severson's and Bastian's goals coming on the power play. Tatar's goal, his first since Feb. 8, was his 400th NHL point.
Despite going through six goaltender this season, the Devils have found a consistent effort from rookie Nico Daws. New Jersey has turned to their 84th overall pick in the 2020 Draft, for the last five straight games, where he's gone 3-2. Daws has 134 saves on 148 shots in his last five games, which leads to a .905 save percentage. Overall, he's averaging 2.75 goals against with a .906 save percentage.
Jesper Bratt leads the Devils across the board for goals (19), assists (35), and points (54). Jack Hughes is second in goals (17), assists (26), and points (43). The Devils power play is 21st in the NHL with a 18.9% success rate, and the penalty kill stops opponents 81% of the time which is 11th in the league.
The Devils enter the second half of their four-game homestand with Thursday's contest against the Jets, wrapping things up on Saturday against the Anaheim Ducks.
Jets Team Scope:
Winnipeg just wrapped up a four-game homestand of its own going 2-1-1 with wins over the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning, and falling to the Dallas Stars in overtime and New York Rangers in regulation. The win over the Lightning was the final game at home for Winnipeg, as the Jets' four-goal third period helped take down the defending Stanley Cup champions, 7-4. In Tuesday's game, the Jets saw five players record multi-point games with Mark Scheifele pacing his team with one goal and three assists.
The Jets game against the Devils is Winnipeg's first of three games in four nights, with a back-to-back games at the Devils and Islanders before wrapping up on the road at St. Louis, Sunday. In the Jets last five games, left wing Kyle Connor leads the team with eight points while center Paul Stastny has five goals in that time span. Left wing Pierre-Luc Dubois has five assists which leads Winnipeg.
Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, the Jets' starter, has a 19-20-9 record, averaging 2.97 goals against and a .908 save percentage. He has three shutouts this season. The Devils faced Hellebuyck in Winnipeg this season, where the goaltender let in four goals on 37 shot attempts by New Jersey.
Kyle Connor is his team's goals and points leader with 34 and 63 respectively, and second on the team with 30 assists. Blake Wheeler is the Jets assist leader with 33.
By the Numbers:
On Tuesday, Devils head coach Lindy Ruff earned his 776 career regular-season win which gave him sole possession of sixth on the NHL's all-time wins list, passing Paul Maurice. Ruff is six games away from tying Al Arbour for fifth place.
Jack Hughes is the youngest player to reach a 12-game home points streak in franchise history, joining Patrik Elias (17 GP in 1999-00), Petr Sykora (12 GP in 1999-00), Steve Thomas (12 GP in 1995-96) and Rob Ramage (12 GP in 1980-81). The 20-year-old earned assists on the last two game winning goals for the Devils as well.
Injuries:
Devils
Wood (IR, hip)
Thompson (IR, upper-body)
Bernier (IR, lower-body)
Blackwood (IR, heel)
Kuokkanen (IR, upper-body)
Jets
Perfetti (IR, upper-body)
Reichel (IR, lower-body)
Beaulieu (lower-body)