Devils take on Rangers and Canadiens in split-squad showdowns

The preseason kicks off for the New Jersey Devils this evening, and it's a night filled with hockey for John Hynes' team. Not only will players take to the ice at Prudential Center to face the New York Rangers, a second set of players will be in Montreal to face the Canadiens on the road.

The split-squad game gives several rookies the chance to play in their first competitive pre-season matchup, throwing on the New Jersey Devils sweater for the first time in game action on an NHL rink.
"I'm pretty excited," Ty Smith said. "Today's practice made me realize I'm playing tonight. Getting out with all the NHL guys, playing against the Rangers here in New Jersey is pretty exciting, especially at home.

The rookie defenseman will suit up next to established veteran Sami Vatanen, a player with similar stature to Smith.
"It will be really special," Smith said. "When he came into the league I started watching him when he played for Anaheim. He's a smaller guy, kind of like me. He's a guy I like to watch and learn from, so it's pretty cool that they've partnered me up with him for the game."
Also suiting up tonight will be forward Joey Anderson. Anderson signed his first pro contract back in April and is anxious to show what he has soaked in from this experience at Devils training camp.
"We've gone over some systems, and I'm hoping to show that I can pick them up right away and execute what they're asking me to do," Anderson said. "Just go out there and compete, win every battle I can and if not win, contest for it and make sure I get help and end up with the puck."

Anderson is part of the group that is headed to Montreal and will be on a line with Blake Coleman and Brett Seney.
"I think we complement each other very well," Anderson said. "Brett [Seney] and Blake [Coleman] are very fast players. It's really easy for me to give them the puck and they can go wheel. I'll go find spaces and help find pucks and get it to them. I will be fun to see how we do against another NHL team."
It's not only the rookies that are trying to prove themselves during the training camp and pre-season process, but younger veterans are also in the same boat. Pavel Zacha spent a second consecutive summer living and training in New Jersey to ready himself for the start of the season. Zacha scored eight goals and 17 assists last season in 69 games and knows he can improve on those numbers and become more of a scoring threat.
"I want to show that I can take a step forward," Zacha said. "In my competitiveness, two-way game, being better on the faceoff, and having more offensive chances. I think I've shown in the D-zone I can play well on the penalty-kill, but I want to show more that I can be a game-changer. That's what it's all about now."

Hynes will not be coaching either game tonight, instead opting to watch with a birds-eye-view.
"It's a good situation where I can really observe the group, you're not coaching and changing the lines," Hynes said. "It's really an evaluation [time]. Tomorrow I will sit down and watch video from the Montreal game. I think it's important to give guys a good opportunity to be observed. We have positions available, so the focus for us is a strong evaluation of where we're going to go in camp after these two games."
Running the bench at Prudential Center will be Rick Kowalsky and in Montreal it will be Alain Nasreddine.
As for goaltending, the nets will be shared tonight. At Prudential Center, Keith Kinkaid will get the start and play the first two periods, Cam Johnson is expected to play the third. While in Montreal, Eddie Lack will get the start and play two periods, with Mackenzie Blackwood playing the final frame.
The lineups for both games will look as follows:
Versus New York Rangers:
Hall-Hischier-Bratt
Quenneville-McLeod-Noesen
Pietila-Boyle-Lappin
Tangradi-Rooney-Gabriel
Smith-Vatanen
Greene-Santini
Yakovlev-Gryba
Kinkaid/Johnson
Versus the Montreal Canadiens:
Johansson-Zacha-Palmieri
Studenic-Zajac-Stafford
Coleman-Seney-Anderson
Baddock-Gignac-Speers
Mueller-Severson
Butcher-Lovejoy
Strait-Jacobs
Lack/Blackwood
Game time in New Jersey is 7 p.m. while the game from Montreal is 7:30 p.m.