OTTAWA, ON - The Devils are back in action tonight in Ottawa, facing a team that they've nearly caught in the standings and can leapfrog over with a win. That, says Devils interim head coach Alain Nasreddine, is the goal for this club moving forward with 34 games left in the season.
"We want to have a goal of climbing up the standings as much as possible. How high can we get," he said. "Tonight we have an example where we can pass Ottawa in the standings and that should be a short-term goal for tonight.
After Ottawa, the Rangers, Canadiens and Sabres are next up on the Devils list as they look to rise in the Eastern Conference.
"It'll be who's the next target and how high can we get up in the standings? We all get paid to win games and that should be the goal every game," Nasreddine added.
As for the lineup tonight, it will be as follows:
Bratt - Hischier - Palmieri
Coleman - Zajac - Gusev
Zacha - Hughes - Simmonds
Wood - Rooney - Hayden
Greene - Subban
Severson - Vatanen
Butcher - Mueller
Blackwood
Nasreddine wanted to get Blackwood back in action after he missed a handful of games due to injury and hadn't started a game since January 9 against the Rangers.
"He came in relief last game. He's been really good for us the last month, month and a half so we'll give him the start tonight. There's no guarantee for next game."
The coach added that he wanted to watch Blackwood's workload moving forward and the recent strong play of Louis Domingue has helped that.
"At this point, we'll go game-by-game. Louis has also done a pretty good job minus maybe the last couple of games but those are more of a team issue than a goaltending issue. Louis is going to see more action than he has the last two months," Nasreddine began. "I don't think we want to use him as much as we did the last month and a half, two months. Louis has proven he can play and be good for us. It's important to keep both goalies active."
Up front, all-star Nico Hischier will be playing with Kyle Palmieri, returning from injury, and Jesper Bratt. Hischier was happy to see his linemate back from the injured list.
"He's an all-around really good player. You saw him getting hurt with a blocked shot. He's a big part in the D-zone, too, and up front."
-- Marc Ciampa, NewJerseyDevils.com