The Devils will have a much more familiar look tonight when they host the Rangers in their second preseason game. New Jersey turns to many of the players who sat out Sunday's opener against the Islanders.
Jack Hughes will center Anthony Mantha and Jesper Bratt, while Nico Hischier lines up between Timo Meier and Luke Evangelista. Those combinations carry over from the opening days of training camp.
Arseny Gritsyuk, Evan Rodrigues and Dawson Mercer make up the third line, with Jesper Boqvist and Stefan Noesen flanking Marc McLaughlin on the fourth.
On defense, Luke Hughes will skate alongside Brett Pesce, while Jonas Siegenthaler partners with Dougie Hamilton. Topias Vilen and Mikael Diotte round out the blue line.
Head coach Sheldon Keefe confirmed Sunday that Jake Allen and Nico Daws will split the game in goal. For Daws, the appearance offers a chance to strengthen his bid for an NHL job alongside veterans Allen and David Rittich.
Ryan Schmelzer and Connor Brown scored in Sunday's 2-1 win over the Islanders. Brown supplied the winning goal.
The Rangers haven't announced their roster for the game as of yet. They begin their preseason tonight following a busy offseason. Pavel Dorofeyev, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Eeli Tolvanen are among the additions up front, while Marcus Pettersson and Sean Durzi bring new faces to the blue line.
New York's camp roster also includes returning forwards Mika Zibanejad, J.T. Miller and Alexis Lafrenière, defenseman Adam Fox and goaltender Igor Shesterkin. Monday begins the process of seeing how the Rangers put those pieces together, with another meeting between the rivals coming later in the week.
