Round 1: Hudson River Rivalry | PREVIEW

NEW JERSEY DEVILS (3-3-0) vs NEW YORK RANGERS (6-2-0)

New Jersey host cross-river rival New York Rangers in the first meeting between the two Hudson River Rivals this season on Thursday night at Prudential Center. Puck drop is 7:08 p.m. ET.

Read below for your Game Preview presented by Protection Technologies and check back for the Morning Skate Recap.

MORNING SKATE RECAP

NEWARK, N.J. - The Devils will hold their morning skate at Prudential Center on Thursday at 10:30 p.m. ET. Check back around noon for the latest info and updates on lineup, injuries and more.

THE SCOOP

The Devils are coming off a 5-4 overtime victory in Detroit on Tuesday night. Jack Hughes scored the game winner. It's his second goal of the season and interestingly his second OT winner of the season. He also won the Devils' season opener in OT against Philadelphia. 

Defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic made his season debut in the contest, skating in 16 minutes of ice time. New Jersey sat blueliner Brenden Dillon. They also played without Luke Evangelista (illness). As a result the forward groups got shuffled around. Arseny Gritsyuk seemed to gel well with Hughes and Jesper Bratt, while Dawson Mercer was reunited with Nico Hischier and Timo Meier. 

The Rangers have had a good start to the season, storming out to a 6-2-0 record. After losing the season opener, New York has won six of its last seven games. 

An offensive explosion from former No. 1-overall pick Alexis Lafreniere has helped lead the club. He has seven goals in eight games and paces the team with 10 points. Mike Zibanejad (2g-6a) and Adam Fox (8a) have each been point-per-game players. 

The major development in the early season is New York losing stud goaltender Igor Shesterkin for the season with a lower-body injury. The club has turned to 24-year-old Dylan Garand. He's racked up a lot of experience in the American Hockey League over the past three years but until now hadn't cracked the NHL.

WHO’S HOT

Devils: Jack Hughes

Hughes has two goals this season, and both were overtime winners. The most recent being Tuesday at Detroit. He leads the Devils with eight points in six games and has owned the Rangers in his career. Hughes has 35 points (20g-15a) in 26 games played against New York. 

Rangers: Alexis Lafreniere

Lafreniere is on a tear to start the season. His seven goals this season are tied for the second most in the entire NHL. After going pointless in his opening three games, he has 10 points (7g-3a) five games. He's riding an active five-game scoring streak and four-game goal scoring streak. 

INJURIES

Devils:

• Connor Brown: Undisclosed, day-to-day

• Nick Bjugstad: Recovering from torn left pectoral muscle, out until January

• Seamus Casey: Knee, 8-10 weeks

Rangers:

• Joseph Veleno: lower-body

• Joonis Korpisalo: lower-body

• Adam Sykora: lower-body

• Igor Shesterkin: lower-body, IR; out for season

25-26 REGULAR-SEASON RESULTS

• Mar. 7 vs. NY Rangers: W, 6-3

• Mar. 19 at NY Rangers: W, 6-3

• Mar. 31 at NY Rangers: L, 4-1

GAME NOTES

• The Rangers have scored four or more goals in five of their eight games this season to tie for the League lead. New York has allowed one or fewer goals in a game three times, tied for the League lead. 
• The Rangers 1.75 goals-against average is 2nd in the NHL. 
• New York ranks 2nd in the NHL with 229 hits and 4th with 122 blocked shots. 
• The Rangers PK is 22-for-24 (91.7%) this season.