DEVILS (9-11-4) vs. RANGERS (12-9-3)
TV: 1:00 p.m. ET; Televised on MSG+
Head-to-Head:
Tonight's game is the second of four meetings between the two teams this season.
They previously met on October 17 with the Devils winning 5-2. Matt Tennyson led the way with a pair of assists while the Devils got goals from five different players: Miles Wood, Blake Coleman, Kyle Palmieri, P.K. Subban and Nikita Gusev.
Last season, the Devils won one game and lost three to New York. The Rangers outscored the Devils 15-11 in that series. The Devils went 4-for-12 of the power play in those games, while the Rangers scored nine on the man advantage.
Nico Hischier led the Devils in scoring with four points (1-3-4).
Devils team scope:
The Devils are coming off a big 6-4 win in Montreal in which Blake Coleman netted four points. With four goals and six points in his last three games, Coleman is now tied for third on the Devils in scoring at 14 points with Nico Hischier.
New Jersey sits five points behind the Rangers in the standings.
Rangers team scope:
The Rangers played on Friday afternoon, losing a tough one 3-2 to the Boston Bruins in overtime. They've picked up points in each of their last four games (3-0-1).
Artemi Panarin leads the club in scoring with 33 points (12 goals) in 24 games. The big surprise for the Rangers has been Ryan Strome, with 23 points (6 goals) in 24 contests. Strome had only 35 points all of last season.
The Rangers sit four points behind Carolina for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Confernece with two games in hand.
By the Numbers:
The Rangers have won four of its last six games (4-1-1 record). The Rangers have also earned at least one point in nine of the last 12 games (7-3-2 record), in 11 of the last 15 games (9-4-2 record), and in 13 of the last 18 games (10-5-3 record). ... Six of the last 12 meetings between the Rangers and Devils have been decided by one goal, and four of those contests have been decided in either overtime or a shootout.
Tonight marks the first of three heritage jersey games for the Devils. They will wear their white vintage jerseys, the same ones the team wore from 1982 through 1992. The others will be on December 20 (vs. Washington) and January 7 (vs. New York Islanders).
Injury Updates:
Devils - Connor Carrick (upper body) is out; Kevin Rooney (upper body) is questionable
Rangers - Marc Staal (ankle) is day-to-day; Greg McKegg (lower body) is day-to-day
-- Marc Ciampa, NewJerseyDevils.com