Red Wings at Devils preview
Perlini out indefinitely for Detroit; Blackwood eyes third straight shutout for New Jersey
by Mike. G. Morreale @MikeMorrealeNHL / NHL.com Staff Writer
RED WINGS (14-40-4) at DEVILS (20-25-10)
7 p.m. ET; MSG+, FS-D, NHL.TV
The Game
Mackenzie Blackwood seeks his third straight shutout when the New Jersey Devils play the Detroit Red Wings at Prudential Center on Thursday.
Blackwood is 3-0-1 with a 1.93 goals-against average and .947 save percentage in his past four starts, including consecutive shutouts against the Philadelphia Flyers (5-0) on Feb. 6 and Los Angeles Kings (3-0) on Feb. 8.
The Devils are 3-1-3 in their past seven games after a 5-3 loss to the Florida Panthers on Tuesday, when goalie Louis Domingue started for New Jersey.
Red Wings forward Brendan Perlini will not play and is out indefinitely after sustaining lacerations around his eye and nose when clipped by a skate in the first period of a 3-2 loss at the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday. Detroit is 2-10-1 in its past 13 games.
Players to watch
Red Wings center Dylan Larkin has nine points (four goals, five assists) in his past 10 games.
Devils defenseman Damon Severson has seven points (two goals, five assists) during a seven-game point streak.
They said it
"I don't really know what I felt because it was so quick. I was just really worried about my eye because I felt that more than anything. After getting up and learning I could open it and everything was still good, I was pretty grateful that everything was still alright." -- Red Wings forward Brendan Perlini
"The goal is to come away with two points and play the best I can. As I've learned many times before, if you get too caught up in how you played yesterday maybe you don't play as well today. You have to stay in the moment." -- Devils goalie Mackenzie Blackwood
Red Wings projected lineup
Darren Helm -- Dylan Larkin -- Anthony Mantha
Robby Fabbri -- Valtteri Filppula -- Frans Nielsen
Tyler Bertuzzi -- Andreas Athanasiou -- Luke Glendening
Justin Abdelkader -- Christoffer Ehn -- Adam Erne
Patrik Nemeth -- Gustav Lindstrom
Trevor Daley -- Alex Biega
Filip Hronek -- Mike Green
Jonathan Bernier
Jimmy Howard
Scratched: Jonathan Ericsson
Injured: Danny DeKeyser (back), Filip Zadina (lower body), Madison Bowey (eye), Brendan Perlini (facial lacerations)
Devils projected lineup
Jesper Bratt -- Jack Hughes -- Kyle Palmieri
Blake Coleman -- Travis Zajac -- Nikita Gusev
Miles Wood -- Pavel Zacha -- Wayne Simmonds
John Hayden -- Kevin Rooney -- Joey Anderson
Andy Greene -- P.K. Subban
Will Butcher -- Damon Severson
Mirco Mueller -- Connor Carrick
Mackenzie Blackwood
Louis Domingue
Scratched: Colton White, Nicholas Merkley
Injured: Sami Vatanen (lower body), Nico Hischier (lower body)
Status report
Fabbri is expected to the lineup after missing one game with a jaw injury. ... Hischier will miss his fifth straight game and the center is questionable to play at the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday. Vatanen, a defenseman, was placed on injured reserve retroactive to Feb. 1. ... Merkley, a forward, was recalled from Binghamton of the American Hockey League.
Stat pack
Bernier is 7-6-0 with a 2.05 GAA and .937 save percentage in 14 games, all starts, since Dec. 12. ... Palmieri has seven points (five goals, two assists) in his past seven games. ... Coleman has four points (two goals, two assists) in his past four games. ... Subban will play his 700th NHL game.