Devils at Ducks preview

DEVILS (37-26-8) at DUCKS (36-24-12)
9 p.m. ET; FS-W, MSG+, NHL.TV

The Ducks are tied in points (84) with the Los Angeles Kings for third place in the division, but Los Angeles has more regulation/overtime wins (37-32). Anaheim also is tied in points with the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche for the two wild cards into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference, but doesn't own the tiebreaker. The Stars and Avalanche each play Sunday.
The Devils hold the second wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference, one point behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the first wild card, and one point behind the Philadelphia Flyers for third place in the Metropolitan Division. The Flyers host the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
New Jersey is 3-0-0 on its season-long, six-game road trip, with wins against the Central Division-leading Nashville Predators (3-2 in a shootout), Pacific Division-leading Vegas Golden Knights (8-3), and the Los Angeles Kings (3-0).

Players to watch

New Jersey defenseman Sami Vatanen returns to Anaheim for the first time since the Ducks traded him Nov. 30. Vatanen has 13 points (two goals, 11 assists) in his past 14 games.
Anaheim forward Ryan Getzlaf has 14 points (two goals, 12 assists) in his past eight games.

They said it

"Got to be ready for another hungry team in Anaheim that's fighting and battling just like us to get in the playoffs." -- Devils defenseman Andy Greene
"We have to start feeling good about ourselves and find ways to build on the (two) wins we've had here as of late."-- Ducks coach Randy Carlyle

Devils projected lineup

Taylor Hall -- Travis Zajac -- Kyle Palmieri
Michael Grabner -- Nico Hischier -- Brian Gibbons
Jesper Bratt -- Blake Coleman -- Stefan Noesen
Miles Wood -- Brian Boyle -- Drew Stafford
Andy Greene -- Sami Vatanen
John Moore -- Damon Severson
Will Butcher -- Ben Lovejoy
Cory Schneider
Keith Kinkaid
Scratched:Jimmy Hayes, Mirco Mueller
Injured:Pat Maroon (lower body), Pavel Zacha (upper body)

Ducks projected lineup

Rickard Rakell -- Ryan Getzlaf -- Corey Perry
Andrew Cogliano -- Ryan Kesler -- Jakob Silfverberg
Nick Ritchie -- Adam Henrique -- Ondrej Kase
Jason Chimera -- Derek Grant -- Chris Kelly
Cam Fowler -- Brandon Montour
Marcus Pettersson -- Hampus Lindholm
Josh Manson -- Korbinian Holzer
John Gibson
Ryan Miller
Scratched:JT Brown, Antoine Vermette, Francois Beauchemin
Injured:Patrick Eaves (illness), Kevin Bieksa (hand)

Status report

Schneider is expected to start after Kinkaid made 38 saves against the Kings on Saturday. Schneider is 0-8-2 with an .875 save percentage since Dec. 29.

Stat pack

Grabner scored in each game against Anaheim this season when he was with the New York Rangers. He has three points (two goals, one assist) in his past two games. … Rakell has 12 points (eight goals, four assists) and Perry has 10 points (four goals, six assists) in the past nine games.