DEVILS (21-10-3) at BLUE JACKETS (12-15-5)
7 p.m. ET; FDSNOH, MSGSN
Devils projected lineup
Ondrej Palat -- Jack Hughes -- Jesper Bratt
Timo Meier -- Nico Hischier -- Dawson Mercer
Paul Cotter -- Erik Haula -- Stefan Noesen
Tomas Tatar – Justin Dowling -- Nathan Bastian
Brenden Dillon -- Dougie Hamilton
Jonas Siegenthaler -- Johnathan Kovacevic
Luke Hughes -- Brett Pesce
Jake Allen
Jacob Markstrom
Scratched: Colton White, Kurtis MacDermid
Injured: Curtis Lazar (knee)
Blue Jackets projected lineup
Dmitri Voronkov -- Sean Monahan -- Kent Johnson
James van Riemsdyk -- Adam Fantilli -- Kirill Marchenko
Zach Aston-Reese -- Cole Sillinger -- Mathieu Olivier
James Malatesta -- Sean Kuraly -- Mikael Pyyhtia
Zach Werenski -- Damon Severson
Jake Christiansen -- Ivan Provorov
Jack Johnson -- Jordan Harris
Elvis Merzlikins
Daniil Tarasov
Scratched: Kevin Labanc
Injured: Yegor Chinakhov (upper body), Justin Danforth (lower body), Dante Fabbro (lower body)
Status report
Lazar returned Tuesday against the St. Louis Blues after the forward missed 21 games following surgery on his left knee on Oct. 31. Coach Sheldon Keefe said Thursday that Lazar has some swelling in the knee and likely won’t play again until after Christmas. … Dowling was recalled from Utica of the American Hockey League. … Fabbro was injured against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday. Jack Johnson will replace the defenseman. Coach Dean Evason said the hope is to have Fabbro back “sooner rather than later.” … Malatesta, called up from Cleveland of the AHL on Wednesday, will make his season debut replacing Labanc, a forward.
