Devils at Rangers preview

DEVILS (16-8-4) at RANGERS (15-11-2)
7 p.m. ET; MSG 2, MSG+, NHL.TV

The Devils dropped to third place after their 5-3 loss against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday, one point behind the Blue Jackets and Washington Capitals. A Devils win and a Blue Jackets loss against the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday would put New Jersey back on top.
The Rangers, who are sixth in the division, are trying to win their third game in a set of four straight against Metropolitan Division teams. They allowed two goals in the final 3:32 of the third period and lost 4-2 at the Washington Capitals on Friday. They had won 5-1 against the Carolina Hurricanes at the Garden on Dec. 1 and won 4-3 at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday.
Devils goalie Keith Kinkaid will start. He made 29 saves in a 3-2 win at the Garden on Oct. 14. Henrik Lundqvist will start for the Rangers after playing in Washington.

Players to watch

Devils forward Marcus Johansson has at least one point in each of the past two games, his first points in four games since returning from a month-long absence because of a concussion.
Rangers forward J.T. Miller has points four points (one goal, three assists) during a four-game point streak.

They said it

"These are huge points. You're on the road with five minutes left [at Washington], you'd have liked to take at least a point [Friday], but we're right back at it [Saturday]. Another two huge points." -- Rangers forward Rick Nash
"We've got an opportunity to take two out of three games against Metropolitan teams. I think if we find a way to win [Saturday] and put our focus toward [Saturday], we'll give ourselves a chance to feel good come Sunday and move on to next week." -- Devils coach John Hynes

Devils projected lineup

Taylor Hall -- Nico Hischier -- Jesper Bratt
Marcus Johansson -- Pavel Zacha -- Stefan Noesen
Brian Gibbons -- Travis Zajac -- Miles Wood
Blake Coleman -- Brian Boyle -- Jimmy Hayes
Andy Greene -- Sami Vatanen
John Moore -- Damon Severson
Will Butcher -- Steven Santini
Keith Kinkaid
Cory Schneider
Scratched:Dalton Prout, Ben Lovejoy, Drew Stafford
Injured:Kyle Palmieri (broken foot), Mirco Mueller (collarbone)

Rangers projected lineup

Chris Kreider -- David Desharnais -- Pavel Buchnevich
Jimmy Vesey -- Kevin Hayes -- Rick Nash
Michael Grabner -- J.T. Miller -- Mats Zuccarello
Paul Carey -- Boo Nieves -- Jesper Fast
Ryan McDonagh -- Nick Holden
Brady Skjei -- Kevin Shattenkirk
Marc Staal -- Brendan Smith
Henrik Lundqvist
Ondrej Pavelec
Scratched:Steven Kampfer
Injured:Mika Zibanejad (concussion)

Status report

Lundqvist will start for the 16th in 17 games. He is 35-16-7 with eight shutouts, a 1.90 goals-against average and .931 save percentage in 58 games against the Devils. … Zibanejad will miss his fifth consecutive game. He has skated for three of the past four days but has not been cleared for contact,

Stat pack

Lundqvist needs 30 saves to become the 15th NHL goalie with 20,000 saves. … The Rangers are 9-1-0 in their past 10 home games.