Devils at Rangers preview

DEVILS (24-29-8) AT RANGERS (26-26-8)
1 p.m. ET; ESPN+, MSG, MSG+, NHL.TV

The Rangers, who are expected to dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen, have alternated losses and wins for the past nine games and are 4-5-1 in their past 10. New York is 10 points behind the Carolina Hurricanes for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
Marcus Johansson is expected to be a healthy scratch for a second straight game for New Jersey. Johansson, a forward acquired by the Devils in a trade with the Washington Capitals on July 2, 2017, also can become an unrestricted free agent July 1. The 2019 NHL Trade Deadline is Monday at 3 p.m. ET.
The Devils are 3-1-0 in their past four games after going 3-8-1 in their previous 12 games.

Players to watch

Devils forward Jesper Bratt has seven points (two goals, five assists) in a five-game point streak.
Rangers forward Pavel Buchnevich has five points (three goals, two assists) in his past five games.

They said it

"It's never easy (near the trade deadline) but you have to be ready to play and move forward. It provides opportunities for coaches to see what other people can do in different roles. Whoever it is, it's next man up. We have a group of guys in here we count on to plug and play in whatever situations we need them." -- Devils goalie Cory Schneider
"Guys that are on the roster will be in the lineup, until I'm told differently." -- Rangers coach David Quinn

Devils projected lineup

Jesper Bratt -- Nico Hischier -- Kyle Palmieri
Miles Wood -- Travis Zajac -- Blake Coleman
Drew Stafford --
Kevin Rooney
-- Joey Anderson
Kenny Agostino -- Brett Seney -- Kurtis Gabriel
Andy Greene -- Damon Severson
Mirco Mueller -- Eric Gryba
Will Butcher -- Steven Santini
Cory Schneider
Keith Kinkaid
Scratched: Marcus Johansson, Connor Carrick
Injured: Taylor Hall (lower body), Sami Vatanen (concussion), Stefan Noesen (lower body), Pavel Zacha (upper body)

Rangers projected lineup

Chris Kreider -- Mika Zibanejad -- Filip Chytil
Jimmy Vesey -- Lias Andersson -- Pavel Buchnevich
Vladislav Namestnikov -- Ryan Strome -- Jesper Fast
Connor Brickley
-- Boo Nieves
Brady Skjei -- Fredrik Claesson
Marc Staal -- Neal Pionk
Tony DeAngelo -- Kevin Shattenkirk
Brendan Smith
Alexandar Georgiev
Henrik Lundqvist
Scratched: Kevin Hayes, Mats Zuccarello, Adam McQuaid
Injured: Brett Howden (knee sprain)

Status report

Carrick was acquired Saturday from the Dallas Stars along with a third-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft for defenseman Ben Lovejoy. ... Wood is expected to play after missing the third period of a 4-0 win against the Ottawa Senators on Thursday with an undisclosed injury. ... Howden is 7-10 days from returning. ... Georgiev will start.

Stat pack

Schneider is 3-0-0 in his past three decisions with a 0.38 goals-against average and .988 save percentage after going 0-17-4 in his previous 24 regular-season games. ... Zibanejad has 23 points (14 goals, nine assists) in his past 17 games.