Devils at Rangers preview

DEVILS (25-34-9) at RANGERS (27-28-12)
7 p.m. ET; MSG, MSG+2, NHL.TV

The Rangers, 5-7-5 in their past 17 games, are 2-0-0 against the Devils this season, winning 4-3 at Prudential Center on Jan. 31 and 5-2 at home on Feb. 23. New York hasn't won since its second win against New Jersey, losing five of its past six by one goal, including two in overtime and two in the shootout.
The Devils, who have lost five straight (0-4-1) and are 5-10-2 in their past 17 games, look to avoid their longest losing streak this season. They have scored one goal in their past three games and five during their skid, and are 0-for-24 on the power play in their past nine games.

Players to watch

Devils forward Kyle Palmieri needs two points to reach 50 in a season for the third time in his career. He has 26 goals and 22 assists in 64 games.
Rangers forward Pavel Buchnevich has three goals in the past three games.

They said it

"I think the concepts and things we're trying to work on to get into the scoring area, they're there, we're there. We've just got to find a way to put it in." -- Devils coach John Hynes
"He's a guy who's played a lot of minutes. He's been a warrior. Battling the flu, probably shouldn't have played him the other night, so told him to take the complete day off and he'll be back in on Monday." -- Rangers coach David Quinn on defenseman Marc Staal, who will be scratched for the first time this season

Devils projected lineup

Kenny Agostino -- Travis Zajac -- Kyle Palmieri
Drew Stafford -- Blake Coleman -- Stefan Noesen
Nick Lappin -- Michael McLeod -- Joey Anderson
John Quenneville -- Blake Pietila -- Kurtis Gabriel
Andy Greene -- Damon Severson
Will Butcher -- Connor Carrick
Egor Yakovlev -- Steven Santini
Cory Schneider
Mackenzie Blackwood
Scratched: None
Injured: Jesper Bratt (lower body), Miles Wood (ankle), Pavel Zacha (upper body), Taylor Hall (knee), Nathan Bastian (upper body), Nico Hischier (upper body), Sami Vatanen (illness), Mirco Mueller (left shoulder), Kevin Rooney (illness)

Rangers projected lineup

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

Status report

The Devils did not hold a morning skate. … Namestnikov will replace Kreider on the top line. … Shattenkirk, who was scratched in a 3-2 shootout loss at the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday, will go back in the lineup, replacing Staal.

Stat pack

Zajac needs one point to reach 500 in the NHL. … Zibanejad needs one goal to set a single-season NHL career high. He has 27 this season, matching his total of last season.