Preview: Devils at Capitals

DEVILS (13-15-7) at CAPITALS (20-9-4)
7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CSN-DC, NHL.TV

Devils team scope

New Jersey Devils goaltender Keith Kinkaid will start against the Washington Capitals. Cory Schneider had started the past five games. Kinkaid is 3-3-2 with a 2.70 goals-against average and .922 save percentage in eight games this season. "We have the same team back to back and he needs to be able to play," coach John Hynes said. The Devils and Capitals play again at Prudential Center on Saturday (1 p.m. ET; MSG+, CSN-DC, NHL.TV). "We just came off a three-day [Christmas] break too, so it's important for him to get back in. He's a big part of our team so he deserves to play." Forward Jacob Josefson is expected to be activated from injured reserve after missing five games because of a concussion. "He looks good," Hynes said. "I just got to make sure we confirm it with the trainers but we would plan on him being activated unless something comes up in the near future."

Capitals team scope

Braden Holtby left practice Wednesday because of dehydration and cramping issues but participated in an optional morning skate Thursday and will start in goal against the Devils. Holtby is 5-2-1 with 15 goals allowed in his past eight games, and in 14 career games against the Devils he's 10-3-1 with a 1.99 GAA, .926 save percentage and three shutouts. The Capitals are 2-2-0 in their past four games after a six-game winning streak but are 12-5-0 at home. "Starting with [Thursday] we've got to get the win and worry about tonight and then focus on going to New Jersey," forward Jay Beagle said. "You want to take it one game at a time. You don't want to look too far ahead."

Devils projected lineup

Miles Wood -- Travis Zajac -- Kyle Palmieri
Luke Gazdic -- Adam Henrique -- PA Parenteau
Devante Smith-Pelly -- Sergey Kalinin -- Michael Cammalleri
Beau Bennett -- Jacob Josefson -- Nick Lappin
Andy Greene -- Ben Lovejoy
John Moore -- Damon Severson
Yohann Auvitu -- Kyle Quincey
Keith Kinkaid
Cory Schneider
Scratched: Jon Merrill, Pavel Zacha
Injured:Taylor Hall (lower body), Vernon Fiddler (lower body)

Capitals projected lineup

Alex Ovechkin -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Justin Williams
Marcus Johansson -- Nicklas Backstrom -- T.J. Oshie
Andre Burakovsky -- Lars Eller -- Brett Connolly
Daniel Winnik -- Jay Beagle -- Tom Wilson
Karl Alzner -- John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov -- Matt Niskanen
Brooks Orpik -- Nate Schmidt
Braden Holtby
Philipp Grubauer
Scratched: Taylor Chorney, Jakub Vrana
Injured: None

Status report

The Devils had an optional morning skate. Hall is considered day to day but won't play Thursday. Fiddler was placed on injured reserve Wednesday and is expected to miss 3-4 weeks. Gazdic was recalled from Albany of the AHL on Wednesday. … The Capitals reassigned forward Zach Sanford to Hershey of the American Hockey League on Wednesday.

Who's hot

Palmieri has three points in his past three games. … Ovechkin has three points in his past two games and is eight points from 1,000 in the NHL. Williams has nine points in his past 10 games.