It’s the first battle of the season between the New Jersey Devils and their archrivals, the New York Rangers, as the two teams face off at Madison Square Garden at 7 PM. This is the first of four meetings between the teams, kicking off with two games in two weeks at MSG, while the latter two will be at Prudential Center later in the season. The Devils are 18-4-0 and lead the Metropolitan Division with 36 points, while the Rangers are fifth with a record of 10-8-4, with 24 points on the season.
For the second straight game, the fans at Prudential Center threw objects onto the ice, but this time it was for something that made Devils fans happy. Jack Hughes scored a hat trick in the team’s 5-2 win over the Washington Capitals and was easily the first star of the night. Nico Hischier scored on the power play, and Fabian Zetterlund found his fourth goal of the season, while Vitek Vanecek impressed against his former team, stopping 37 of 38 shots en route to the victory. It was also a monumental day for head coach Lindy Ruff, who became the fifth coach in NHL history to reach 800 career victories.
Related: 4 Takeaways From Devils’ 5-1 Win vs. The Capitals
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The matchup against the Rangers continues an important stretch for New Jersey, as they have several games against divisional opponents coming up. They face off in Philadelphia against the Flyers on Dec. 3 before two straight against the New York Islanders and Rangers on Dec. 9 and 12. The Blueshirts, meanwhile, do not have another divisional matchup until their second game against the Devils.
New Jersey made several roster moves, calling up Nico Daws, Alexander Holtz, and Kevin Bahl from Utica. Nathan Bastian was not seen at the morning skate, and with Akira Schmid out due to illness, Daws was called up. Ruff later said that Bastian will be out “a bit” with his injury.
Team Rosters
The Devils Projected Lines:
Forwards:
Tomas Tatar – Nico Hischier – Jesper Bratt
Erik Haula – Jack Hughes – Dawson Mercer
Miles Wood – Michael McLeod – Fabian Zetterlund
Yegor Sharangovich – Jesper Boqvist – Alexander Holtz
Defensemen:
Jonas Siegenthaler – Dougie Hamilton
Ryan Graves – John Marino
Brendan Smith – Damon Severson
Goaltenders:
Vitek Vanecek
Nico Daws
The Rangers Projected Lines:
Forwards:
Chris Kreider – Mika Zibanejad – Jimmy Vesey
Artemi…
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