Sharks at Devils
The New Jersey Devils attempt to bounce back from their first loss when they face off against the San Jose Sharks in their home opener Saturday. New Jersey began the campaign with a four-game road trip and was victorious at Philadelphia, Florida and Tampa Bay before dropping a 6-2 decision at Washington on Thursday. Rookie defenseman Damon Severson scored both goals in the loss, giving him three tallies and an assist in his first four NHL contests.
The Devils, who are 17-8-6 in home openers but just 2-3-2 at Prudential Center, host a San Jose team that enters with a season-opening four-game point streak. The Sharks won their first three contests before suffering a 4-3 shootout loss at the New York Islanders on Thursday. Defenseman Brent Burns recorded a goal and an assist as San Jose fell to 1-0-1 on its five-game road trip.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, CSN California (San Jose), MSG (New Jersey)
ABOUT THE SHARKS (3-0-1): Former captain Joe Thornton notched two assists Thursday, giving him 1,199 career points. The former Hart Trophy winner needs two points to pass Dino Ciccarelli for 45th place on the all-time list. Patrick Marleau is off to another fast start, scoring a goal in three of his first four games after tallying in seven of his first eight contests last season and beginning 2012-13 with a five-game goal-scoring streak that featured two tallies in each of his first four matches.
ABOUT THE DEVILS (3-1-0): New Jersey could be without Martin Havlat, who is listed as day-to-day with facial lacerations suffered in Thursday's loss to Washington. The veteran left wing, who has a goal and two assists in four games, received cuts on his nose and above his mouth following a collision with referee Darcy Burchell. "The good news is, there is nothing structurally wrong," coach Peter DeBoer told NHL.com. "He's pretty beat up as far as cuts and scrapes, but those things tend to heal pretty quickly and we'll see how he feels (Saturday) morning."
OVERTIME
1. Devils RW Damien Brunner is expected to make his season debut Saturday if Havlat is unable to play against his former team.
2. San Jose assigned LW James Sheppard, who has yet to make his season debut, to Worcester of the American Hockey League for conditioning.
3. New Jersey LW Mike Cammalleri has recorded four goals and two assists in his first four games with his new club.