Rangers at Devils
The New Jersey Devils are going in the wrong direction at the wrong time and will be looking to halt a three-game slide when they host the rival New York Rangers on Tuesday night. The Devils have dropped back-to-back one-goal decisions to the New York Islanders and NHL-best Washington, with the decisive goal in each setback coming off a deflection.
New Jersey has sandwiched a pair of three-game skids around a three-game winning streak to fall three points behind Pittsburgh for the final playoff slot in the Eastern Conference. "We're not out of it by any means," Devils forward Reid Boucher said. "We just have to string together some wins here." The Rangers have been stringing wins together, posting a 7-1-1 record over the last nine games to move five points clear of the Islanders for second place in the Metropolitan Division. New Jersey has won two of three meetings this season, but New York prevailed 2-1 at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 8.
TV: 7 p.m. ET; MSG (New York), MSG-Plus (New Jersey), TVA, NHL.TV
ABOUT THE RANGERS (34-19-6): Captain Ryan McDonagh, who missed four games earlier this month due to a concussion, will sit out his second straight game as a result of getting elbowed in the head by Toronto's Leo Komorov on Thursday. "I've been continuing to feel like myself more and more," said McDonagh, who will travel with the team to St. Louis and Dallas. "Hopefully it continues here and I can get back soon. I'm grateful it was not another concussion." Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist is riding a 6-1-0 streak in his last seven starts, including a pair of shutouts in his last four outings.
ABOUT THE DEVILS (29-24-7): New Jersey must regroup after surrendering a pair of late goals in a span of just over a minute in Saturday's 4-3 road loss at the Capitals. "One of the tougher losses I can remember recently," Devils goalie Cory Schneider said. "We got the lead there and we see there is another level we need to get to in order to be considered a legitimate team, a contender." Ex-Ranger Lee Stempniak leads New Jersey in scoring with 40 points, but he is mired in a nine-game goal-scoring drought dating to Feb. 2, when he scored and set up the winning tally in a 3-2 victory over New York.
OVERTIME
1. Lundqvist is 34-15-7 with eight shutouts against New Jersey.
2. Stempniak has two goals and an assist in three meetings with New York this season.
3. Rangers F Rick Nash will sit out his 13th consecutive game due to a bone bruise in his knee.