The New Jersey Devils (20-17-2) take on the Columbus Blue Jackets (17-15-6) at the Nationwide Arena tonight.
Lineups and Injuries per NHL.com.
Timo Meier -- Nico Hischier -- Dawson Mercer
Ondrej Palat -- Jack Hughes -- Jesper Bratt
Arseny Gritsyuk -- Cody Glass -- Connor Brown
Paul Cotter -- Luke Glendening -- Stefan Noesen
Jonas Siegenthaler -- Dougie Hamilton
Luke Hughes -- Brett Pesce
Brenden Dillon -- Colton White
Jake Allen
Jacob Markstrom
Scratched: Dennis Cholowski, Juho Lammikko
Injured: Zack MacEwen (lower body), Jonathan Kovacevic (knee), Evgenii Dadonov (wrist), Simon Nemec (lower body)
Blue Jackets projected lineup.
Mason Marchment -- Adam Fantilli -- Kirill Marchenko
Dimitri Voronkov -- Cole Sillinger -- Kent Johnson
Boone Jenner -- Charlie Coyle -- Mathieu Olivier
Miles Wood -- Brendan Gaunce -- Zach Aston-Reese
Ivan Provorov -- Dante Fabbro
Denton Mateychuk -- Damon Severson
Jake Christiansen -- Dysin Mayo
Jet Greaves
Elvis Merzlikins
Scratched: None
Injured: Zach Werenski (lower body), Erik Gudbranson (hip), Isac Lundestrom (lower body), Sean Monahan (undisclosed), Brendan Smith (lower body)
Player to Watch:
Nico Hischier is highlighted for his recent impact, having scored four points in his last six games. His on-ice intensity was noted as he got into a fight during the third period. Afterward, Hischier addressed the team’s current challenges with scoring goals.
"It’s very frustrating, we’re not scoring goals,” Hischier said to NJD.tv. “It’s no secret, if you’re not scoring goals, you cannot win hockey games, and it’s probably too much in our head right now, we’ve just got to find a way to blind that out, and eventually it will go in, but it’s very, very frustrating right now.”
Head coach Sheldon Keefe echoed Hischier’s comments.
"Do we need some guys to step up and show some emotion and show some balls and play with some urgency and competitiveness and step out of character? Yeah, we need more of that. To that end, I like it," Keefe said to NJD.tv. "I like that Nico did it, and hopefully it rubs off on the rest of the group in a positive way."
Storyline to Watch:
The Devils have an all-time New Year's Eve record of 8-12-0, while the Blue Jackets have a 12-6-1 record when playing on New Year's Eve. Columbus has won six straight and six of their last seven matchups.
The puck will drop at 7 PM.
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