It's been a strange year in the NHL so far, and when the Rangers play the Devils tonight at the Prudential Center they will be playing the worst team in the NHL.
For the New Jersey Devils they will be looking to try and turn their season around. They have a new head coach, Brian Rolston is on waivers and their 5-1 loss to the Islanders secured their last place bid. They can't seem to find any offense, have rekindled the old school defensive system of the 90's and they will be looking to knock off their division rivals tonight.
The Rangers, on the other hand, will be looking to dispatch a lesser opponent, and walk out of New Jersey with two points. Marian Gaborik is expected to play (he had a goal and an assist against the Islanders on Monday) as did rookie Derek Stepan.
Mats Zuccarello also recorded his first NHL point with an assist on Stepan's goal. Zuccarello will play again tonight on the very effective Zuccarello-Stepan-Gabroik line. Both Zuccarello and Stepan are past-first, but Stepan has shown an ability to put the puck in the back of the net as well. So it works well.
Henrik Lundqvist had a solid game, despite giving up a soft goal to tie the game at one against the Islanders. Expect him to play tonight, although you should still expect Martin Biron to get a start at some point in the future.
So its been a tale of two teams this year. It should be a good game, they usually are.