Johan Hedberg once again finds himself as the starting goalie for the New Jersey Devils.
Hedberg, re-signed as a backup this year, will start his second game of the season tonight as the New Jersey Devils face the Nashville Predators at the Bridgestone Arena.
Martin Brodeur will miss Saturday' game with a shoulder injury. The Devils' goalie "tweaked" his right shoulder during the first period of New Jersey's 2-1 shootout win over the Los Angeles Kings Thursday. The Devils' won't play again until next Friday against San Jose, which gives Brodeur plenty of time to rest.
"If it was do-or-die situation, I'm sure we might consider something different," DeBoer told Tom Gulitti of The Bergen Record. "But it doesn't make sense right now to rush this and Heddy's ready to go and played well. The schedule sets up as - there's no good time for this to happen, but this is as good a time as there is."
Brodeur made the trip to Nashville but won't dress as the backup. New Jersey recalled Keith Kincaid to dress as the backup.
Hedberg stopped 20 shots in relief of Brodeur during Thursday night's win. He blanked both Simon Gagne and Anze Kopitar in the shootout.
New Jersey enters their only meeting with the Predators riding a two-game win streak. After dropping their home opener against Philadelphia, New Jersey won their final two games.
Nashville also enters the game with two wins. They kicked off their season with two road wins before losing their home opener to the Phoenix Coyotes, 5-2, Thursday night.
The Predators beat the Devils, 3-1, in their only matchup last season. Martin Erat scored two goals, and goalie Andres Lindback stopped 15 shots.
In 16 games against Nashville, New Jersey has a 9-5-2 record. Hedberg enters the game 1-3-1-1 in his career with a 2.81 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage.
Zach Parise recorded points in two straight games, and currently leads New Jersey in goals. He's tied with Ilya Kovalchuk for the team lead with three points.