Here are some notes on tonight’s game.
Devils 6-4-2.     Blues 8-3-1

Projected lines for New Jersey

Forward lines
Clowe – Zajac – Jagr
Zubrus – Elias – Ryder
Brunner – Josefson – Bernier
Ruuttu – Gionta – Sislo

Defense lines
Greene – Severson
Gelinas – Larsson
Salvador – Zidlicky

Goalie
Schneider

Projected lines for St. Louis

Berglund – Backes – Jaskin
Steen – Stastny – Lindstrom
Schwartz – Lehtera – Tarasenko
Ott – Lapierre – Reaves

Defense lines
Bouwmeester – Pietrangelo
Gunnarsson – Shatenkirk
Cole – Jackman

Goalie
Allen

Keys to the game

– Shut down Tarasenko, the Devils need to shut this guy down. He’s been on fire lately and scored the only goal two nights ago at prudential center. One way to stop the Blues is to stop Tarasenko.

– Watch the turnovers, the Devils had too many turnovers in the last match up. they need to play a smart sound game and breakout of the zone better and get there transision game going. Doing this will let them gain the zone with control of the puck instead of dumping and chasing.

– I touched on this before and I’ll do it again. STAY DICIPLINED!! The pk is awful right now, and though it has showed signs of improvement it’s still a work in progress. They can’t afford to spoon feed the Blues chances.

– Salvador needs to do a better job plane and simple. Too many fans see it to just be a coincidence, he sucks. Every time I see a goal go in I see Sal out of position or just standing there, screening his own goalie. I also have not seen any of the physical play Deboer speaks of, unless you count missing checks as being physical. You want to beat teams like the Blues then get the captains head out his ass or scratch him.

– last game I saw Damian Brunner get hit twice after the whistle and no body responded. This team needs to start showing they won’t be pushed around and they should start that tonight.

– Schneider again is going to need to be sharp. He played one of his best games of the season, as long as he duplicates that performance the Devils will have a chance to win.

– Tonight completes the home and home series with the Blues. Tomorrow night the Devils face the Red Wings in Detroit.

By Steve Vullo
Follow me on Twitter @ussfishkiller