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NEW JERSEY DEVILS 5 @ TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING 4
Goaltending match-up: Johan Hedberg (32/36, .889 SV%) vs. Dwayne Roloson (9/12, .750 SV%) & Mathieu Garon (8/10, .800 SV%)
Combos: Zach Parise - Adam Henrique - Ilya Kovalchuk/ Petr Sykora - Patrik Elias - David Clarkson/ Dainius Zubrus - Ryan Carter - Nick Palmieri/ Eric Boulton - Tim Sestito - Mattias Tedenby/ Henrik Tallinder - Adam Larsson/ Bryce Salvador - Matt Taormina/ Alexander Urbom - Mark Fayne
Scratches: Foster, Janssen
Top PP times: Kovalchuk (5:33), Elias (4:16), Parise (3:28), Fayne (3:21), Clarkson (3:09)
Trending: Zach Parise (1G, 2A, +2, 4 SOG) had eight points in seven games before this evening and Ilya Kovalchuk (1G, +1, 2 SOG) has found the back of the net in five of his past seven now. Adam Henrique (1G, 2A, +3, 1:38 PP, 1 SOG) continues to roll night after night and in addition to his points bounty here, he netted his first career SHG. Patrik Elias (1A, 3 SOG) has a point in four of five after four games without one. Petr Sykora (1G, +1, 2:26 PP, 3 SOG) has points in three of four now, as does Dainius Zubrus (1G, -2, 1:26 PP, 1 SOG). This was Matt Taormina's (1A, +1, 2 PIM, 2:33 PP, no SOG) second game with the Devils this season. Were it not for the Foster trade, Taomina would have been particularly interesting to watch in terms of power play time in the coming weeks. Kid has skills there and it was only his injury last year that prevented him from a regular shot on the PP1 point.
Fire & Ice had this from Devils GM Lou Lamoriello on the acquisition of Kurtis Foster: “He’s a right shot and he’s really a power-play specialist and his shot is what makes him,” Lamoriello said. “Also, he played under Jacques Lemaire in Minnesota and then he had an injury after that. He was in Tampa Bay under (assistant coach) Adam (Oates). We’ve seen him. We’ve played against him. And he went through situations in Anaheim where there were power people ahead of him and in Edmonton it was a similar situation (last season). So, he hasn’t played that much this year. But we know enough about him. He’s 100 percent healthy and we’ll give him an opportunity and we’ll see what he brings.
“We’re looking for someone who can handle the puck at the point and the power play is something we’ve been struggling with.”
Combos: Ryan Malone - Steven Stamkos - Teddy Purcell/ Tom Pyatt - Vincent Lecavalier - Steve Downie/ Blair Jones - Dominic Moore - Ryan Shannon/ Dana Tyrell - Nate Thompson - Adam Hall/ Eric Brewer - Victor Hedman/ Brett Clark- Pavel Kubina/ Marc-Andre Bergeron - Matt Gilroy
Scratches: St. Louis, Gervais, Oberg
Top PP times: Stamkos (6:30), MAB (6:11), Lecavalier (6:01), Malone (5:49), Brewer (5:41)
Trending: TB signed former Wild winger Antti Miettinen, who had been playing in the KHL. He'll have to clear waivers after signing a two-year, $1.5M per deal. Steven Stamkos (2G, 1A, +1, 3 SOG) ended a two-game pointless skid here, which is only the second time he's been that long without a point. He added another goal late to make this an interesting finish. Vincent Lecavalier's (2A, -1, 3 SOG) points have not been plentiful lately. Steve Downie (1G, -1, 5 PIM, 3:17 PP, 3 SOG) had one other December point coming in with 18 PIM. Matt Gilroy (2A, -1, 0:10 PP, 1 SOG) only had six points on the season coming in. Dominic Moore (1A, 4 PIM, 0:15 PP, 4 SOG) has points in three in a row. Pavel Kubina (1A, 5 PIM, 16:14 TOI, 2:09 PP, 2 SOG) was back in the line-up tonight.
Chris Nichols is Sportsnet.ca's fantasy hockey writer.
