The Time: 8:00 PM EDT

The Broadcast: TV - NBC, CBC, RDS; Radio - 660 AM WFAN

The Series: The New Jersey Devils vs. the Los Angeles Kings. Kings lead series 1-0.

Last Game: It wasn't pretty. In fact, the first few minutes were downright unwatchable. The Devils were not at the top of their game. Some think that it might have been their worst performance of the playoffs. A goal by Kings fourth liner Colin Fraser started the scoring off mid-way through the first and the Devils didn't begin to fight back or apply pressure to Vezina candidate Jonathan Quick until the latter stages of the second period. Their persistance was rewarded with a goal from an unlikely source in Anton Volchenkov late in the second. The Devils controlled the play early in the third but could not put a second goal past Quick. The game headed to overtime and the Devils, attempting to apply pressure deep in the Kings zone, allowed Anze Kopitar to get himself and the puck into free space and he was able to capitalize on a breakaway. The Devils lost the opening game of the Stanley Cup Final 2-1 to the Los Angeles Kings in overtime. John's recap of the game is here. The recap from SBN site Jewels from the Crown is here.

The Tickets: The Devils sold all of theirs, so your option is to pay quite a lot for something from the secondary market. I recommend our Tickets section, where SBN Partners TiqIQ can help you find some. Why so much? Because it's the Cup™.

The Goal: Channel similar efforts from previous series. After losing the first game in both the Flyer and Ranger series the Devils were able to come up with big rebound efforts in must-win games. They will need another one of those efforts tonight. Going down 2-0 and heading to Los Angeles is a recipe for disaster.

For the opponent's perspective check out SBN site Jewels From The Crown. After the jump I go through a few items I think are important for tonight's game.

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"Henrique!!!! It's Over!!!"

Those words signaled the end of the Eastern Conference Finals. As Calder finalist Adam Henrique slammed the puck into the back of the net, the goal horn sounded and Mike ‘Doc' Emrick made a call that will live on for many years. I've watched the play and listened to the call probably about 50 times already. Each time the result was the same: The New Jersey Devils had beaten the New York Rangers four games to two and had advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Those words meant something else to die-hard Devils fans. From this die-hard fan's perspective the mid 90's Rangers led by Mark Messier, Brian Leetch, Adam Graves and Mike Richter had lived like ghosts inside my head.

Notice I didn't focus on 1994. It was more than that. The 1996-97 Devils were the top seed from the east that year, and had made a few key acquisitions to put them in a prime position for another Cup run. The Devils steamrolled their first round opponent and things looked promising. But the Rangers got in their way. Once again the Devils were eliminated by the Rangers, losing 4-1 in the conference semi-finals. Unlike '94, coming into the playoffs that year the Devils were the team to beat, the favorites. The upset in '97 coupled with the heartbreaking loss in '94 always left a sore spot for me. Opportunities lost.

Despite a Stanley Cup in 1995, the Devils had a four year span that saw two tough series losses to the Rangers and not even qualifying for the playoffs in 1996. A lot of joy mixed in with a bunch of misery.

More after the jump.

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Jacob Josefson came into this season hoping to build on a solid rookie season and establish himself as a solid NHL top six forward. His season has been derailed by two major injuries (broken clavicle, broken wrist) limiting him to 41 regular season games. In a frustrating year, Josefson now returns for the playoffs hoping to give the Devils--and his season--a much needed boost. With only two full practices since returning from a broken wrist, Josefson will be in the lineup tonight in Game 4 vs. the Rangers.

Josefson will likely take a third line center role playing with former linemates David Clarkson and Alexei Ponikarovsky. It seems like years ago but less than two months ago Ponikarovsky/Josefson/Clarkson were dominating other bottom six forwards. Their abilities to have long periods of puck possession in the offensive zone generated scoring opportunities/goals which the Devils need now more than ever after being shut out in two of their last three games.

After the jump I will go through five reasons why I think Josefson's return will have an impact tonight and going forward in the Devils playoff run and talk briefly about Petr Sykora.

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The Time: 8:00 PM EDT

The Broadcast: TV - NBC Sports Network; CBC; Radio - 1130 AM WBBR

The Series: The New Jersey Devils at the New York Rangers. Rangers lead the best of seven series 1-0.

Last Game: The hated rivals beat the good guys 3-0 in the first game of the series. The first two periods were played evenly, if not in the Devils favor, but the third period saw the Rangers have the better of the play as they created traffic and transitional scoring opportunities against a Devils defensive unit that looked a step too slow. Regardless, the Devils couldn't put any pucks behind Henrik Lundqvist who was strong when he needed to be, although he wasn't pressured that often, and the Rangers rode him to victory.


The Game Specific Goal: Get shots through? Too easily said. The game-plan should remain the same, the in-game tactical decision making (shot attempts, line matching) could use some tinkering, but at this point of the year, the Devils aren't going to change who they are or how they play. So I think the goal is to play the same game that they did Monday night adding a bit more pressure and be more thoughtful of shots getting through traffic.

For an opposition's perspective, please visit Blueshirt Banter. After the jump I have a few more thoughts on tonight's game.

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At this point in the NHL playoffs it is interesting to look at each remaining team's development system/player acquisition methods. For example you have heard Pierre McGuire talk about how great the Devils scouts are for finding unsigned/undrafted free agents David Clarkson and Andy Greene. If you listen to New York area radio you would think Glen Sather ran the most extraordinary draft room ever because of legendary players like Ryan Callahan and Michael Del Zotto.

As we all anxiously await the start of Game 1 tonight I wanted to take a look at the makeup of each conference finalist's playoff roster to see how they were built. Have teams utilized their own scouting staffs or drafts to build their rosters or have they focused on leveraging assets in trades? After the jump we will look at the playoff rosters of the Phoenix Coyotes, Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils breaking down those rosters by how their players were acquired.

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Since the departure of Brian Rafalski half a decade ago and to a lesser degree Paul Martin two years ago, the Devils defense has struggled to produce offense for the New Jersey Devils. In the past few years the Devils have tried to catch lightning in the bottle with low risk acquisitions like Cory Murphy or Kurtis Foster to jumpstart both the power play and offensive zone starts with mediocre results. Typically the regular season defensive group has ranked in the bottom third of the league in both even-strength and power play point production.

11 games in, the 2012 playoffs seem to be different. With trade deadline acquisition Marek Zidlicky, rookie Adam Larsson (and before him Peter Harrold) and Andy Greene the Devils now have a group of defenseman, one on each defensive pairing, who can help generate offensive opportunities either through their point shot or jumping in the play when needed.

How has that translated on the score-sheet? After the jump I will compare regular season scoring and playoff scoring for the Devils defensive unit.

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The Time: 7:30 PM EDT

The Broadcast: TV - NBC SN, CBC, RDS; Radio - 660 AM WFAN

The Series: The New Jersey Devils (2) vs Philadelphia Flyers (1)

The Last Devils-Flyers Game: In a pivotal game 3 of the series the Devils came away victorious with a 4-3 overtime win against the Philadelphia Flyers and referees Marc Joannette and Brad Watson. The Flyers jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead on a Brayden Schenn power play goal but the Devils quickly answered with two goals of their own, only twenty seconds apart. The first goal was via Patrik Elias on the power play and the second goal was scored by Ilya Kovalchuk who just returned from a lower body injury that caused him to miss game 2. Matt Carle added a goal for Philadelphia early in the second to tie the game at 2-2 and the Flyers and Devils exchanged goals in the third to force the game into overtime. In overtime, the Devils were able to fight off two power play opportunities, and grab a victory over the Flyer courtesy of a Alexei Ponikarovsky goal. John has the recap of the game here.

For an opposition's perspective, check out Broad Street Hockey. More thoughts and keys to the game after the jump.

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Whether it's Maxime Clermont, Keith Kinkaid or Scott Wedgewood Devils fans are a combination of anxious, excited and downright fearful of the future without hall of famer Martin Brodeur in between the pipes. The good news is that all indications are that Brodeur will return next year. But the question still remains, especially given the injuries Brodeur has had the last two years, who will be the next Devils starting goaltender once Brodeur retires.

That's too tough of a question to answer at this point. Instead of speculating on who might take the job I would rather answer a question that relates to the future goaltending situation for the New Jersey Devils. It's a question that frequently asked in the comments section of prospect posts this year:

When will Wedgewood/Kinkaid/Clermont be ready?

Ready is hard to define. It's based on a number of factors, a number of which are hard to quantify. One area we are able to look at is how long it has taken some current NHL goalies to get to the NHL. I think by looking at that number we can get a general sense of when we might see one of Kinkaid, Clermont or Wedgewood get their test at the NHL level. This of course assumes they perform well enough both statistically and in the eyes of the organization to warrant a promotion. A goalie can play as many games as they want, but if they have a sub .900 save percentage in the AHL, I don't think they are getting promoted.

After the jump, I will look at other NHL goalies, the feeder/development league they originated from, and how long it took them to work through the AHL or other leagues before becoming NHL goaltenders.

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Reid Boucher, the New Jersey Devils 4th round pick in the 2011 NHL entry draft, was a member of the OHL's Sarnia Sting in 2011-12. (You can take a look at the prospect write-up I did on Boucher before last year's draft here.) It's important to mention that because it wasn't his original plan. Boucher, who had already committed to play college hockey at Michigan State University, passed up his last season in the USHL and his eligibility to Michigan State by signing in the OHL.

The OHL path of development for NHL prospects has advantages and disadvantages. The varying levels of competition and the rigorous schedule are two strong areas of the OHL. With that in mind I wanted to focus on how Boucher performed point wise against certain levels of competition and how he did in the first half of the season vs. the second half.

I looked at this not so much for what I could find out about his performance, but for what I was hoping I didn't find out. I didn't want to look at Boucher's performance and see that he averaged 3 points per game against the worst teams in the league and barely scored against tougher competition.

In addition to information about Reid Boucher, after the jump you will find statistical updates for the reamining Devils prospects playing in the ECHL & CHL.There are also other news and notes after the jump.

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Its prospect update time and below you will find statistical updates for Devils prospects playing in the AHL, ECHL, CHL and NCAA. I also look back at my season preview for the Devils forwards and see how their even-strength scoring matched up against my predictions. There are also other news and notes after the jump.

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The Time: 3:00 PM EDT

The Broadcast: TV - MSG+; Radio - 660 AM WFAN

The Game: The New Jersey Devils (47-28-6) vs. the Ottawa Senators (41-30-10)

The Last Devils Game: In a game where the ice was tilted against them, the Devils eeked out a 2-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night. It was the Devils' first victory in Detroit since 1996 (but hey, let's not forget some victories there in 1995) and their fifth victory in a row. Petr Sykora, putting an exclamation point on a fantastic story, notched his 20th goal of the year (and 6th game winning goal) to put the Devils ahead for good halfway through the third period. Martin Brodeur was sharp in net (especially when his team turned the puck over) to get to the 30 win mark on the year. John's recap of the game is here. For the Red Wings' point of view on the game, check out Winging it in Motown.

The Last Senators Game: Well technically the Senators played on Thursday night, but considering they were playing a Boston team that rested Zdeno Chara, Tim Thomas, and Patrice Bergeron it's an open question as to whether or not they showed up. Ottawa lost to the Bruins 3-1 in what Senators fans hope is not a preview of things to come as Ottawa and Boston are likely, though not definite, to meet in the playoffs. (Personally I hope the Senators play the Rangers in the first round of the playoffs. They are a team that can give the Rangers some trouble.) The recap of the Sens/Bruins game by Peter Raaymakers at SBN site SilverSevenSens.com can be viewed here.

The Last Devils vs. Senators Game: Now that the Devils are safely in the playoffs and on a five game winning streak, we can easily forget that four weeks ago the Devils played an important game (at least from the 'sky is falling' fans perspective) vs. the Ottawa Senators. The Devils came into that game losing three out of four games, scoring only four total goals during that time.

Luck was on the Devils side that night though. Senators captain Jason Spezza missed the game which hurt the Ottawa offense. Even though they tallied up 34 shots, they still didn't have many scoring opportunities. The Devils weren't doing much on their offensive side of the ice either. Ottawa goalie Ben Bishop was stuffing Devils attempts at every turn, but finally the Devils were able to get one past Bishop early in the third period courtesy of an Ilya Kovalchuk power play goal. (You can see a great review of that goal by Talking Red's David Sarch here.)

The recap of that game by Peter Raaymakers at SBN site SilverSevenSens.com can be viewed here. Kevin's recap of the game can be read here.

The Goal: The Devils are locked into the sixth seed. They await Florida and Washington to figure out who actually wants to win the Southeast Division before they will know who they play. So essentially this game means little to the Devils season or future in the playoffs. That said, the Devils are on a five game winning streak and are playing in front of their home crowd so I expect a solid effort.

So what should the goal be for this game? First, roll four lines and three defensive pairings despite the score. No need to over exert your top players. Second, no fighting. If David Clarkson breaks his hand in a stupid fight with Zenon Konopka my head will explode. Third, let Adam Larsson play.

I touch upon some additional items for this afternoon's game after the jump. For the opposition's point of view, visit SilverSevenSens.com.

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Its prospect update time and below you will find statistical updates for Devils prospects playing in the AHL, ECHL, CHL and NCAA. I also have some other news and notes after the jump.

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Well, it's now official. The New Jersey Devils will return to the playoffs this year. The officially clinching of the spot occurred tonight, but much of the hard work to get to this point was done weeks and months before tonight. However, it's still an important night for players and fans alike. With that in mind, I have never put much thought into what specific team I would want the Devils to clinch a playoff berth against. If I had my choice, perhaps the Rangers or the Flyers. But this night, against this Carolina team, was a sweet victory for a few reasons.

First, the Hurricanes gave Cam Ward a rest and started Brian Boucher. The same Brian Boucher who escorted the Devils out of the playoffs back on May 23, 2010 via a shutout 3-0. Second, the Devils played against former coach John MacLean, now an assistant in Carolina. MacLean was the coach at the helm of one of the worst stretches of hockey in Devils history that led to the Devils to miss the playoffs last year.

So, yeah....I'm glad those two were at the receiving end of a 5-0 dominating effort by the New Jersey Devils. With the win, the Devils return the playoffs after a one year absence, hopefully to start another 14 year stretch in which they attempt to hoist the Stanley Cup.

Player of The Game Honors: Before I move forward, let us not forget one of the main catalysts to this victory. Who's that you may ask? Well it was the Carolina Hurricane's own Jeff Skinner. Late in the first period Skinner came into the offensive zone towards Anton Volchenkov, tried a little spinorama move which Volchenkov sniffed out and tossed Skinner down to the ice. Skinner, obviously frustrated at this, then tried to hit Volchenkov, but a little problem; Volchenkov didn't have the puck. Skinner picked up a interference penalty on a very selfish play. The Devils were able to capitalize on the ensuing power play with a David Clarkson goal.

But Skinner wasn't through. After he left the penalty box, he starting yapping at the referee and earned himself a unsportsmanlike conduct penalty which put the Devils right back on the power play. While technically not a power play, the Devils scored seconds after the power play expired as Ilya Kovalchuk ripped a one-timer past Boucher to give the Devils a 2-0 lead just as Skinner left the box. Those 2 goals, one at the end of the first period and the other early in the second deflated the Hurricanes as the Devils were in control of the game the rest of the way.

Open question: How does Hurricane coach Kirk Muller let Jeff Skinner back on the ice after his selfish actions?

Thanks Jeff Skinner, the Devils and Devils fans appreciate your help in clinching a playoff spot.

After the jump I have a few more thoughts, some fancy stats, and some other items about tonight's game.

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Part of the struggle I have in looking at the Devils prospects is not being overly optimistic about their futures. With that in mind, I didn't want to get that excited about the future of Eric Gelinas even as he continued to pile up goals in the AHL, but it's hard not to. Gelinas, a 2009 second round pick of the Devils, scored his 16th goal on Wednesday which leads all AHL defensemen.

16 goals is impressive for an AHL rookie, let alone a defenseman, and I wanted to know how he was scoring. The stat sheets tell you that 8 of his goals were on the power play, but that’s not much information. After the jump I present available video on the goals he has scored and look back on his QMJHL stats to see if this type of production was expected and if his rate of goal scoring is sustainable.

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The Time: 7:00 PM EDT

The Broadcast: TV - MSG+; Radio - 660 AM WFAN

The Game: The New Jersey Devils (43-28-6) vs. the Tampa Bay Lightning (35-34-7)

The Last Devils Game: Coming into this game, I was confident the Devils could get back on track. The Blackhawks, despite playing well, lost their top defenseman (Duncan Keith) to suspension and have had shaky goaltending all year. If the Devils could put some shots on Casey Crawford early, sneak one or two through, perhaps they could dominate the Hawks and coast to an easy victory.

Well, the Devils did get an early goal on Crawford courtesy of a Petr Sykora goal via a nice feed from Calder candidate Adam Henrique, but weren't able to get another one past Crawford in regulation. The Blackhawks evened the score mid-way through the third on a Brent Seabrook shot from the point that beat the screened Martin Broduer. With both teams not really pushing the issue, the game quickly went into overtime and then the shootout.

The Devils were able to secure the extra point via a pretty goal scored by Travis Zajac in the fifth round of the shootout. But the real stars of the game were the Devils penalty killing unit and their goaltender. The penalty killing unit, who was superb all night, successfully fought off a goal when down by two men for 1:08 during the second period. Brodeur made some key saves to keep the Hawks off the board and played much better in the shootout compared to his last effort vs. Toronto last week.

John has the recap of the game here. Blackhawk SBN site Second City has their recap here.

The Last Lightning Game: On Tuesday night the Boston Bruins quickly found out that Tampa Bay will not end this season quietly. After beating the Flyers on Monday night, Tampa Bay had to turnaround and play a Boston team who is starting to play like Boston again. Tampa had the lead for much of the game but three goals in the third period by Boston (one of which by Brian Rolston. Yes, that Brian Rolston) stunned the Lightning and they fell 5-2 to the Bruins. SBN site Raw Charge has a recap of that game up on their site here.

The Last Devils vs. Lightning Game: In the grand scheme of things the last game between the Devils and the Lightning game played on February 26th wasn't that meaningful. But that game marked Marek Zidlcky's first game as a Devil and it also was a trap game. It was sandwiched between a game two days earlier vs. the Vancouver Canucks and one day before a game vs. our hated rivals in the most overrated arena in the world (if you don't know I was referencing the Rangers there, please hit yourself. Now). So that game was viewed almost as a 'gimme'

It didn't work out that way though. After jumping out to a 1-0 lead the Devils came out flat in the second period, allowing two goals by Martin St. Louis. The Devils tied things up quickly in the third, but just as quickly let up another Tampa goal. St. Louis added his third to complete the hat trick and the Devils fell to the Lightning 4-3

John's recap of that game can be viewed here. Raw Charge's Cassie McClellan had the recap of that game from a Lightning perspective here.

The Goal: Score more than two goals and let in less than two goals. Too often recently, the Devils have either let up a bunch of goals or not scored enough to put teams away. This goal, while simple, has been extremely tough recently for New Jersey.

Friday, they also can't afford to leave a team like Tampa Bay hanging around until the middle of the second period. The Lightning has enough offensive talent to strike quickly and throw the Devils back on their heels.

At this point in the year as they look to lock down a playoff spot, the Devils have to be assertive (they may want to throw a few hits around too, I hear that sometimes helps) and dicate play to the Lightning if they are going to be successful. This is a game where I can see the Devils depth winning out over Tampa and hopefully the third line of Jacob Josefson, Alexei Ponikarovsky and David Clarkson can set the table with good possessions/scoring opportunities.

For additional thoughts about the Lightning, please visit Raw Charge, the SBN site for Lightning fans. For some additional things I am looking for tonight, read on after the jump

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Its prospect update time and below you will find statistical updates for Devils prospects playing in the AHL, ECHL, CHL and NCAA. We also take a look at how goaltenders have been drafted over the past few years and a look at the number of current NHL goaltenders that came from the draft and which feeder league they came from.

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Its It's prospect update time! Below find statistical updates for Devils prospects playing in the AHL, ECHL, CHL and NCAA and a look at goaltender salaries by team.

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Last year I wrote a 'Getting to Know You' post on Devils defensive prospect Corbin McPherson. McPherson, the 3rd round pick of New Jersey back in 2007 is slated to graduate this year and should be part of the Albany Devils next year. (In fact, if Colgate doesn't win the ECAC tournament and fails to receive an at-large bid to the Frozen Four Tournament, then perhaps we might see McPherson join Albany for a few games this year.) As he reaches the end of his college career I wanted to check in with someone who has seen him mature and grow as a player during his time at Colgate.

Once again, I reached out to Colgate radio play-by-play announcer John McGraw who broadcasts the Colgate games on 93.9 FM WXKZ. You can follow John on Twitter by going here as that will get you updates on all the Colgate Red Raiders hockey action. John also contributes to a blog that that focuses on Colgate hockey Go Gate Hockey. The Twitter feed for the site GoGateHockey is located here .

I encourage you all to give John a follow @JohnMcGrawWKXZ as this weekend Colgate plays in the ECAC semifinals against Union on Friday afternoon at 4:30pm. The game is at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

After the jump I ask John some questions on defensive prospect Corbin McPherson. I also update the Devils prospect's statistics along with some other news and notes.

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Its prospect update time! Below find statistical updates for Devils prospects playing in the AHL, ECHL, CHL and NCAA, and a look at the depth in the AHL and feeder leagues right now and how that might impact potential acquisitions via NCAA free agency.

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Well, thankfully the trade deadline is over and the Devils still have all of their prospects! Below are updated statistics for the NCAA/CHL/AHL players and some other brief notes.

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It's finally here. The NHL Trade Deadline of 2012. Considering the small amount of clubs in sell mode (and those in sell mode that have useful assets), I expect today to be relatively quiet. There might be some small deals with clubs acquiring depth but I would be surprised to see any blockbusters. That said, there is always that chance of a big trade that makes the day so interesting. Here are some players you might see on the move before the 3 PM EDT deadline today:

Forwards: Brian Rolston - Islanders; P-A Parenteau - Islanders; Brad Boyes - Buffalo; Paul Gaustad - Buffalo; Samuel Pahlsson - Columbus; Mike Knuble - Washington; Andrei Kostitsyn - Montreal.

Defensemen: Mark Eaton - Islanders; Greg Zanon - Wild; Chris Campoli - Canadiens; Jaroslav Spacek - Carolina; Bryan Allen - Carolina.

Goaltenders: Evgeni Nabokov - Islanders; Josh Harding - Minnesota.

Here is a list of all of the trades in this month from NHL.com. After the acquisitions of Marek Zidlicky and Alexei Ponikarovsky I doubt the New Jersey Devils will be active today, but Lou Lamoriello has surprised us before, so never rule anything out.

You can use the comments in this post to discuss today's trade deadline action throughout the NHL. Please remember the rules at all times. Namely: keep your comments clean. Also, if there is any 'Breaking News' or rumors from a respected source (e.g. Tom Gulitti, Darren Dreger, Nick Kypreos, Bob McKenzie, etc.) please provide the link to the article or twitter feed. Do not include Hockeybuzz links, Eklund wanna-bes (Sam Page explained the concept at On the Forecheck) or other fake news reporting. None. Don't even think about it - this is not the day for hijinks.

T-Minus 7 days until the trade deadline! After the jump I update statistics for the NCAA/CHL/AHL players, take an in-depth look at potential trade deadline defensive targets and after last week's trades see who has 2nd round picks still available. As with past trade deadlines the 2nd round pick is the usual return in a deadline deal for a rental player.

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Its prospect update time! Below find statistical updates for Devils prospects playing in the AHL, ECHL, CHL and NCAA, trade deadline thoughts along with the notes on the resurgance of the Albany Devils.

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It's prospect update time! After the jump we'll look at statistical updates, and how the AHL system goalies are performing utilizing the even-strength save percentage process I developed last month (slightly tweaked) but this time I look at the entirety of the AHL to see where Keith Kinkaid and Jeff Frazee stand against of the rest of their league.

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The Time: 1:00 PM EDT

The Broadcast: TV - MSG+; Radio - 660 AM WFAN

The Game: The New Jersey Devils (29-19-3) vs. the Pittsburgh Penguis (30-18-4)

The Last Devils Game: It was a tale of two games. The first game was a superb 40 minute effort where everything went the Devils' way. A shorthanded goal by Ilya Kovalchuk, production from their third line, a classic Zach Parise drive to the net and great saves by Johan Hedberg led the Devils to a 6-0 lead after two periods over the Philadelphia Flyers. The second game was a 20 minute debacle where the Devils gave 4 goals back, the officiating crew let the game get out of hand and the Philadelphia goon squad ended up taking shots at Devils players. Luckily the Devils were able to escape the most overrated city in America with a 6-4 victory.

The only good part of the second game was when Ilya Kovalchuk beat the living daylights out of Brayden Schenn. It was a right cross to remember. Memo to Schenn: As you ice your cheek this morning remember that you got hit because you were defending trashbag Zac Rinaldo. If you haven't seen Kovalchuk drop Schenn, feel free to view it here. John's recap of the game is here, and you can get the Flyer perspective from Broad Street Hockey.

The Last Penguins Game: Pittsburgh, facing back-to-back road afternoon games after a tough loss to Toronto, bounced back with a solid, physical effort against the reigning Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins. Their play with a physical edge (injuring at various times Dennis Seidenberg, Brad Marchand, Joe Corvo) and a timely goal by Evegeni Malkin in the last seconds of the first period which helped a 28 save effort by Marc-Andre Fleury, gave the Penguins a 2-1 victory over the Bruins. Pensburgh has their recap of the game here.

The Last Devils-Penguins Game: It was less than a month ago when the Devils went to Pittsburgh and were led by terrific games from Martin Brodeur (41 saves) and Ilya Kovalchuk (GWG, 8 shots, assist) to take a 3-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. The game started a four game road trip for the Devils (the remaining three games in Western Canada) off on the right foot and Brodeur and the Devils fought off a great effort by the Penguins trio of Evgeni Malkin, Chris Kunitz and James Neal, who dominated the Devils in puck possession. (Corsi stats for that game here.) John's recap of that game is here.

The Goal: Status Quo. When the Devils returned from the All Star Break, I was concerned that five games in the course of one week could be problematic. They were playing two games against the Rangers, and one each against Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Montreal. Out of those five games I thought, at best, a 3-2 record or six points would be a good record for the mini-stretch. With six points in the first three games, the Devils have outperformed my expectations. There are still two tough opponents left in this stretch of eastern conference opponents, but so far so good. During this three game winning streak the Devils have matched their opponents' physicality, played sharp special teams and have received good goaltending. To continue to beat teams like Pittsburgh and the Rangers they will need to keep playing this way.

After the jump I will go over a few more items that I think will affect the outcome of this game. Head over to Pensburgh.com for the Penguins fan perspective.

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It’s prospect update time! After the jump we'll look at statistical updates, how the system goalies are performing utilizing the even-strength save percentage process I developed last month, and review some of the more important news for the organization.

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Its prospect update time! In addition to the statistical updates, after the jump we'll look at some of the more important news for Devils prospects.

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