Tonight at 7 p.m. ET, the Toronto Maple Leafs (22-26-4, 48 points) and New Jersey Devils (20-22-9, 49 points) face-off for the third and final time this season live from the Prudential Center in New Jersey.
Toronto is in free-fall and enters play on a 10-game losing streak while New Jersey has won two straight games and four of their last five.
Both of these teams are outside looking in on a playoff spot as the Devils are 12 points out of the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference currently held by the Boston Bruins while the Maple Leafs are 13 points behind.
New Jersey has gotten the better of Toronto twice already this season with a 5-3 win on Dec. 4 and a 2-1 shootout triumph on Jan. 28.
This game can be live streamed by clicking here.
The Maple Leafs are coming off of a 4-3 loss to the Nashville Predators on Tuesday and will be closing out a three-game road trip trying to avoid an 11th consecutive defeat.
"We have to play patient," New Jersey native James van Riemsdyk said via NHL.com. "We know how good defensively the Devils are and what type of style they play, so you can't try too many high risk plays. You've got to stick with it and make the smart play."
Van Riemsdyk is second on Toronto with 43 points off of 21 goals and 22 assists. Tyler Bozak is third on the team with 33 points off of 14 tallies and 19 helpers while Phil Kessel paces the Maple Leafs with 45 points by way of finding the twine 20 times and adding 25 assists.
Kessel is struggling of late, with just one goal in his last 10 games.
The Devils are coming off of a 2-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday and will look to extend their winning streak to three.
"After the win, the first thing you say is you won and that's important," Devils interim coach Lou Lamoriello told NHL.com. "Sure, you want to win three in a row because that means you won the game and that's all we're concerned about. It's not so much the streak, but the importance of winning that game."
Adam Henrique has paced New Jersey with 28 points off of 11 goals and 17 assists thus far this season. Jaromir Jagr has 27 points off of 10 tallies and 17 helpers while Mike Cammalleri has a team-best 17 goals and is third on the Devils with 24 points.
New Jersey is set to turn to Cory Schneider in the crease and he is 18-19-5 with a 2.33 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage.
Toronto is set to counter with Jonathan Bernier in between the pipes and he is 16-16-4 with a 2.76 GAA and a .908 save percentage.
The Devils and Maple Leafs meet for the final time this season when the puck drops tonight live from the Prudential Center in New Jersey.
© 2023 Sportsworldnews.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
