Tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET, the New Jersey Devils (4-7-4, 12 points) and Toronto Maple Leafs (10-5-0, 20 points) go head-to-head from Air Canada Centre in the first of three meetings between the two teams this season. The game can be live streamed here. New Jersey fans can hear all of the action on 101.9 The Fan while Toronto fans can do the same on Sportsnet 590.
David Clarkson meets the Devils for the first time as a member of the Maple Leafs after he left New Jersey to sign with Toronto last summer.
"In Jersey I was used to playing a different role, for the last four years, and was successful doing that," Clarkson told NHL.com Wednesday. "And coming to a new situation, where maybe Randy is trying to feel me out, I don't know, but I'm asked to do my job, and that's what I do. Whatever the coach asks you, that's what you do. He's your boss and you go out there and do what he asks."
Toronto is two points out of the Eastern Conference lead and has been off since Saturday while winning four of its past six games. Despite the team's success, coach Randy Carlyle thinks there is still room for improvement.
"The on-ice commitment, our level of work, has to go up. And we've stated that," Carlyle said per NHL.com. "And we've asked our players that the message is going to start to be delivered in a different manner."
The Devils are near the bottom of the Metropolitan Division, but shut out the bottom dwelling Philadelphia Flyers Thursday night in a 3-0 victory in an effort that made their coach happy about the way the defense performed.
"That defensive foundation is a key," coach Peter DeBoer said via NHL.com. "The goals don't come easy for us, I think we know that, but if you've got that foundation you give yourself a chance to win every night."
Jaromir Jagr leads the Devils with 11 points off of four goals and seven assists while Marek Zidlicky has nine points off of one goal and a team-high eight assists. For Toronto, Phil Kessel has led the way with nine goals and nine assits for 18 points while James van Riemsdyk has 11 points in his last nine games for a total of 13 points off of seven tallies and six helpers and Nazem Kadri also has 13 points by lighting the lamp five times and adding eight assists.
In net, the Leafs have Jonathan Bernier (6-4-0, 2.31 GAA, .933 save percetage) and James Reimer (4-1-0, 2.36 GAA, .944 save percentage) while New Jersey will go with either Martin Brodeur (3-3-2, 2.35 GAA, .901 save percentage) or Cory Schneider (1-4-2, 2.27 GAA and a .907 save percentage).
Anything can happen when the Leafs and Devils take the ice at Air Canada Centre tonight.
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