(SportsNetwork.com) – The New Jersey Devils aim for a return to the win column
when they welcome the lowly Edmonton Oilers for Monday’s encounter at
Prudential Center.
The Devils were handed a 6-2 loss in Montreal on Saturday. The lopsided
setback snapped a three-game winning streak and dropped New Jersey to 5-1-1
over its last seven games.
New Jersey cannot afford many losses down the stretch if it wants to return to
the playoffs for the first time since reaching the Stanley Cup Finals in 2012.
The club is currently 12 points out of a postseason berth in the Eastern
Conference.
The Devils led Montreal 1-0 on Saturday and were only down 3-2 after Jacob
Josefson scored just over three minutes into the third period. However, the
Canadiens would take control of the game later in the final stanza when Tomas
Plekanec scored at the 12:04 mark and Dale Weise added another tally for the
Habs just 30 seconds later. Weise scored again with 4:42 left to account for
the final margin.
Mike Cammalleri scored a first-period goal for the Devils, while backup
goaltender Keith Kinkaid made 38 saves in a losing effort.
“The jump in their game and their execution was better than ours tonight,”
said Cammalleri.
Cory Schneider will return to the Devils crease on Monday for his league-
leading 46th start of the season. The former Vancouver Canucks netminder is
6-2-0 with a 1.58 goals against average in 10 career outings against the
Oilers.
Schneider posted a 29-save shutout when the Devils recorded a 2-0 win in
Edmonton on Nov. 21. Jersey has won two straight against the Oilers and own a
4-0-1 mark over the last five meetings.
While New Jersey’s already slim playoff chances took a hit Saturday, Edmonton
isn’t even close to being in the postseason race out West. The Oilers are last
in the conference with only 37 points.
The Oilers have lost two straight and three of their last four games. They
dropped the opener of a six-game road trip Saturday in Toronto, losing 5-1 to
a Maple Leafs club that had failed to earn a win in its previous 11 games.
Toronto opened the scoring around the midway point of the second period and
saw the lead grow to 5-0 after Peter Holland tallied with 9:58 remaining in
the third.
Viktor Fasth gave up all five goals on 28 shots in the loss, while Luke Gazdic
spoiled Toronto’s shutout bid by scoring with just 2.3 seconds left in the
game.
“I thought we’d have a better start than we did,” said interim Oilers coach
Todd Nelson.
Edmonton’s Taylor Hall has been bothered by an ankle injury and he will miss a
third straight game Monday after getting sent back to Edmonton for further
evaluation. Fellow forward Benoit Pouliot is questionable for tonight’s game
with a foot injury that has caused him to miss the last two contests, while
defenseman Jeff Petry is questionable after missing practice Sunday with an
undisclosed ailment.
The Oilers, who are 5-14-7 as the visiting team this season, also will play
tomorrow night against the New York Islanders.
Edmonton has lost in four of its past five trips to the Garden State.
