Devils Look to Head into Christmas on a High Note | PREVIEW

New Jersey closes out its pre-Christmas schedule tonight against the Detroit Red Wings. 

You can watch on MSGSN or listen on the Devils Hockey Network.

Read below for your game preview with the pre-game story coming after morning skate.

PRE-GAME STORY

NEWARK, N.J. - One final game for the Devils as they head into the holiday break and the preparation started with a hard, 40 minute practice yesterday. Saturday morning's morning skate was an optional practice with only Vitek Vanecek, Akira Schmid, and Chris Tierney participating. Nathan Bastian was on the ice for part of the time as well.

“The practice was, take the practice into the game,” Ruff shared Saturday. “It was a focused group. There was no hanging of the heads, they went to work. I think the fact that you only saw one person skating (today) tells you what type of skate yesterday was and they want to save everything they got for tonight.”

Bastian missed Saturday's practice for a maintenance day. When asked about the forward's availability today, Ruff explained there's no answer yet.

“Don’t know yet,” Ruff shared. “We’ll find out after he’s treated.”

FACING DETROIT

This is the third meeting between the Devils and Red Wings this season, with the most recent on Thanksgiving Eve in Detroit. New Jersey lost 4-0 and was shutout for the first time in a season and a half. Lindy Ruff described that as one of the worst games he's seen the team play following that loss, and when it comes to tonight it's using tonight as an opportunity to respond.

“That game there was just everything (bad), there’s no use in trying to break it down,” Ruff said. “From start to finish that was a game that lacked detail, lacked intensity. The answer to that is always the next time you face that team.”

The Red Wings are a fast team that can score, as they're averaging 3.58 goals a game, which is third most in the NHL. One of the keys to tonight will be bringing a high level of compete.

“The 50-50 compete will be number one,” Ruff explained. “Get on the body, be really hard on them. I think our strength is our skating when we’re up to speed. So put pucks in behind them and create foot races.”

LEADING INTO THE BREAK

Following tonight's game, the Devils will have a three-day, holiday break, as mandated by the NHL. With a 0-2-1 record to start a five-game homestand, New Jersey is eager to turn things around tonight and head into the break on a high.

“We went through a real good stretch. Now, we’ve struggled to finish games … when I saw a complete 60 minutes it’s if you have the lead, finish the game," Ruff said. "I’ve always felt when you’re going into the breaks, whether it’s your bye week or your winter break or even if it’s during the season and you have a two or three day break between games, it’s a good game to win because you feel good about the time away from the break.”

-Catherine Bogart, NJD.TV

PREVIEW

DEVILS (16-13-2) vs. RED WINGS (15-13-4)

Head-to-Head

This is the third and final meeting of the season between the Devils and Red Wings. On opening night, the Devils defeated the Red Wings 4-3 but on November 22, Detroit won 4-0 at Little Caesars Arena. 

Jonas Siegenthaler has led the way for the Devils with three points in the two games, all assists. Jack Hughes has a pair of goals. Robby Fabbri leads the way for Detroit with two goals and an assist against the Devils this season. 

Devils Team Scope:

The Devils have dropped each of their last three games, with one point to show for it (0-2-1). Prior to that, they had won eight out of 10. 

The Eastern Conference playoff race is a tight one. New Jersey is four points behind the Carolina Hurricanes for the final playoff spot but hold two games in hand. 

Jack Hughes leads the Devils with 38 points and 14 goals with Jesper Bratt right behind him with 37 points and 13 goals. Hughes has played 26 games this season while Bratt has played 31. Hughes is tied for 14th in the NHL in scoring. 

Red Wings Team Scope:

Detroit got off to a hot start this season with a 14-7-3 record but have slipped since then, going 2-6-0 in their last eight. However, they're coming off quite the win on Friday night at home against the Philadelphia Flyers. After taking a 5-1 lead into the intermission, the Red Wings saw that lead slip away. The Flyers rallied to move in front 6-5 with just over five minutes to play in the third period. But 37 seconds later, Dylan Larkin scored to tie the game back up. Lucas Raymond ended up scoring the deciding goal in the shootout. 

Alex DeBrincat leads the Red Wings with 31 points and 15 goals in 33 games. 

Detroit has seen injuries to its top-two goaltenders Ville Husso and Alex Lyon which has resulted in James Reimer playing the last few games. The Wings also had to sign Michael Hutchinson to fill the back-up role. Reimer played Friday night meaning there's a chance Hutchinson makes his Detroit debut tonight, although Lyon is also close to returning. 

By the Numbers:

With 36 points, Detroit is actually one point behind their pace of last season. They finished last season with 80 points, winning only 20 of their last 48 games. 

Since joining the Red Wings, Patrick Kane has picked up four goals and nine points in nine games. However, he's heating up with seven points (three goals) in his last three contests. 

Injuries:

Devils

Dougie Hamilton (torn pectoral, IR)
Tomas Nosek (upper body, IR)

Red Wings

Ville Husso (lower body, IR)
Klim Kostin (upper body, IR)
Alex Lyon (lower body, day-to-day)