The Devils begin a three-game homestand with two contests against Pittsburgh, starting Friday night.
You can watch the game once again on MSG+ 2 or listen on the Devils Hockey Network.

YOUR GAME-DAY ESSENTIALS

WATCH LIVE AT 6:15 PM ET
Watch the PlayUp Devils Pre-Game Show with host Chris Wescott for analysis, interviews and more!
WATCH LIVE AT 6:30 PM ET
Get set right before game time as Chris Wescott and Chico Resch talk lineups and storylines during the pre-game warmup!
PRE-GAME VIDEOS
Devils Minute with Amanda Stein
Pre-Game Interview | Boqvist
Pre-Game Media Availability with Head Coach Lindy Ruff
WATCH LIVE AFTER THE GAME
Chris Wescott and Matt Loughlin have post-game reaction, highlights and analysis immediately following the game
THE NUMBERS
Stats Comparison: NJD vs. PIT
Head-to-Head: NJD vs. PIT
Devils Player Stats
Penguins Player Stats
Media Game Notes
RECENT NEWS & BLOGS
FEATURE: A Deal for Tomorrow
BLOG: Anatomy of a Trade
BLOG: Palmieri, Zajac Reflect on Devils' Time
THREE THINGS: Zajac, Palmieri Trade to Isles
RECENT VIDEOS
3-ON-3: Zajac/Palmieri Trade
Thursday's Post-Game Interviews:
Ruff
I
Hughes
I
Zacha
RAW: Fitzgerald on Zajac, Palmieri trade
TV & RADIO
You can watch the game on MSG+ 2
You can listen to tonight's game on the Devils Hockey Network.

INSIDE THE DEVILS

Check out the latest team coverage in our Inside the Devils Blog.
>> READ MORE IN THE INSIDE THE DEVILS BLOG

PRE-GAME STORY

NEWARK, N.J. -New Jersey will once again be without captain Nico Hischier when they host the Pittsburgh Penguins for the first of a two-game series Friday night at Prudential Center.
"Nico will not play tonight," Devils head coach Lindy Ruff said of Hischier, who hasn't played since suffering a frontal sinus fracture Feb. 27. "He is very close. He skated well again. (He) got a real good skate. I'd like to get him another practice (Saturday) and then we can have a conversation with himself and doctors to make sure the time is right.
"No. 1 we want to make sure he's ready and completely healthy."
The Devils may not have the 2017 first-overall selection available, but they do have the 2019 first-overall selection in Jack Hughes lacing up.
Hughes snapped a 10-game goal-less drought with a tally Thursday night in a 6-3 win at Buffalo, and added two assists for three points. He and his linemates, Janne Kuokkanen and Yegor Sharangovich, each post three points and combined for nine as a line.
"Janne and 'Share' have both played well very together (this season), a lot of times with Travis (Zajac). So when Travis left it was an easy decision to try and put Jack in between them," said Ruff, who has skated the trio for the past three games. "The thought was (to) try to keep two of them intact and give Jack a look there to see if we could keep creating offense."
It was also three games ago that Ruff shuffled up his backend. Though he kept the duo of Dmitry Kulikov and P.K. Subban together, he swapped the other tandems by putting Damon Severson with Ryan Murray and Ty Smith with Sami Vatanen. Previously, Severson and Smith had worked primarily together all season.
"Just a change to see if we could create a little bit more offense by splitting up Severson and Ty," Ruff said of the decision to make the switch. "Ty with 'Vats' gives us another guy that can make plays and is good defensively. At the same time, put a bigger guy with 'Sevy' so we can play against top lines, take a little load off of Ty and see if Ty can create better offensive opportunities if he's not playing against top lines."
YEGOR CURL AND DRAG
Sharangovich scored his ninth goal of the season, which ranks third on the team, Thursday night. The Minsk native has a tendency to curl and drag the puck before snapping off a pretty lethal and electric shot.
By pulling the puck closer to his body, it allows him to change the angle of the shot and send the puck toward the net before opposing goaltenders can adjust.
"He can change the angle from where he's going to shoot the puck from," Ruff said. "Whether that's six inches, a foot, he can drag it, he can push it outside. He has a real hard shot."
Ruff noted that the shot reminds him former NHLer Thomas Vanek.
GUSEV WAIVED
The Devils have waved forward Nikita Gusev and he will become a free agent if cleared.
"We're disappointed it didn't work," Ruff said. "I thought he had a number of opportunities to push through, and at the end young players just took over. We needed some size and physicality. The (Nate) Bastians, (Michael) McLeods, the (Miles) Woods. Those types of players took over. Kuokkanen and Sharangovich, a lot of young players just started to push through and created great competition."

PREVIEW

DEVILS (14-18-6) vs PENGUINS (25-13-2)
TV:MSG+ 2 AT 7 PM ET
Head-to-Head
The Devils and Penguins have only played each other three times so far this season. Pretty remarkable when you consider New Jersey has already completed its eight-game season series against Washington and Buffalo.
Both teams are playing in the second half of back-to-back games with each team picking up a victory: New Jersey at Buffalo, 6-3; Pittsburgh at NY Rangers, 5-2.
New Jersey is 2-1-0 on the year against Pittsburgh, which includes a 1-1 mark at Prudential Center. Jesper Bratt leads the Devils in scoring on the series with one goal and three points, his lone goal being an overtime winner. That same game goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 35 of 36 shots in his lone start against the Penguins.
The Penguins top line of Jake Guentzel (2G-2A), Sidney Crosby (1G-2A) and Bryan Rust (2G-1A) have combined for 10 points in three games against New Jersey.
Devils Team Scope:
The Devils are going through a transition phase following the trade of veteran forwards Travis Zajac and Kyle Palmieri. The absences have created opportunities for the organization's youth. That youth overcame its first test with a 6-3 victory in Buffalo Thursday night.
Captain Nico Hischier has practiced with the Devils since Wednesday afternoon and keeps inching closer to returning to the lineup for the first time since suffering a frontal sinus fracture on Feb. 27.
The Devils power play has three goals in its past two games, including its first two-goal game of the season Thursday in Buffalo. Both goals were scored by the team's leading scoring Pavel Zacha (10G-14A-24PTS).
Forward Jesper Bratt has 13 points (4G-9A) in his last 13 games and 17 (4-13) in his past 19.
Penguins Team Scope:
The Penguins appeared to right their ship in a 5-2 victory Thursday night at Madison Square Garden against the New York Rangers. The victory came after two defeats in which the team surrendered a total of 15 goals.
The Penguins are led by a dominant first that has accounted for 46 goals and 112 points on the season. That would be Crosby (15G-29A-44PTS), Guentzel (17-23-40) and Rust (14-14-28). Defenseman Kris Letang has been piling up points with 32 (7G-25A) on the year.
By the Numbers:
The Devils have played Jack Hughes, Janne Kuokkanen and Yegor Sharangovich together for the last three games. The trio combined for nine points (3G-6A) Thursday night in Buffalo with each player picking up one goal and two assists.
Pittsburgh's power play has eight goals in the last seven games and is clicking at a 40-percent rate, which ranks first in the NHL in that span.
Injury Update:
Devils:Bastian (lower-body), Hischier (frontal sinus fracture).
Penguins:Blueger (upper-body), Friedman (upper-body), Kapanen (lower-body), Malkin (lower-body), Tanev (upper-body).