Jets at Devils preview

JETS (14-8-2) AT DEVILS (9-11-4)
7 p.m. ET; SN360, CITY, MSG+ 2, NHL.TV

The Jets forward, who scored 18 of his NHL-leading 21 goals in 12 November games, could become the second player since 1997-98 to average at least 0.88 goals per game through the first 25 team games of a season if he scores against the Devils. Simon Gagne averaged 0.92 (23 goals) per game with the Philadelphia Flyers in 2005-06. Laine has 14 points (13 goals, one assist) in his past seven games.
The Devils are 0-2-2 in their past four games, including a 6-3 loss at the Washington Capitals on Friday.

Players to watch

Jets center Mark Scheifele has 16 points (seven goals, nine assists) in his past 10 games.
Devils forward Taylor Hall has seven points (two goals, five assists) in his past five games.

They said it

"We have a good offense but the key for us is being the best defensive team in the League. If we want to win something big, we've got to play better defense. You can win games with good offense but you're going to win championships with defense so that's our mindset." -- Jets forward Patrik Laine
"We have not had the answers of late and we need to find them. We're not playing good enough hockey. We have the players and the talent, but we need to find ways to play a more complete 60-minute game. Find ways to not make these mistakes." -- Devils defenseman Ben Lovejoy

Jets projected lineup

Nikolaj Ehlers -- Mark Scheifele -- Blake Wheeler
Kyle Connor -- Bryan Little -- Patrik Laine
Andrew Copp -- Adam Lowry -- Brandon Tanev
Mathieu Perreault -- Jack Roslovic --
Mason Appleton
Josh Morrissey -- Jacob Trouba
Cameron Schilling -- Tyler Myers
Sami Niku -- Ben Chiarot
Laurent Brossoit
Connor Hellebuyck
Scratched: Brendan Lemieux, Nic Petan
Injured:Dmitry Kulikov (upper body), Dustin Byfuglien (concussion), Joe Morrow (lower body)

Devils projected lineup

Taylor Hall -- Nico Hischier -- Kyle Palmieri
Marcus Johansson -- Pavel Zacha -- Jesper Bratt
Blake Coleman -- Travis Zajac -- Miles Wood
Brian Boyle -- Brett Seney -- Drew Stafford
Mirco Mueller -- Sami Vatanen
Andy Greene -- Ben Lovejoy
Egor Yakovlev -- Damon Severson
Keith Kinkaid
Cory Schneider
Scratched:Will Butcher, Steven Santini, Stefan Noesen
Injured:Joey Anderson (broken ankle)

Status report

Morrow was placed on injured reserve Friday and is week-to-week. Appleton will make his NHL debut. Copp returns to the lineup after missing three games with an upper-body injury. ... The Devils did not have a morning skate.

Stat pack

Ehlers has nine points (three goals, six assists) in seven games against the Devils. ... Wheeler has eight points (one goal, seven points) in his past five games. ... Coleman has eight points (three goals, five assists) in his past eight games. ... The Jets are 11-1-2 in their past 14 games against New Jersey and have outscored the Devils 42-23.