Tonight the Devils host the Sharks at the Prudential Center. The 7:00 tip-off will be televised on FSNY 2 and on WFAN 660 AM on the airwaves. New Jersey has captured a first place tie in the Atlantic Division with wins in four of their last five games (4-0-1). The Devils even gained a share of the Eastern Conference lead prior to last night's contests. The Sharks will look to snap a four-game losing streak. San Jose is in the middle of a difficult eight-game road trip in which it visits the Atlantic before facing the western conference. The Sharks hold possession of sixth place in the west, but barely. Vancouver and Calgary remain two points behind the Sharks with less than two months remaining in the regular season.

During their recent success, they Devils have defeated Ottawa twice and handed Carolina two embarrassing defeats, 6-1 and 5-1. Credit the recent play of their defensemen, which John Fischer of Inlouwetrust reveals as part of head coach Brent Sutter’s master game plan.

“Why the improvement in scoring? I think a lot of credit has to go to Brent Sutter. Since coming to the Devils, he's implemented a number of new approaches to the Devils' gameplan and the one that sticks out the most is his use of defensemen on offense and the power play.”

Although the Devils have been inconsistent on the power play thus far, they are 22-6-0 when scoring on the man advantage (see below). San Jose is a tough road team and likes to win low scoring efforts like the Devils. It will be interesting which team can score first and then hold onto the lead in tonight’s game.

Martin Brodeur will make his 20th start between the pipes for New Jersey, according to Tom Gulitti’s blog. Although the Devils signed Kevin Weekes to spell Brodeur around 15-20 times this season, their philosophy has changed due to the upcoming postseason, Sutter told Gulitti.

“Devils coach Brent Sutter admitted today his philosophy on playing Martin Brodeur has changed since the start of the season. It was clear early that the Devils intended to give Brodeur more rest this season and give Kevin Weekes more work, but that changed rather quickly.”

Evgeni Nabokov, who has started 58 of 59 games for the Sharks, will likely be in net. He is 2-3-0 lifetime versus New Jersey with a 2.65 GAA and .900 SV%.

He is coming off a tough loss to the Islanders, who rallied for three third-period goals to finalize the 3-2 come-from-behind win. Nabokov was forced to miss 10 of the 60 minutes because of an Islander’s shot that broke his cage and bloodied his nose. He returned for the third period.

Notes:

Colin White is unsure if he’ll play tonight, Gulitti said. Vitaly Vishnevski is his replacement on defense if he cant play due to an upper body injury suffered on Monday.

OCTOBER: 4-2-0 (10-for-54 or 18.5 percent)

New Jersey managed to tally on the man advantage in six games. During a mini streak, they produced five power play tallies in 15 chances.

Wins: 10/6, 10/13, 10/17, 10/31

Losses: 10/4, 10/27

NOVEMBER: 5-0-0 (8-for-56 or 14.3 percent)

Wins: 11/12, 11/21, 11/23, 11/24, 11/30

Losses: N/A

DECEMBER: 4-0 (4-53 or 7.5 percent)

The Devils only scored four power play goals this month. They were 4-53 on the man advantage.

Wins: 12/5, 12/7, 12/13, 12/16

Losses: n/a

JANUARY: 5-3-0 (14-53 or 26.4 percent)

New year, five-game power play goal streak…then four games without PPG…ended the month with power play goals in 3 straight game… During the final 3 games, the Devils manufactured 11 ppg in 16 chances, or 68.75 percent, three times the league leader.

Wins: 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/10 (2 PPG), 1/22

Losses: 1/5, 1/24, 1/29

FEBRUARY: 4-1 thus far…

Wins: 2/4, 2/9, 2/16, 2/18

Losses: 2/15

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