Game day @ New Jersey

After receiving nothing but warm Christmas wishes from their opponents of late, the B's will finally face off against a top level team tonight in NJ. I guess the rumors of the Devils demise after Brodeur got hurt were greatly exaggerated.huh? Former Boston College netminder Scott Clemenson has been playing out of his mind for the Devils. Overall, the Dev's are 12-2-1 in their last 15 games. Pretty impressive run to be sure. Clemenson is getting a lot of help up front, especially from Patrick Elias, who comes into tonight with a 10 game point streak. Zack Parise is NJ's leading scorer, with 18G 22A 40PTS on the season. The Blue Line is patrolled by local boy Mike Mottau, of Quincy. Have to feel good for a guy like "Motts" (to his friends). Made the team last year as a 29 Year Old rookie and looks like he should have been there much sooner. Sometimes it just takes the right bit of luck to get your foot in the door.....just ask Tim Thomas. The Devils also get the hard working pest John Madden back from IR tonight, making them an even tougher team to play against. The plan for Boston has to be simple. Play their game. Not necessarily the game they've been playing the last few games. But that tough, physical, defense-first style that got them rolling in the first place. I don't see the B's getting away with all the defensive lapses tonight. NJ won't require a "perfect" game to beat, but a sloppy one will cost the Bruins.

ROUGH STUFF PREVIEW: Let's just say I'm curious to see if David Clarkson wants another shot at Lucic. Last year, Looch put a pretty good beating on him in a one sided bout. I wouldn't be surprised to see Mike Rupp step up and challenge Lucic tonight. Rupp, at is 6'5" 230lbs, is a bigger man than Clarkson, and may fare better. That one could be an interesting bout, but I can also see Thornton heading that one off at the pass and challenging Rupp before he gets a shot at Looch.

PREDICTIONS: I don't think we'll see the B's pot another 6 or 7 goals tonight. But I do think we'll see another win. I say, 3-2 with Kessel, Kobasew and Wideman the scorers for Boston. Both of NJ's goals come from "Motts" (hey, If I'm predicting his first 2 goals of the year, I get to call him Motts!). Go B's- Kynch

REMINDER- Game is on VS tonight, NOT NESN (Brickley is doing color, alongside Mike "Doc" Emrick)