Devils Conclude Regular Season at Home vs. Red Wings | PREVIEW

NEW JERSEY DEVILS (42-32-7) vs. DETROIT RED WINGS (38-35-7)

New Jersey finishes up their regular season on Made in Jersey Night.

You can watch on TNT, TruTV and MAX or listen on the Devils Hockey Network.

Read below for your game preview with lineup updates and pre-game story to come. Tonight's game is presented by Ott, Shore and Co.

PRE-GAME AVAIL RECAP

NEWARK, NJ - Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton will return to the lineup tonight against Detroit, per head coach Sheldon Keefe.

“Dougie is going to be in today,” Keefe said. “He’s worked hard. I’d say he’s a little bit ahead of schedule. He was at 6-8 weeks was the projected time period. He’s at the front end of that. Credit to him for the work that he’s put in. He’s excited to go.”

Hamilton has missed the past 18 games with an undisclosed injury. He rejoined practice with his teammates on Saturday. The team debated whether or not to play him against Boston last night or Detroit tonight.

“We gave him the extra day and saved him the flight,” Keefe said. “He’ sexcited today and he’ll pair up with (Brenden) Dillon. It gives them a chance to get some reps in together.”

Hamilton has nine goals and 31 assists for 40 points this season in 63 games. It should be a boost to the back end offensively.

“We need him to do what he’s done,” Keefe said. “He moves the puck up from your end to the oppositions end and gets it to the net. He has the ability to score from anywhere. He brings a different element and it’s important.”

Remaining Lineup

With the finale against Detroit having no bearing on the Devils’ place in the standings, the club is opting to rest a lot of their top-end players. That includes captain Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, Stefan Noesen, Timo Meier, Luke Hughes, Brett Pesce, Johnathan Kovacevic and Jacob Markstrom.

“It’s a long list. We’ll have 10 guys (out),” Keefe said. “It’s a different type of lineup. It feels sort of like preseason. You’re trying to get through it. Give opportunities to guys. Just roll with the group. To that end it’s kind of exciting. It’s a group that’s going to compete and they have something to play for.”

Goalie Nico Daws, recalled this morning, will make the start.

Palat OK

Forward Ondrej Palat left the team’s game Tuesday night in Boston and with a few days of rest, should be good to go for the playoffs.

“He hasn’t skated. He had further tests and all have come back with good news,” Keefe said. “We’ll give him time to let the swelling to go down and work toward getting his skate on. It’s something he should push through pretty quickly.”

Update on Siegenthaler

Defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler has been skating. He’s been out of the lineup since Feb. 4 with a lower-body injury.

“It’s gone pretty well. The last couple of days he’s finally got some equipment on now,” Keefe said. “He’s starting to move a little more. All that is very positive, but he won’t be available for our (opening playoff) series.”

--Sam Kasan

THE SCOOP

It's the final game of the regular season for the Devils. For some, it'll be a tune-up and for others an opportunity to perhaps plant some seeds for a roster spot for next season as several key Devils are likely to get a rest tonight ahead of a round-one series against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Devils haven't had a ton of success down the stretch in largely meaningless games having lost three straight before last night's overtime win.

Team captain Nico Hischier has 35 goals to lead the club while Jesper Bratt is tops in points with 88 and assists with 67 -- both career highs for him.

It's also the final game for the Detroit Red Wings in a season that had expectations of a playoff spot but came up a handful of points short. The Wings have picked up points in six of their final eight games on the season (5-2-1) including an impressive 6-4 win over the Dallas Stars in their final home game of the season Monday night. Last Friday, they also defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning on the road, 4-3 in overtime.

The Red Wings have the fourth-best power play in the NHL at 27.4% just slightly behind the third-place Devils who are at 27.3%. The big difference, however, is that the Devils are fourth in the NHL in penalty killing at 82.2% while the Wings are dead last at 70.0%.

Lucas Raymond is the leading point-getter for the Red Wings with 78 points (27 goals, 51 assists). In terms of goals, Alex DeBrincat has 37 to top the squad. Captain Dylan Larkin has 29 goals and is tied with DeBrincat for second on the team with 68 points.

WHO’S HOT

Devils: Timo Meier has four goals in his five games after scoring last night against Boston and also adding an assist on the game winner. Meier has 11 goals since March 1st, tied with Hischier for most on the team. Stefan Noesen has points in four of his last six.

Red Wings: In terms of points in the month of April, it’s a three-way tie for the Red Wings with Alex DeBrincat, Patrick Kane and Dylan Larkin all with six points in seven games. DeBrincat leads the way with four goals.

INJURIES

Devils: J.Hughes (shoulder, LTIR), J.Siegenthaler (undisclosed, LTIR), D.Hamilton (undisclosed, day-to-day)

Red Wings: E.Soderblom (undisclosed, day-to-day), E.Gustafsson (undisclosed, day-to-day), C.Mazur (upper body, IR), A.Copp (torn pectoral, IR)

REGULAR-SEASON RESULTS

• Oct. 24 at Detroit, 3-5 L
• Nov. 29 vs. Detroit, 5-4 W
• Apr. 16 vs. Detroit, 7:30 PM ET

GAME NOTES

• The Devils are 10-12-1 overall for back-to-back sets. They are 7-5-0 in the first game and 3-7-1 in the second.
• When scoring first, the Devils are 29-8-3 this season.
• On Tuesday, the Devils earned their 39th win when scoring three or more goals in a game this season. The 39 wins when scoring three plus is the seventh-most in franchise history. The most is 47, set in 2022-23.