Bruins in Jersey Tonight to End Road Trip

After a disappointing loss in Dallas, the Bruins will end their post-Christmas three-game road trip against the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center in Newark.

The Devils are hanging onto the last playoff spot in the East with a 21-15-2 record for 44 points. They've been surging lately, having gone 7-2-1 in their last ten, but suffered a 3-2 OT loss to the hard-charging Senators on Monday.

Anton Volchenkov and Travis Zajac will be out of the lineup tonight for the Devils. Martin Brodeur, who saw a three-game winning streak snapped in the loss to Ottawa, will start tonight for the Devils. Brodeur hasn't beaten the Bruins in his last four tries.

Like the Devils, the Bruins are coming off a disappointing loss. The 4-2 loss to Dallas Saturday night was clearly not the team's best effort, so expect the Bruins to come out hard and put the Dallas game behind them. Tim Thomas was the first off the ice, and will start tonight. He looked shaky at times in Dallas, but always seems to play his best after tough games. No changes to the Bruins' lines are expected.

The Bruins have played the least games in the league, and tonight's game is one of their "games in hand" on the rest of the league. But those don't matter if you don't win them. The Bruins will look to start taking advantage of those games in hand starting tonight.

Bruins at Devils, 7:30 PM EST TV: NBC Sports Network (formerly VS) SB Nation Devils Site: In Lou We Trust