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Canucks-Devils Preview

Dec 1, 2009 - 7:10 PM By MATT BEARDMORE STATS Writer

Vancouver (14-12-0) at New Jersey (17-6-1), 7:00 p.m. EDT

Following one of their most dominating performances of the season, the New Jersey Devils look to win their fourth straight overall and seventh in a row at home Wednesday night when they face the Vancouver Canucks.

New Jersey (17-6-1) opened a four-game homestand Saturday with a 6-1 victory over the New York Islanders. Brian Rolston and Patrik Elias each had two goals and two assists as the Devils scored their most goals since a 6-5 win over San Jose on Feb. 15.

After finding the back of the net four times in his first 19 games, Rolston has four goals in his last four. Elias, who missed the first 13 games with a groin injury, has three goals and seven assists in his last six.

"(Rolston and Elias) did the job tonight, for sure, again," coach Jacques Lemaire told the Devils' official Web site. "I think they're on top of their game now. They're playing good hockey and they play with confidence. They enjoy the game. You can tell when you talk to them, they feel better than they did at the start."

In New Jersey's last game against the Canucks, Rolston scored and Elias added two assists in a 5-3 win in Vancouver on Jan. 13.

Four-time Vezina Trophy winner Martin Brodeur missed that contest due to left elbow surgery that sidelined him 50 games last season. Brodeur is 2-8-0 in his last 10 starts versus Vancouver.

Brodeur was named the NHL's second star of the week Monday after going 3-0-0 with a 0.97 goals-against average. He is one shutout shy of tying Terry Sawchuk's NHL record of 103 and is among the league leaders this season with a 2.05 GAA.

If Brodeur gets the start Wednesday, he'll try to win his sixth straight at the Prudential Center.

Vancouver (14-12-0) will attempt to prevent the Devils from continuing their success at home as it opens a four-game road trip. With a chance to win four of five on their homestand, the Canucks fell to Western Conference-leading San Jose 4-2 on Sunday.

After going 4 for 5 on the power play in Saturday's 7-3 victory over Edmonton, Vancouver didn't get a shot off in four opportunities against the Sharks.

"Obviously their penalty killing is real good, but our execution wasn't there and we weren't able to generate anything," coach Alain Vigneault said. "Their other lines beat our guys and at the end of the day in one-on-one situations along the wall and in front of the net I thought they were grittier than our guys were and that's why we lost this game."

Vancouver is among the league leaders with the man advantage, converting 24.3 percent. New Jersey, though, has killed all seven of its opponents power-play chances during the three-game win streak.

Devils leading scorer Zach Parise looks to extend his career-best point streak to 11. He has nine goals and six assists during this stretch.

Parise and the Devils will likely face Roberto Luongo, who has posted consecutive shutouts against New Jersey after going 3-13-0 with a 3.46 GAA in his first 16 matchups.