Jacques Lemaire continues to hammer away at the theory the Devils are out of shape.

He said in the past two days he has tried to impress upon his players the need to be in top physical condition.

"I'm still trying to get more intensity. The game is changing," Lemaire said before the Devils were to face the Rangers at the Prudential Center. "Even if you feel that it is not changing, it is changing. And the change is, it's a quicker game. A faster game. It's a pressure game and you cannot sit (back) anymore.

"Before you could sit and take it easy and keep your energy for what I call the big moments. Now you can't do that. You've got to get in better shape. You've got to get your skating at its best. You've got to be on the puck, get support, you've got to back check all the time. All three forwards I'm talking about. It's puck pressure everywhere on the ice."

Lemaire said the Devils seem to run out of gas as the game goes on and he believes it's physical more than mental.

"I think it's mostly conditioning. To me, the proof of that is a team that is good in the third period is a team that is in shape," he said. "A team that wins in the third, that keeps playing, skating and working, that is a team that is in shape.

"If you look at our games, a lot of times we get that first period which is good and then we slow down. What does it tell you? Out of shape. If you see that intensity in the third as you saw in the first, then your team is in good shape."

Recent results haven't always supported that theory. In fact, in Lemaire's first game as John MacLean's replacement, the Devils were terrible at the start and improved in the second and third periods against the Islanders.

Often this season the Devils have had a poor second period and then came back strong in the third. Why?

"I won't answer that question," Lemaire responded.

In practice he has stressed quickness.

"Skating, being on the puck and a quick game," he said. "Let's get up. Defense move the puck to the head man and get up."

He said turnovers aren't a serious problem.

"We're not that bad in turnovers," Lemaire said. "We have some, but it's not that bad. If you're not skating you will make turnovers because the other team will pressure every forward. And if you're not skating, you're in traffic. That's the time you turn the puck over. That's why skating is so important."

He said players get into shape through practices.

"The only thing is you have to be careful about is they still need rest," the coach said. "So you have to train them hard but other times they have to rest for the game. That's why I had no skating this morning."

Lemaire was in a good mood as he talked to reporters before the game.

"Before the game I'm happy," he said. "Things are going good. The other team hasn't scored yet."

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Jason Arnott said he has never seen a team struggle like the Devils this season.

"I've been on teams where we had nine or 10-game losing streaks. But we got it together, bounced back and made the playoffs," Arnott noted. "This just snowballed into something we couldn't stop."

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Matt Corrente will be in the Devils' lineup against the Rangers. Lemaire would not reveal who will come out.

With Brian Rolston on re-entry waivers, Vladimir Zharkov will play his first game for the Devils season.

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The Devils will not see Rangers Todd White (out of the team's picture?), Michael Del Zotto (groin) and Vinny Prospal (right knee surgery).

Regarding White, Rangers coach John Tortorella said the team wants to go "with the kids."