Tonight’s Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (8-16-2) face off against the Pittsburgh Penguins (18-8-2) tonight at the CONSOL Energy Center. It’s the second of six meetings between the two teams this season. The Penguins lead the current season series, 1-0-0.

The Last Devils Game: The Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Devils, 5-3, Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia. New Jersey jumped out to a 2-1 lead after one period. But the Flyers fought back, scoring three straight goals between the second and third periods to take a 4-3 lead. The Devils cut the deficit to one, but couldn’t tie the game late in the final period.

The Last Penguins Game: The Penguins destroyed the Columbus Blue Jackets, 7-2, Saturday night in Pittsburgh. The Pens scored four goals in the first period – including two on the powerplay – to lead 4-0 after the first period. The Pens put the Blue Jackets away, scoring three goals over the final two periods.

The Last Devils – Penguins Game: The Penguins beat the Devils, 3-1, on October 10 at the Prudential Center. The Devils, playing with 15 skaters because of injury, fell behind, 1-0, after Alex Goligosky scored a first period goal. Mark Letestu extended the lead to 2-0 in the second period. Patrik Elias cut the deficit to 2-1 in the third period, but the Devils couldn’t tie the game. Ex-Devil Paul Martin clinched the win with an empty-netter.

Stepping Out of the Igloo: The Devils will play their first game in the CONSOL Energy Center. The Mellon Arena, or the “Igloo”, will suffer the same fate as the Spectrum in Philadelphia. The Penguins new digs are LEED gold-certified and was voted one of the best arenas in all of sports.

Tonight’s Matchup: The game features two teams going in two very different directions. After struggling early, the Penguins caught fire. In their last ten games, Pittsburgh is 9-0-1, earning 19 of a possible 20 points. Marc-Andre Fleury has allowed two goals or less in his last 11 games, and Sidney Crosby has 17 goals and 14 assists on his current point streak.

The Devils, on the other hand, are trending in the wrong direction. After winning three of four games two weeks ago, the team dropped two in a row. It’s been feast or famine offensively, and the defense plays suspect. Inconsistent efforts doomed New Jersey, especially in the second period of games.

Devils’ captain Jamie Langenbrunner acknowledged that another poor effort could lead to a blowout loss.

“When you face a team like that, you have to be at your best or they embarrass you,” Langenbrunner said to Tom Gulitti of the Bergen Record. “I think if we go in with any mindset other than that, it will get ugly.”

The key for tonight’s game is simple – consistency. As Langenbrunner said above, the Devils need a sixty minute effort tonight. If they slip up for one shift, it can cost them the game. New Jersey can’t give Pittsburgh any extra opportunities. The Devils need to limit the turnovers and give the effort their capable of giving. Pittsburgh is playing unreal hockey right now, and allowing them to capitalize on mistakes will doom the Devils. A win over their rivals would be huge, but it won’t come easy. A consistent effort throughout the game will go a long way towards getting the Devils a much-needed victory tonight.

Gametime is 7 p.m., and you can catch all the action on MSG Plus or WFAN 660AM. Here is the projected lineup for tonight’s game:

FORWARDS: Ilya Kovalchuk – Travis Zajac – Jamie Langenbrunner; Patrik Elias – Jason Arnott – Dainius Zubrus; Brian Rolston – Adam Mair – David Clarkson; Mattias Tedenby – Rod Pelley

DEFENSEMEN: Colin White – Henrik Tallinder; Andy Greene – Mark Fayne; Anton Volchenkov – Olivier Magnan; Matt Corrente

GOALIES: Johan Hedberg; Martin Brodeur