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After a long summer, Devils hockey is back.

Tonight the Devils will open their six-game preseason schedule against their biggest rival in the New York Rangers.

While the lineups are more watered down than any version we'll see in October, plenty of talent will suit up for both sides. Henrik Lundqvist will get the nod in goal for New York, and headlines a relatively good lineup.

Rangers lines:

Chris Kreider - Kevin Hayes - Danny Kristo
Tanner Glass - Chris Mueller - Jasper Fast
Carl Hagelin - J.T. Miller - Ryan Bourque
Ryan Malone - Matthew Lombardi - Martin St. Louis

Marc Staal - Dan Boyle
Mike Kostka - John Moore
Steven Kampfer - Matt Hunwick

Henrik Lundqvist
Cam Talbot

Note: Lundqvist and Talbot will split the game.

Devils lineup (guessing line combos):

Dainius Zubrus - Patrik Elias - Martin Havlat
Reid Boucher - Adam Henrique - Michael Ryder
Ruslan Fedotenko - Jacob Josefson - Stefan Matteau
Cam Janssen - Tim Sestito - Jordin Tootoo

Eric Gelinas - Adam Larsson
Tomas Kaberle - Mike Komisarek
Dan Kelly - Damon Severson

Scott Clemmensen/Keith Kinkaid

Pre-game notes:

- Kinkaid and Clemmensen are the two lead dogs expected to battle it out for the backup spot, so the preseason is extremely important for them. If they both play half tonight will be a good measuring stick to see where they're at.

- Gelinas and Larsson are both expected to be on this year's team, and quite possibly play on the same pairing. That duo worked very well together last season, so it'll be interesting to see if the pick up where they left off.

- Zubrus - Elias - Havlat could very well be the team's 2nd line, so them meshing early would be a good sign. If they can do that, it'll allow Pete DeBoer to use Henrique with two of Clowe/Brunner/Ryder/Boucher/etc. while keeping Mike Cammalleri with Travis Zajac and Jaromir Jagr, which would give them three legitimate scoring lines.

- Through camp Josefson's name is one we've been hearing a lot of. He needs to take a step forward to establish himself as a regular on this team, and that starts tonight.

- New Jersey has 14 forwards on one-way deals but Lou Lamoriello has said Boucher and Matteau will be given opportunities to make the team. They have a lot of competition, obviously, so they'll really need to make an impact.

- Lastly: four training camp tryouts are in the lineup, and Lamoriello didn't promise them a certain amount of games, so if they want to keep playing and be given another opportunity they'll need to prove themselves.

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