With Ilya Kovalchuk sitting out of tonight’s Game 2 against Philadelphia, the Devils had some lineup shuffling to do. While the team called up forward Tim Sestito, it appears the Devils will run with seven defensemen instead and one of them will be rookie Adam Larsson.
Tom Gulitti of Fire & Ice reports Larsson will be in the Devils lineup paired up with Anton Volchenkov tonight while Peter Harrold will slot in on the team’s fourth line. For Larsson, this will be his first playoff game and after finishing the season struggling and playing in just one of the team’s last 14 games, it’s a heck of a time to make your postseason debut.
Having Larsson paired up with Volchenkov gives him some veteran steadiness to provide some security but also a guy who was snake bitten in the first round against Florida. Volchenkov’s play recently, however, has been strong and should give Larsson a lift in his first game in weeks.