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Devils prospect Stefan Matteau is no longer with his junior club, the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada of the QMJHL, a source confirmed to ESPNNewYork.com, although it is not immediately clear whether he quit or was kicked off the team.

According to several reports, Matteau was benched during the team's semi-final playoff game against Baie-Comeau, after which he did not travel on the team bus.

The 19-year-old Matteau, a first-round pick by the Devils in 2012, had one goal and two assists in 17 games with the Devils before he was sent back to his junior team back in March.

Adding another interesting twist to the developing story is that his father, former Rangers Stephane Matteau, is a member of the Armada's coaching staff.

Livid with the officiating throughout his team's 4-1 loss to the Rangers, Devils coach Pete DeBoer was tossed from the game with less than 35 seconds remaining in regulation.

DeBoer, who earned a bench minor for "abuse of officials" in the second period after a blatant too-many-men penalty on the Rangers went unnoticed, was served with a game misconduct as time was winding down.

It was the last indignity of a frustrating game that officially eliminated the Devils from playoff contention. The Devils have now missed the playoffs in two of the last three seasons, though DeBoer led New Jersey to the Stanley Cup finals last spring.

"There was frustration," DeBoer said. "It's obviously not the way you want to go out. But that's how it ends for us. We will have to regroup and move forward."

The officiating was questionable throughout the game, and Ilya Kovalchuk came to his coach's defense.

Throwing out DeBoer so late in the game seemed unnecessary, Kovalchuk said.

"You can't do that in the last seconds in front of everybody," Kovalchuk told reporters. "Fifteen seconds left, you don't have to put on a show."

It is not clear whether DeBoer will be subject to any discipline from the league, though Islanders coach Brent Thompson was suspended two games for his emotional outburst after the Isles' 2-1 loss to the Rangers back in March.

At a glance: Bounced from the playoffs by the Devils last spring, the Rangers have a prime opportunity to exact some payback when they host their division rivals at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.

New York can end the Devils' season with a win, an opportunity they are sure to relish heading into the last week of the regular season. But don't count the Devils out just yet. An unheralded postseason pick last season, the sixth-seeded Devils knocked off the top-ranked Rangers to secure the Eastern Conference title before losing to the Los Angeles Kings in the Stanley Cup finals.

Offensive outburst: In throttling both the Florida Panthers and Buffalo Sabres in consecutive nights entering the weekend, the Rangers finally got some "puck luck." The Blueshirts, who have struggled offensively through stretches this season, broke out for a combined 14 goals over their past two wins.

Kovy’s back: The Devils returned star winger Ilya Kovalchuk to their lineup Saturday after he missed 11 games with a shoulder injury. The Devils, whose horrific 10-game winless streak coincided with his absence, have rattled off two straight wins to stave off elimination. Kovalchuk was a minus-1 in Saturday's 6-2 win over the Panthers.

On a roll: Before Thursday's 6-1 rout of the Panthers, Rangers center Brad Richards was held off the score sheet in four straight games. He has since tallied four goals and registered five points, including a hat trick in an 8-4 rout of the Sabres on Friday. It was Richards' first hat trick in 896 career games.

Scoreboard watching: The Rangers remain among the top eight in the playoff bracket, but are fighting to hold on to that last spot with the Winnipeg Jets nipping at their heels. Gaining a point Saturday in a 5-4 shootout loss to the Islanders, the ninth-place Jets are trailing the Rangers by a mere point. The Blueshirts have a game in hand, though, and finish up their regular-season schedule with two games against the Devils (who may be out of playoff contention after today's tilt), and a game apiece against non-playoff teams Florida and Carolina.

Staying alive: A win of any kind for the Devils keeps their playoff hopes -- albeit dim -- alive. In addition to their two games at MSG against the Rangers, the Devils take on top teams Pittsburgh and Montreal in between.

Facing elimination Saturday, the Devils demolished the Panthers 6-2 to keep their playoff hopes alive heading into a bitter clash against the Rangers to close out the weekend.

The Devils travel to Manhattan Sunday for a matinee against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Ousted by New Jersey in the Eastern Conference finals last spring, the Rangers have a chance to exact some payback and extinguish the Devils' playoff hopes.

"That will be a man's game tomorrow," Devils coach Pete DeBoer told reporters after the game. "They've got an opportunity to close us out and I'm sure they're going to relish that."

Ilya Kovalchuk returned for the Devils after missing 11 games with a shoulder injury; he was a minus-one in 22:43 of ice time.

The Devils and Rangers square off twice more before the season ends. The two clubs close out the regular season with another game at MSG next Saturday.

With a mind-boggling 10-game losing streak and the inability to buy a goal, the Devils have to be wondering: Are we cursed?

After all, veteran goaltender Martin Brodeur is stuck on career win No. 666 and hasn't been able to make the number budge since earning that fateful victory back on March 23.

"Now it looks like that, huh?" Brodeur said following the Devils' 2-0 loss in Toronto to the Maple Leafs, according to the Newark Star-Ledger. "We have to break through that curse, I guess."

New Jersey's current skid, 0-6-4 in the last 10 games, is the team's longest losing (technically, winless) streak since the 1983 season and it's threatening to bury the reigning Eastern Conference champions' playoff hopes.

Once atop the Eastern Conference earlier this season, the Devils now find themselves in 12th place, trailing the eighth-place Rangers by six points with six games to play (again, all these No. 6's!).

The Devils are not mathematically eliminated yet, but their playoff hopes look awfully dim. They travel to Philly to face the Flyers tonight before returning home vs. the Panthers on Saturday.

They wrap up the weekend with a home match against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.

It's not the Winter Classic, but New York hockey fans appear to be in for a treat next season, nonetheless.

The NHL is planning to offer two hockey games at Yankee Stadium leading up to Super Bowl week next year -- one between the New York Rangers and the New Jersey Devils on Jan. 26 and another between the Rangers and New York Islanders on Jan. 29, a source confirmed to ESPNNewYork.com.

Super Bowl XLVIII will be held Feb. 2, 2014, at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.

The contract for the hockey games at Yankee Stadium has yet to be finalized, the source said, though it is expected to be completed soon.

The Rangers will be the visiting team for both games.

The two games are part of a larger effort to bring more outdoor games to the fans next season.

According to ESPN.com's Scott Burnside, the roster of event begins with the rescheduled Winter Classic in Ann Arbor, Mich. on Jan. 1, 2014, and continues with games in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Vancouver.

Last week, the NHL officially announced the 2014 Winter Classic between the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs will be held at Michigan Stadium. The event had to be postponed for a season because of the lockout.

As ESPN.com's Craig Custance reported earlier this month, NHL Chief Operating Officer John Collins has indicated the league was looking at putting on multiple outdoor games, in addition to the annual Winter Classic.

There are some concerns about diluting what has become the league's signature event. It will also be a challenge to meet the standards and expectations set in previous years, especially with the undertaking of multiple outdoor games.

"We set the bar pretty high on all these. If you're going into a market that's had [a Winter Classic], the bar is high," Collins told Custance. "If you're going into a market that hasn't had it ... they've seen it, they've heard about it and they want to experience. The bar is possibly even higher for them."

Give the New Jersey Devils this: Even in the face of the inevitable, there is no quit in them.

Down 4-0 to the Boston Bruins by the 3:06 mark of the second period Wednesday night, the Devils kept chipping away, and early in the third they had made it 4-3.

But the results are the results, and so it was that the Devils lost 5-4 and by night's end were that much closer to finding themselves outside the playoff bubble just 10 months after taking the Los Angeles Kings to six games in the Stanley Cup finals.

The loss to the Bruins marked the Devils' eighth straight game without a win. They are in 10th place in the East, only four points out of eighth, but with eight games left you get the feeling watching them that the gap might as well be 40 points.

It is a cautionary tale, to be sure.

The Devils chose not to move captain Zach Parise at last year's trade deadline, and he signed a 13-year, $98 million deal with the Minnesota Wild in the offseason. Would GM and president Lou Lamoriello do the same thing again? Was the trip to the edge of a championship worth the loss of significant assets had he traded Parise? Would those assets have made the difference to a team that has struggled to fill the void created by Parise's departure?

It's worth noting that the same fate awaits the Nashville Predators, the former team of Parise's signing mate in Minnesota, Ryan Suter. The Preds likewise loaded up at last year's trade deadline and hoped to make a long run and, by extension, keep Suter in the fold. Now they will almost certainly miss the playoffs, in part because they received no assets for Suter and have not filled the gap created by his departure.

Undaunted, the Devils followed a similar pattern this year as they chose not to trade David Clarkson, who leads the team with 13 goals and can become an unrestricted free agent this summer. Perhaps Clarkson will stay in New Jersey, where he has become an important part of the fabric of the team. Maybe there will be more laments when the free-agency period begins in July.

The Devils' fade from contention can be attributed to the loss of netminder Martin Brodeur for an extended period this season because of an injury. And that was followed by an injury to star winger Ilya Kovalchuk. Still, as you watched Brodeur, closing in on his 41st birthday, give up five goals to the Bruins on 18 shots, you had to wonder what the plan is moving forward.

The Devils are an uncharacteristic 17th overall in goals allowed per game and do not have a clear successor to Brodeur. They are 27th in goals scored per game and 22nd on the power play; they could not capitalize on a long 5-on-3 advantage situation early in Wednesday's game and gave up two short-handed goals in the first period.

All of which makes you wonder, which is the blip on the radar: last year's run to the final or this year's slide into an early offseason?

The New Jersey Devils received some good news Thursday, as it was announced that x-rays on captain Bryce Salvador's wrist turned out negative.

The veteran defenseman, who has been banged up recently, left Wednesday's 5-4 loss to Boston after being hit by a shot from Boston's Zdeno Chara in the second period. He did not return to the game.

According to coach Pete DeBoer, Salvador is day-to-day. That's a relief considering the Devils will be without fellow blue-liner Anton Volchenkov Friday when they host the Senators in a critical match.

Volchenkov earned a four-game suspension for his elbow on Boston's Brad Marchand Wednesday night. The 31-year-old, who was previously suspended for elbowing Carolina's Zach Boychuck back in February 2011, earned a five-minute major and game misconduct on the play. Marchand, who had to be helped off the ice, did not return to the game.

Ilya Kovalchuk, who has been out with a shoulder injury since last month, is also day-to-day, according to DeBoer though his return date remains unclear.

Kovalchuk said he experienced some discomfort when attempting one-timers for the first time in two-and-a-half weeks and sounded non-committal when asked about playing Friday.

"We'll see," he said. "I don't know."

The star winger will likely not be 100% when he comes back, but he said he does not want to take somebody else's spot in the lineup unless he feels he can contribute.

"I just don't want to be a passenger, just sitting on the bench," Kovalchuk said. "Just want to make sure, physically, I feel fine."

Kovalchuk admitted, however, that the team's eight-game winless streak does have an impact on how he feels about coming back.

"Yeah, obviously," he said. "Eight games left and we're four points behind, so it's not a situation where we want to be, but, like I said, I don't want to just go out there because of that. You want to go out there to help the team. If you're going too take somebody's spot that's 100% healthy...to me that doesn't make any sense."

All throughout the lineup, the floundering Devils are hobbled. Backup netminder Johan Hedberg sat out Wednesday's game with "soreness." According to DeBoer, the team won't know until Friday morning whether Hedberg will be available to back up or whether they will use emergency recall Keith Kinkaid in that spot.

Second-year defenseman Adam Larsson took a hard shot off the right foot Wednesday, but said he is ready to go. Although his foot swelled up considerably Wednesday night, Larsson said he was feeling much better Friday.

"I'm ready to play, so hopefully I'll play tomorrow," he said.

Devils defenseman Anton Volchenkov has a phone hearing with the NHL's Department of Player Safety for his elbowing hit on Boston's Brad Marchand Wednesday night, a source confirmed to ESPNNewYork.com.

Volchenkov was assessed a five-minute elbowing major and game misconduct after he delivered an elbow to Marchand's head at 15:11 of the second period of the Devils' 5-4 loss to the Bruins. Marchand went down after the hit and did not return to the game.

With a suspension appearing imminent for Volchenkov, it is very likely the Devils will be down two defensemen when they host the struggling Senators on Friday night. New Jersey, also floundering without a win in the last eight games, lost captain Bryce Salvador to a wrist injury during the game.

According to the Devils, Salvador will be re-evaluated Thursday.

The Devils have recalled goaltender Keith Kinkaid from Albany (AHL), the team announced Wednesday morning.

According to the team, backup netmminder Johan Hedberg is "sore." He apparently had a collision during practice Tuesday.

Winless in their last seven games, the Devils host the Bruins tonight at Newark's Prudential Center.

Martin Brodeur is slated to start.

The New York Islanders will finally play their first game at their future home when they host the New Jersey Devils in an exhibition match at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Sept. 21, 2013.

The two clubs were set to square off at the new venue this past pre-season, but the lockout wiped the game off the schedule.

The Islanders are planning to move to Barclays Center once their lease with Nassau Coliseum expires in 2015, and this will provide the first glimpse of NHL action at the arena.

“Over the past 40 years, Nassau Coliseum has been one of the best buildings to attend and watch a hockey game,” Islanders general manager Garth Snow said, according to the team's website. “Our fans create an atmosphere that is second to none where you can feel the energy inside the Coliseum when the team makes a big play. I’m excited for our fans to bring that energy and have the ability to enjoy an Islanders game while taking advantage of the world class amenities at Barclays Center, that stand above and beyond what any other arena provides. This preseason game will be their first opportunity to do so. Our strong group of young talent is ready to take the ice in their future home, Barclays Center.”

Tickets for the game go on sale April 17.

According to ESPN.com's Pierre LeBrun, New Jersey has re-acquired former Devil Steve Sullivan from the Phoenix Coyotes. The Devils send back a seventh-round draft pick in the deal, according to LeBrun.

Sullivan, 38, has five goals and seven assists in 33 games for the Coyotes this season.

The Timmins, Ontario, native, who played for New Jersey from 1995-97, provides the Devils with some depth and experience as the team tries to remain in the playoff hunt.

The Devils are currently without Ilya Kovalchuk, who is not expected to return from a shoulder injury until later this month.

The New Jersey Devils have yet to finalize a deal for Jonathon Merrill, but the 21-year-old will be leaving the University of Michigan to join the organization soon, according to Devils GM Lou Lamoriello.

"He will definitely be leaving school," Lamoriello told ESPNNewYork.com when reached via phone on Wednesday.

The plan, Lamoriello confirmed, is to have Merill play with the AHL's Albany Devils on an ATO, amateur tryout contract, for the rest of the 2012-13 season.

Merill, a second-round draft pick of the Devils in 2010, just finished his junior season at U of M, where he finished with two goals and nine assists in 21 games for the Wolverines. Merill missed significant time this season with a back injury sustained in an exhibition game in October.

The Devils announced they acquired forward Matt D'Agostini and a conditional seventh-round pick from the St. Louis Blues for a conditional fifth-round pick. Both draft picks are for 2015.

D'Agostini, 26, has one goal and one assist in 16 games for the Blues this season. The restricted free agent, whose contract expires at the end of this season, carries a cap hit of $1.65 million (pro-rated).

Could this be another under-the-radar, unheralded move by Devils GM Lou Lamoriello that pays dividends?

Remember, Lamoriello wasn't the flashiest GM on deadline day last season, either. He acquired winger Alexei Ponikarovsky and defenseman Marek Zidlicky before the deadline, and both players proved to be key pieces of the team's run to the Stanley Cup finals.

In fact, Lamoriello liked Ponikarovsky so much that, even though the veteran winger signed with the Winnipeg Jets as a free agent this summer, he re-acquired him in a trade this season.

In a related roster move, the team assigned left wing Harri Pesonen to Albany.

NEWARK, N.J. -- After Monday night’s 2-1 shootout win over the Hurricanes, Rangers captain Ryan Callahan stressed the importance of capitalizing, saying the win meant "nothing" if the team couldn’t follow it up with another against New Jersey the next night.

The Rangers did back up the win Tuesday with their second victory in as many nights, topping the Devils 3-2 at the Prudential Center and leapfrogging their division rivals in the standings to nab eighth place.

It was an important back-to-back set for the Rangers, who weathered an abrupt gut check after a three-game losing streak on the road last week and also withstood a resilient Devils squad that twice tied the game in the first period.

"It means a lot," said Callahan. "I think we take the next step and you can put that tough stretch behind us now."

In an offensive outburst that has seemed rare for the recently goal-starved team, the Rangers tallied twice in a span of 5:01 in the first period and snapped a 2-2 draw in the middle frame with Rick Nash’s go-ahead goal. Defenseman Michael Del Zotto was also a catalyst for the Blueshirts, opening scoring with a short-handed goal and setting up Nash’s 10th of the season.

Nash’s deciding goal was a beauty, too, preceded by a terrific sequence of saves from goaltender Henrik Lundqvist.

Lundqvist made two short-handed stops to blank New Jersey’s Ilya Kovalchuk and Steve Bernier before Del Zotto sprang Nash and linemate Brad Richards on a 2-on-1. Streaking down the right wing, Nash sent a sizzling wrist shot past Devils netminder Johan Hedberg for a 3-2 lead at 7:25.

"He definitely gave us some momentum," Nash said. "We were coming off a penalty kill and I think we caught them in kind of a bad change and Del Zotto made a great play up the ice and sent me and Richards on a 2-on-1. The D-man was sort of cheating the pass, so I thought to shoot."

After a particularly active offensive game one night prior, Del Zotto was rewarded for his efforts Tuesday. The 22-year-old blueliner batted one out of the air for a short-handed goal after Hedberg mishandled the puck along the boards at 11:49 of the first period.

"It’s funny. You get so many glorious chances from the slot and that’s the one that goes in for you, but I’ll take it," Del Zotto said. "I’m just happy to contribute here."

After a pretty wide-open first 40 minutes, the Rangers tightened up in the third to protect the lead, while Lundqvist turned away all seven shots he faced in the final frame to collect wins in back-to-back starts.

"It was a pretty open game," said Lundqvist, who finished with 29 saves. "Lot of chances both ways but I think we did a very good job and, in the end, I thought we played smart."

On the outside looking in at the playoff picture for a brief stretch, the Rangers now control their own destiny to remain in the top eight teams in the Eastern Conference.

They have resurrected some offense and with it, some swagger, as they head into their next two games at home -- on Thursday against the beleaguered Panthers and Sunday against the Capitals.

With two straight wins and a couple of upcoming opponents foundering at the bottom of the standings, the Rangers hope to keep rolling.

"We have to keep moving forward and hopefully get some confidence out of this win," Del Zotto said, "and put together a few more."