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NHL Gameday Preview: Philadelphia Flyers @ New Jersey Devils - Game 14

February 15, 2013, 11:22 AM ET [51 Comments]
Todd Cordell
New Jersey Devils Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Match-up - Philadelphia Flyers (6-7-1) @ New Jersey Devils (8-2-3)
Road/Home records - 2-6-1 -------------- 5-1-1
TV - CSN-Philly, MSG Plus
Puck drop - 7:00 PM ET
Season series - Devils lead 1-0
Last 10: Flyers 5-4-1 / Devils 5-2-3
Projected starting goalies - Ilya Bryzgalov (PHI) vs. Martin Brodeur (NJ)

Battle of the stats

Goals for/against per game

Philadelphia - 2.43 / 2.79
New Jersey - 2.69 / 2.08

Powerplay/Penalty Kill percentage

Philadelphia - 17% / 80.3%
New Jersey - 21% / 84.1%

Here are the projected lines (subject to change) for the Flyers:

Lines courtesy of DailyFaceoff.com.

Matt Read - Claude Giroux - Wayne Simmonds
Ruslan Fedotenko - Daniel Briere - Mike Knuble
Tye McGinn - Brayden Schenn - Jakub Voracek
Max Talbot - Sean Couturier - Zac Rinaldo

Kimmo Timonen - Luke Schenn
Nicklas Grossman - Kurtis Foster
Braydon Coburn - Bruno Gervais

Here are the projected lines (subject to change) for the Devils:

Alexei Ponikarovsky - Travis Zajac - Ilya Kovalchuk
Patrik Elias - Adam Henrique - David Clarkson
Ryan Carter - Stephen Gionta - Steve Bernier
Krys Barch - Jacob Josefson - Bobby Butler

Bryce Salvador - Mark Fayne
Andy Greene - Adam Larsson
Marek Zidlicky - Anton Volchenkov

Notes: Martin Brodeur will start...Henrik Tallinder and Peter Harrold will be the healthy scratches on defense...Alexei Ponikarovsky will make his Devils debut (again) tonight...Stefan Matteau will sit to make room for Ponikarovsky...Bobby Butler will play in his 100th career NHL game tonight...Ilya Kovalchuk is just four points shy of 800 for his career.

Flyers to watch out for:

Tye McGinn - He has impressed Flyers brass since being recalled from Adirondack. McGinn has points in his last two games and has earned a spot on a line with Schenn and Voracek, the Flyers' two leading scorers.

Jakub Voracek - After a pretty slow start to the season, Voracek has gotten on track of late. Voracek has points in five of his last six games and has seven points (2G, 5A) in that span.

Ilya Bryzgalov - Bryzgalov has been the Flyers' best player this season and usually plays well against New Jersey. Will that trend continue tonight?

Devils to watch out for:

Ilya Kovalchuk - Kovalchuk is playing the his best hockey of the season and has points in four consecutive games. He has six points (3G, 3A) in that span and is now just four points shy of 800 for his career.

Alexei Ponikarovsky - Like last year when the Devils acquired him, Ponikarovsky will make his debut against the Flyers. He scored in his debut last season and will get a good chance to do that again playing on the top line with Zajac and Kovalchuk.

Travis Zajac - After picking up points in his first two games of the season, Zajac has just one assist in his last 11 games.

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