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NHL Gameday Preview: Philadelphia Flyers @ New Jersey Devils - Game 13

November 2, 2013, 11:36 AM ET [167 Comments]
Todd Cordell
New Jersey Devils Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Match-up - Philadelphia Flyers (3-9-0) @ New Jersey Devils (3-5-4)
Road/Home records - 1-3-0 -------------- 2-0-2
TV - TCN-PH, MSG Plus 2
Puck drop - 7:00 PM ET
Season series - 0-0
Last 10: Flyers 3-7-0 / Devils 3-4-3
Projected starting goalies - Steve Mason (PHI) v. Martin Brodeur (NJD)

Goals for/against per game

Philadelphia - 1.67/3.08
New Jersey - 2.17/2.83

Power play/Penalty Kill

Philadelphia - 10.4%/82.7%
New Jersey - 21.4%/81.8%

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

Michael Raffl - Claude Giroux - Jakub Voracek
Scott Hartnell - Brayden Schenn - Wayne Simmonds
Matt Read - Sean Couturier - Tye McGinn
Jay Rosehill - Adam Hall - Zac Rinaldo

Kimmo Timonen - Andrei Meszaros
Nicklas Grossman - Braydon Coburn
Mark Streit - Hal Gill

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

Patrik Elias - Andrei Loktionov - Jaromir Jagr
Dainius Zubrus - Jacob Josefson - Damien Brunner
Rusty Olesz - Adam Henrique - Michael Ryder
Ryan Carter - Stephen Gionta - Steve Bernier

Andy Greene - Mark Fayne
Anton Volchenkov - Marek Zidlicky
Eric Gelinas - Adam Larsson

Notable injuries: Ryane Clowe, Travis Zajac.

Some notes:

- After last night's debacle in Philadelphia, the Flyers will be without Vincent Lecavalier as he injured his hand in a fight. Newly acquired forward Steve Downie won't play, either, as he's believed to be suffering from a concussion and remains hospitalized.

- Pete DeBoer may be overly loyal to some of his veteran players, but one thing he's good at is playing the matchup game. The Devils have last change tonight and that should be a big help for them. It'll be interesting to see which unit DeBoer puts out against Giroux's line with Zajac out of the lineup.

- Regardless of which line DeBoer utilizes against the Flyers 4th line, it's going to be a bloodbath. And not because of fighting. Hall is the top possession guy on that line at 41% in close situations. Zac Rinaldo is a 36% possession player and Jay Rosehill is a pathetic 25.7%. It's going to be ugly.

- Gelinas and Larsson will remain on the same pairing. They've arguably been the top pairing for the Devils since being put together and I expect them to have success again tonight. If they can drive play against teams like Vancouver, Boston and Tampa Bay, they should do just fine against the Flyers.

- After somewhat of a slow start, Henrique is heating up of late. He's scored three times in his last five outings and has been a key contributor in all situations.

- The Devils power play has been converting at a 30% rate over the last six games. Typically the Flyers take their fair share of penalties so the Devils should get plenty of opportunities. If they can take advantage of them, it shouldn't be much of a contest.

- Jagr is just two points away from 1,700 after recording seven points in his last five games.

- Dainius Zubrus will play in his 1,100th career game tonight. Pretty cool that he'll play it against the team that drafted him.

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