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Flyers Gameday: 1/20/18 vs. NJ |
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GAME 46 PREVIEW: FLYERS VS. DEVILS
Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (21-16-8) return to action on Saturday afternoon as they host John Hynes' New Jersey Devils (24-12-2) at the Wells Fargo Center. Game time is 1 p.m. ET. The game will be be televised on NBCSNP.
This is the second of four meetings this season between the Metro Division rivals, and the first of two at the Wells Fargo Center. The teams will rematch on Feb. 1 in Newark and Feb. 13 back in Philadelphia.
One week ago tonight at the Prudential Center, the Flyers erased a pair of one-goal deficits and went to pull away in a 5-3 win. The Flyers got themselves into early penalty trouble, taking each of the game's first five penalties including three in the first period. Getting saves, blocked shots and clears when they needed them, Philly kept the game manageable and later asserted themselves both on the power play and in opportunistic even strength goals when opportunities arose.
The Flyers went 2-for-2 on the power play. They were 2-for-7 on the penalty kill.
Sean Couturier (even strength and power play goals), Wayne Simmonds (power play), Travis Konecny and Michael Raffl scored for the Flyers. Jordan Weal, Andrew MacDonald, Giroux (two assists), Jakub Voracek (two assists), Ivan Provorov (two assists), Couturier and Valterri Filppula picked up helpers for Philly. Brian Elliott earned the win with 26 saves on 29 shots.
For the Devils, Jesper Bratt, Kyle Palmieri (power play) and Drew Stafford (power play) tallied. Nico Hischier, Taylor Hall (two assists), Will Butcher, Damon Severson and John Moore chipped in assists. Cory Schneider took the loss in net. He stopped 20 of 25 Flyers shots.
FLYERS OUTLOOK
The Flyers are 2-1-0 since their bye week. After beating the Devils on the road, the Flyers got blown out, 5-1, by the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday. Two nights later, on Eric Lindros Jersey Retirement Night in Philadelphia, the Flyers recovered from a 2-0 deficit in the third period to earn a 3-2 overtime win against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Goaltender Michal Neuvirth essentially stole two points for the Flyers with three phenomenal saves on seemingly surefire goals for Toronto in the third period. He finished with 29 saves on 31 shots to earn the win. Neuvirth even collected an apple on the game-winning goal.
Rookie center Nolan Patrick (3rd goal of the season) started the comeback early in the third period by forcing a turnover and then scoring. Wayne Simmonds (shorthanded, 16th goal) finished off a 2-on-1 to tie the game. In overtime, Couturier (26th goal) found the net on a 2-on-1 counterattack.
Filppula (shorthanded assist, 10th assist overall), Andrew MacDonald (shorthanded assist, 7th assist overall), Travis Konecny (overtime primary assist, 11th overall) and Neuvirth (1st) chipped in one helper apiece. Giroux was held off the scoresheet for the second straight game and Jakub Voracek also did not record point.
Saturday's game is the start of back-to-back weekend games, with a Sunday afternoon (12:30 p.m.) game in Washington looming to end a busy stretch of three games in less than four nights.
The Flyers are 8-2-0 in the team's last 10 games on home ice, bringing their overall home record to 12-8-4. Overall, since the team's 0-5-5 winless skid of November to early December, the club has gone 13-5-1.
For the season, the Flyers have scored 2.93 goals per game (14th in the NHL) and have a team 2.87 GAA (T-17th). At five-on-five, the Flyers have scored 80 goals (tied for 21st) and yielded 70 (tied for 3rd fewest).
On the power play, the Flyers rank 9th at 21.1 percent (33-for-156) with seven shorthanded goals yielded (tied for fourth most). On the penalty kill, the Flyers rank 29th (104-for-139, 74.8 percent). Scott Laughton's shorthanded goal in the home opener against Washington stood as the lone shorthander for the Flyers until Simmonds' goal against Toronto on Thursday.
DEVILS OUTLOOK
New Jersey has gone 2-1-0 since its bye week, which overlapped Philly's. After losing to the Flyers at home last Saturday, the Devils claimed a 4-1 road win over the New York Islanders on Tuesday and then a 4-3 overtime home win against Washington on Thursday.
On Thursday, the Devils built a 3-1 lead in the second period and then took a 3-2 lead late into regulation as forward Drew Stafford (7th), Andy Greene (3rd) and Miles Wood (12th) scored. The Capitals came back to tie the game on a Brett Connolly goal with 3:48 left in the third period. At the 34-second mark of OT, Hall (17th goal) won the game for the Devils. Finnish defenseman Sami Vatanen picked up his second assist of the game on winning score.
With usual starter Schneider battling a bout with the flu, New Jersey backup Keith Kinkaid got the call in goal. He saw just 19 shots for the game, stopping 16.
To date, the Devils average 3.14 goals per game (7th in the NHL) and have a team 2.95 GAA (20th). At five-on-five, the club has tallied 91 times (T-10th) and given up 88(19th).
On the power play, New Jersey ranks 6th in the NHL at 21.6 percent efficiency (30-for-139) with three opposing shorthanded goals. The Devils rank 10th on the penalty kill at 83.0 percent success (127-for-153) and are tied for the NHL high with seven shorthanded goals. Brian Gibbons has scored three shorthanders, while Bratt, Travis Zajac, John Moore and Blake Coleman have notched one apiece.
PROJECTED LINEUPS (Subject to change, will be updated)
FLYERS
28 Claude Giroux - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny
12 Michael Raffl - 51 Valtteri Filppula - 93 Jakub Voracek
40 Jordan Weal - 19 Nolan Patrick - 17 Wayne Simmonds
15 Jori Lehterä - 21 Scott Laughton - 56 Tyrell Goulbourne
9 Ivan Provorov - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
47 Andrew MacDonald -3 Robert Hägg
23 Brandon Manning - 3 Radko Gudas
30 Michal Neuvirth
[37 Brian Elliott]
Scratches: 6 Travis Sanheim (healthy), 20 Taylor Leier (healthy), 22 Dale Weise (healthy).
DEVILS
9 Taylor Hall - 13 Nico Hischier - 63 Jesper Bratt
90 Marcus Johansson - 19 Travis Zajac - 18 Drew Stafford
44 Miles Wood - 37 Pavel Zacha - 21 Kyle Palmieri
39 Brian Gibbons - 11 Brian Boyle - 23 Stefan Noesen
6 Andy Greene - 45 Sami Vantanen
2 John Moore - 28 Damon Severson
8 Will Butcher - 12 Ben Lovejoy
1 Keith Kinkaid
[41 Ken Appleby]
Scratches: 10 Jimmy Hayes (healthy), 16 Steven Santini (healthy), 40 Blake Coleman (healthy), 35 Cory Schneider (illness), 25 Mirco Mueller (IR, broken left clavicle).
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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