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Flyers Gameday: 2/13/18 vs. NJ

February 13, 2018, 9:08 AM ET [523 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
GAME 57 PREVIEW: FLYERS VS. DEVILS

Making a brief stop at home, Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (28-19-9) host John Hynes' New Jersey Devils (27-20-8) on Tuesday at the Wells Fargo Center. Game time is 7 p.m. ET. The game will be locally televised on NBCSNP.

This is the fourth and final meeting of the season series between the Metro Division teams; all of which have taken place over the span of one month. The Flyers are 2-1-0 in the first three games against New Jersey.

On Jan 13 in Newark, the Flyers skated to a 5-3 win. On week later, in a Saturday matinee at the Wells Fargo Center, the Flyers prevailed 3-1 on the strength of jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first period and later closing out the game in strong fashion. On Feb. 1 in Newark, the Flyers led 3-2 entering the third period but goals by Damon Severson at the 11:00 mark and by Nico Hischier at 18:33 lifted New Jersey to a regulation win.

Tuesday night's game is closer to a must-win for New Jersey than for the Flyers, but is an important swing game for both sides. At maximum, it's the difference between a five-point and a one-point differential in the standings with no more head-to-head games left. For Philly, it's also a chance to either move up in the standings or at least stay on the brink of doing so.

Currently, the Flyers sit in third place in the Metropolitan Division, one point and a 29-27 ROW tiebreaker disadvantage behind the Pittsburgh Penguins but with one game in hand. The Penguins host Ottawa on Tuesday night. The Flyers are three points and a 27-24 ROW tiebreaker advantage ahead of the Devils (the East's upper wildcard team at present) with New Jersey holding one game in hand.

FLYERS OUTLOOK

The Flyers have won four games in a row after a four-game (0-3-1) winless spell. The team brings a 14-9-5 home record into Tuesday's tilt. Philly will be playing for the fourth time in six nights with considerable travel involved in between.

Over the weekend, the Flyers were fortunate to take a 4-3 road shootout win over the lowly Arizona Coyotes and then grinded out a 4-1 road win the next night over the Western Conference leading Vegas Golden Knights. Sean Couturier led the way in Vegas with a goal and two assists while Michal Neuvirth (38 saves on 39 shots) was excellent in goal.

On Monday, Flyers captain Claude Giroux was named NHL 1st Star of the Week. Giroux, who has three goals and six points over his last three games, has 64 points in 56 games this season. NHL assist leader Jakub Voracek (11 goals, 53 assists) also has 64 points, while Couturier (28 goals, 29 assists) has already set new career highs for a full season.

The Flyers expect to have more clarity on Tuesday morning about the status of goaltender Brian Elliott's lower body injury. Neuvirth will get the start against the Devils, backed up by Alex Lyon.

Second-year pro Provorov's long-distance empty netter against Montreal last Thursday gave him his first double-digit goal campaign in the NHL. He and Shayne Gostisbehere (10 goals) became the ninth pair of Flyers defensemen to score double-digit goals in the same season but the first since Eric Desjardins and Dan McGillis did it in 2000-01. Overall, Gostisbehere's 42 points rank him 5th in scoring among NHL defensemen this season.

For the season, the Flyers have scored 2.93 goals per game (13th in the NHL) and have a team 2.82 GAA (tied for 14th). At five-on-five, the Flyers have scored 98 goals (22nd) and yielded 89 (4th fewest in the league).

On the power play, the Flyers rank tied for 11th at 21.7 percent (41-for-189) but have yielded nine shorthanded goals yielded (tied for 2nd most in the NHL). On the penalty kill, the Flyers rank 29th (126-for-169, 74.6 percent). The Flyers have scored two shorthanded goals; one apiece for Scott Laughton and Wayne Simmonds.

DEVILS OUTLOOK

The Devils have lost four games in a row -- all in regulation -- and are 3-7-0 in their last 10 games, but are still in the upper wildcard seed and can move back within a point of the Flyers (with a game in hand) with a regulation win in Philly on Tuesday. Overall, the Devils are 12-10-5 on the road so far this season.

On Sunday, the Devils dropped a 5-3 decision at home against the Boston Bruins. New Jersey erased three separate one-goal deficits to enter the third period tied at 3-3 but the Bruins scored twice (the latter via an empty netter) in the latter half of the third period. Special teams was the difference in the game, as New Jersey coughed up a pair of shorthanded goals by Boston as well as a Bruins power play goal.

In a losing cause, Miles Wood (15th goal of the season), Taylor Hall (21st goal, 36th assist), and Kyle Palmieri (13th) scored for the Devils. Eddie Läck took the loss in goal for the Devils, stopping 22 of 26 shots.

Brian Boyle left Sunday's game with an injury. His availability for Tuesday's game is unclear as of this writing. Lineups will be updated after the morning skate. The Devils recalled forward Nick Lappin (one goal in two NHL games this season) from Albany on Monday.

Hall's 57 points in 50 games lead the Devils. He's followed by youngsters Hischier (nine goals, 32 points), Jesper Bratt (12 goals, 31 points) and defenseman Will Butcher (two goals, 28 assists, 30 points).

The Devils enter Tuesday's game averaging 2.91 goals per game (14th in the NHL) and have a team 3.02 GAA (2nd). At 5-on-5, the club has scored 107 goals (11th) and yielded 112 (tied for 21st).

The New Jersey power play clocks in at 19.9 percent success (35-for-176, ranked 17th) with six opposing shorthanded goals. The penalty kill enters at 81.6 percent (151-for-185, 14th). New Jersey has scored seven shorthanded goals; tied for 5th most. The Devils have received three shorthanded tallies from Brian Gibbons and one apiece from Bratt, Blake Coleman, John Moore and Travis Zajac.

PROJECTED LINEUPS

FLYERS

28 Claude Giroux - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny
93 Jakub Voracek - 19 Nolan Patrick - 17 Wayne Simmonds
12 Michael Raffl - 21 Scott Laughton - 40 Jordan Weal
15 Jori Lehterä - 51 Valtteri Filppula - 22 Dale Weise

9 Ivan Provorov - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
47 Andrew MacDonald -3 Robert Hägg
23 Brandon Manning - 3 Radko Gudas

30 Michal Neuvirth
[49 Alex Lyon]

Scratches: 20 Taylor Leier (healthy), 39 Mark Alt (healthy), 37 Brian Elliott (lower body).

DEVILS

9 Taylor Hall - 13 Nico Hischier - 21 Kyle Palmieri
63 Jesper Bratt- 37 Pavel Zacha - 18 Drew Stafford
44 Miles Wood - 19 Travis Zajac - 23 Stefan Noesen
40 Blake Coleman - 36 Nick Lappin - 10 Jimmy Hayes ​

6 Andy Greene - 12 Ben Lovejoy
25 Mirco Mueller - 45 Sami Vantanen
8 Will Butcher - 28 Damon Severson ​

1 Keith Kinkaid
[31 Eddie Läck]

Scratches: 2 John Moore (healthy), 11 Brian Boyle (right shoulder), 47 John Quenneville (day-to-day, right knee), 35 Cory Schneider (IR, groin), 39 Brian Gibbons (IR, thumb), 90 Marcus Johansson (IR, concussion).
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