GAME 50: FLYERS @ DEVILS
Alain Vigneault's Philadelphia Flyers (22-20-7) are in Newark on Tuesday to take on Lindy Ruff's New Jersey Devils (15-27-7). Game time at the Prudential Center is 7 p.m. EDT. The game will be televised on NBCSP.
The two teams will be facing off all week. For the first time in the Flyers' regular season history, there will be four straight games against the same team. Tonight's game is the third of the four this week and the sixth game of the eight-game season series between the teams.
The teams will return to the Wells Fargo Center on May 1. The season series will conclude in Philadelphia on May 10; the final game of the season for both teams.
The Flyers are 3-2-0 against the Devils this season. Philadelphia earned 5-3 and 3-1 victories at the Prudential Center on January 26 and 28. The Devils skated to a 4-3 win at the Wells Fargo Center on March 23 as a late rally by the Flyers fell short.
On April 25, two late goals by Claude Giroux rescued the Flyers from a regulation loss before the team prevailed 4-3 (3-2) via shootout. On April 27, the Flyers battled back from deficits of 3-0, 4-3 and 5-4 but nonetheless went down to a 6-4 defeat.
Flyers Outlook
The Flyers could be mathematically eliminated from the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs by the end of the night. Philly did not practice on Wednesday.
Lineup projections will be updated after Vigneault speaks to the media. Alex Lyon could get the start in goal in this game. Carter Hart (knee sprain) has resumed skating in Voorhees but had not practiced since April 16.
Devils Outlook
The Devils ended a 10-game losing streak with their 6-4 win -- shaky as it was -- over the Flyers on Tuesday. On home ice, Ruff's team is just 5-17-3 in 25 games played this season.
Andreas Johnsson is dealing with an upper-body injury. However, he practiced with the team on Wednesday and could suit up for this game. Ty Smith returned to the lineup on Tuesday and notched a pair of assists.
The Devils have struggled on special teams all season but they went 2-for-2 on the power play against the Flyers and also killed off a first period double minor with relative ease.
Projected lineups
FLYERS
28 Claude Giroux -14 Sean Couturier - 93 Jakub Voracek 86 Joel Farabee - 13 Kevin Hayes - 11 Travis Konecny 25 James van Riemsdyk - 21 Scott Laughton - 57 Wade Allison 23 Oskar Lindblom - 59 Jackson Cates - 19 Nolan Patrick
9 Ivan Provorov - 61 Justin Braun 54 Egor Zamula - 6 Travis Sanheim 8 Robert Hà¤gg - 5 Phil Myers
34 Alex Lyon [37 Brian Elliott]
PP1: Giroux, Couturier, Allison, Voracek, Provorov PP2: Hayes, Farabee, JVR, Konecny, Sanheim
Scratches: 55 Samuel Morin (healthy), 62 Nicolas Aube-Kubel (healthy), 53 Shayne Gostisbehere (MCL sprain, out 7-10 days from April 25), 79 Carter Hart (MCL sprain, out for the remainder of the season).
Injured reserve: 48 Morgan Frost (shoulder surgery), 58 Tanner Laczynski (hip surgery).
COVID-19 protocol: None.
DEVILS
11 Andreas Johnsson - 86 Jack Hughes - 17 Yegor Sharangovich 37 Pavel Zacha - 13 Nico Hischier - 63 Jesper Bratt 59 Janne Kuokkanen- 23 Mikhail Maltsev - 90 Jesper Boqvist 44 Miles Wood - 20 Michael McLeod - 14 Nathan Bastian …‹
22 Ryan Murray - 28 Damon Severson 8 Will Butcher - 5 Connor Carrick 24 Ty Smith - 7 Matt Tennyson …‹
29 Mackenzie Blackwood 41 Scott Wedgewood
PP1:…‹ Hischier, Zacha, Hughes, Johnsson, Smith PP2: Bratt, Kuokkanen, Sharangovich, Wood, Severson…‹
Scratches: 71 Jonas Siegenthaler (healthy), 39 Nick Merkley (healthy), 47 Aaron Dell (healthy).
Injured reserve: None
COVID-19 protocol: 76 P.K. Subban (day-to-day).
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