I've said numerous times that if the New Jersey Devils wanted to have any success this season they'd need to limit the damage and snap out of losing streaks before they get out of hand.
The reason, of course, is because they are not the type of team that can string together extended winning streaks of six, seven, eight games. Since they can't win that many in a row, ending losing streaks at two or three games would be necessary if they wanted to do more than tread water.
They haven't been able to do that -- the Devils have lost seven straight, and 14 of 17 overall -- and they sit 15th in the Eastern Conference, and 11 points out of a playoff spot, as a result.
In all likelihood, their season is already over, but if they want to make things interesting they need to start winning games and these next two games before the break would be good places to start.
The Flyers were in action last night and are without a few important pieces (Sean Couturier, Mark Streit, Matt Read and Michal Neuvirth) so they're not exactly at full strength. The Devils need to take advantage of that.
Here are the expected line combinations for New Jersey:
Note: Seth Helgeson has been recalled and will likely draw in. Taylor Hall - Travis Zajac - Mike Cammalleri Miles Wood - Adam Henrique - Kyle Palmieri Beau Bennett - Pavel Zacha - P.A. Parenteau Sergey Kalinin - Vern Fiddler - Nick Lappin
Andy Greene - Ben Lovejoy Jon Merrill - Damon Severson John Moore - Kyle Quincey
Cory Schneider
And the expected lines for the Flyers (via dailyfaceoff.com):
Michael Raffl - Claude Giroux - Jakub Voracek Travis Konecny - Brayden Schenn - Wayne Simmonds Chris VandeVelde - Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - Roman Lyubimov Taylor Leier - Nick Cousins - Dale Weise
Michael Del Zotto - Radko Gudas Ivan Provorov - Andrew MacDonald Brandon Manning - Shayne Gostisbehere
Steve Mason/Anthony Stolarz
A few notes:
1) The Devils have allowed three or more goals in 15 of their last 17 games and only two teams (NYR, PIT) have scored more goals than the Flyers. This is a tough game for the Devils' defense, and goaltending, to try and get back on track in.
2) As good as Philadelphia's offense has been, a lot of it is power play driven. While a man up they are 3rd in shot attempts/60, 6th in scoring chances/60, and 5th in goals/60. The Devils need to stay disciplined tonight.
3) Hall has been fantastic for the Devils this season but he is pointless in his last five games. He does have 16 shots in that span, though, so it seems he'll break out of this slump sooner than later.
Tonight's game is scheduled for 7:00 pm eastern and can be seen on MSG+ and FS-TN.