GAME 12: FLYERS @ DEVILS
As the calendar flips to November, Alain Vigneault's Philadelphia Flyers (5-5-1) are in Newark on Friday night to take on John Hynes' New Jersey Devils (2-5-3). Game time at the Prudential Center is 7:00 p.m. ET.
The game will be televised on NBCSP. The radio broadcast will be on 97.5 The Fanatic (or 93.3 WMMR) with an online simulcast on
Flyers Radio 24/7.
This is the second of four meetings between the teams this season. They will rematch in Philadelphia on Feb. 6 before the season series concludes back at the Prudential Center on March 28.
On Oct. 9, the Flyers shut out the Devils, 4-0, at the Wells Fargo Center. The score was 1-0 through two periods before Philly pulled away in the third. Carter Hart earned his first NHL shut out, stopping all 25 shots he faced including a 10-bell save Taylor Hall. Special teams was a critical factor in Philly's victory, as the Flyers went 2-for-4 on the power play and 5-for-5 on the PK with successful two-minute and a 12-second 5-on-3 kills among them.
The Flyers got goals from Ivan Provorov (power play), Kevin Hayes (power play), Sean Couturier and Travis Konecny. Cory Schneider (30 saves on 34 shots) took the loss.
FLYERS OUTLOOK
Friday's game begins a very busy slate of 16 games in 30 nights. It is the start of a back-to-back set that will continue on Saturday with a home game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Flyers put together a three-game winning streak last week but that ended with a resounding thud in an ugly 5-3 loss in Uniondale on Sunday and an even uglier 7-1 pasting in Pittsburgh on Tuesday.
On Thursday, the Flyers made six roster moves:
* Scott Laughton was placed on LTIR (right index finger surgery; out 4 weeks).
* Samuel Morin was sent to Lehigh Valley on a conditioning assignment.
* Mikhail Vorobyev was sent down to Lehigh Valley.
* German Rubtsov was recalled from Lehigh Valley for his first NHL callup.
* Carsen Twarynski was recalled from Lehigh Valley.
* Phil Myers was recalled from the Phantoms as well.
Hart will get the start in goal on Friday, with Brian Elliott starting on Saturday. Hart played very well in his first three starts of the season but his last three starts have included outright debacles in Edmonton and Uniondale sandwiched around a loss to Dallas. Hart played the third period of Tuesday's game in Pittsburgh, stopping the first eight shots he saw before a Travis Sanheim turnover behind the net led to a point-blank goal in the final six seconds of the game.
The Flyers have scored an average 3.27 goals per game with a 3.36 goals against average. The power play comes in at 23.8 percent (10-for-42), and the penalty kill at 85.3 percent (29-for-34, 1 SHG). At 5-on-5, the Flyers have scored 22 goals while allowing 28.
DEVILS OUTLOOK
The Devils have only played twice in the last 12 nights and has not had a road game since Oct. 12. The entire schedule to date has been played in the eastern time zone (road games in Buffalo, Philadelphia and Boston), whereas the Flyers have played games in two continents and across four different time zones in the U.S. and Canada.
Despite the extensive rest and extremely light travel thus far, the Devils have only two wins and seven points to show for their first 10 games. They have lost each of their last two games on the other side of five-night and four-night breaks in the schedule. Friday's game begins a 15-game slate in November, which includes a western Canada road trip among eight road games during the month. The Devils will have four back-to-backs and two three-in-four sets to contend with over the next 30 days.
The Devils are coming off a tough loss of a different sort than the one the Flyers suffered in Pittsburgh. On Wednesday, the Devils built a 5-3 lead over Tampa Bay in the third period only to see the Bolts score three straight goals. Kyle Palmieri (6th goal of the season) forced OT and salvaged a point with a 6-on-5 goal in the final eight seconds of regulation but Tampa prevailed, 7-6, in overtime.
Through 10 games, Hall leads the Devils with nine points (1g, 8a). He is followed by Palmieri (6g, 1a), Sami Vatanen (3g, 3a), Pavel Zacha (2g, 4a) and Jesper Bratt (3g, 2a). Highly touted rookie Jack Hughes has posted five points (2ppg, 3a). Nico Hischier missed two games and has posted four assists in his eight games to date. Veteran defenseman P.K. Subban has one goal and four points to date.
Mackenzie Blackwood and Schneider have each started five games this season. Both have had a rough go so far, but Blackwood has played better of late. For the season, Blackwood is 2-2-2 in five starts and one relief appearance with a 3.31 GAA, .871 SV% and one shutout. Schneider is 0-3-1 with a 4.71 GAA and .847 SV%.
The Devils have scored an average 2.80 goals per game, while allowing 4.10 per game. The power play comes in at 10.3 percent (4 for 39, 1 SHGA) and the penalty kill at 73.0 percent (27 for 37). The team has been outscored 28-22 at five-on-five.
PROJECTED LINEUPS (subject to change)
FLYERS
25 James van Riemsdyk -28 Claude Giroux - 93 Jakub Voracek
23 Oskar Lindblom -14 Sean Couturier -11 Travis Konecny
12 Michael Raffl -13 Kevin Hayes -49 Joel Farabee
81 Carsen Twarynski -50 German Rubtsov -44 Chris Stewart
9 Ivan Provorov - 15 Matt Niskanen
53 Shayne Gostisbehere - 61 Justin Braun
6 Travis Sanheim - 5 Phil Myers
79 Carter Hart
[37 Brian Elliott]
Scratches: 8 Robert Hägg (healthy), 18 Tyler Pitlick (healthy)
Injured reserve: 21 Scott Laughton (broken right index finger)
Injured non-roster: 19 Nolan Patrick (migraines)
DEVILS
9 Taylor Hall - 86 Jack Hughes - 21 Kyle Palmieri
20 Blake Coleman - 19 Travis Zajac - 17 Wayne Simmonds
37 Pavel Zacha - 13 Nico Hischier - 63 Jesper Bratt
44 Miles Wood - 16 Kevin Rooney - 15 John Hayden
28 Damon Severson - 76 P.K. Subban
6 Andy Greene - 45 Sami Vatanen
8 Will Butcher - 7 Matt Tennyson
29 Mackenzie Blackwood
35 Cory Schneider
Power Play 1: Hall, Hughes, Simmonds, Palmieri, Vatanen
Power Play 2: Bratt, Hischier, Zacha, Severson, Subban
Scratches: 25 Mirco Mueller (healthy), 90 Jesper Boqvist (healthy), 97 Nikita Gusev (healthy)
Injured reserve: 5 Connor Carrick (IR, broken finger)
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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