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Five things to watch when the New Jersey Devils take on the Philadelphia Flyers:
1. Philadelphia's top line
For whatever reason, the Claude Giroux - Sean Couturier - Jakub Voracek line simply didn't work to start the year. They were out-possessed, out-scored, and opponents dominated that trio in terms of high-danger chances.
Dave Hakstol smartly broke them up and gave Travis Konecny a chance on the right side. Simply put, that change has worked out extremely well.
With Konecny, the top line has controlled 57% of the shot attempts, almost 58% of the chances, and out-scored opponents 8-2 in just over 133 minutes together. Those are elite numbers.
This is a very tough matchup for Taylor Hall and the top line, especially without Nico Hischier featured on it.
2. A good power play spot
Philadelphia's penalty kill flat out sucks. It is awful. Only two teams have allowed more power play goals and the Flyers rank 31st in terms of Expected Goals Against/60. It's hardly surprising the Flyers have struggled considering they were also terrible a year ago and are running it back with almost identical personnel as well as the same coaching staff.
The Flyers are 6th in penalties taken/60 and the Devils are 3rd in penalties drawn/60 so the latter should get plenty of opportunities to work.
3. Blake Coleman
Not many forwards outside of the top line have made a noticeably positive impact this season. Blake Coleman is one of the few exceptions, particularly of late. Over the last five games, he owns a 55.8 Corsi For%, 70.21 Scoring Chance For%, and leads the Devils with 17 individual scoring opportunities. He's playing very well right now and rivalry games always seem to bring out the best in him.
4. Differing styles
Though the Devils are not a true run-and-gun team, they play with more pace than the Flyers.
At 5v5, Devils games average ~120 shot attempts and almost 5.5 expected goals per 60. Meanwhile, Flyers games average ~113 attempts and 4.85 expected goals per 60.
They tend to play slower – it's not exactly shocking New Jersey's lowest attempt total of the year came against the Flyers – so it'll be interesting to see if the Devils can push the pace and get them out of their comfort zone a little more tonight.
5. Brian Elliott's strong start
Among 38 goaltenders to log 300+ minutes, Elliott ranks 9th – sandwiched between Henrik Lundqvist and John Gibson – with a .935 save percentage at 5v5. Elliott also sits 8th in Goals Saved Above Average and 6th in high-danger save percentage. He's off to a strong start and isn't nearly as bad as many would have you believe.
Here are the projected lineups.
New Jersey Devils
Taylor Hall - Travis Zajac - Kyle Palmieri
Marcus Johansson - Pavel Zacha - Jesper Bratt
Blake Coleman - Brett Seney - Joey Anderson
Miles Wood - J.S. Dea - Stefan Noesen
Mirco Mueller - Sami Vatanen
Andy Greene - Damon Severson
Will Butcher - Ben Lovejoy
Keith Kinkaid
Philadelphia (via DailyFaceoff.com)
Claude Giroux - Sean Couturier - Travis Konecny
Oskar Lindblom - Nolan Patrick - Jakub Voracek
James van Riemsdyk - Jordan Weal - Wayne Simmonds
Dale Weise - Scott Laughton - Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Ivan Provorov - Robert Hagg
Shayne Gostisbehere - Christian Folin
Travis Sanheim - Radko Gudas
Brian Elliott
Puck drop is just after 7:00 p.m. ET and can be seen on MSG+ and NBCSP.
Numbers via NaturalStatTrick.com and Corsica.Hockey.
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