UPDATED 3:00 PM EST
Peter Laviolette shook up the forward line combinations at the morning skate today. Here are the lines that skated together, per the
Camden Courier Post.
Hartnell - Giroux - Voracek
Fedotenko - Couturier - Read
McGinn - B. Schenn - Simonds
Wellwood - Laughton - Talbot
Timonen - L. Schenn
Grossmann - Coburn
Meszaros - Gervais
Bryzgalov
[Leighton]
UPDATE 12:15 PM EST
Kurtis Foster did not skate this morning and may not play tonight, according to the beat writers who are in Newark to cover the game. The projected lineup below has been changed accordingly.
PREVIEW 5:45 AM EST
Playing for the third time in four nights, the Philadelphia Flyers will look for their first victory of the 2013 season when they travel to Newark to take on the New Jersey Devils. The defending Eastern Conference champion Devils opened their season with a 2-1 win over the Islanders on Saturday, while the Flyers suffered regulation defeats at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday and the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday.
This is the first of four meetings between the teams during the lockout shortened campaign. Last season, the clubs split regular seasons games evenly. In the playoffs, the Flyers took the opener in overtime and then New Jersey won four straight games.
Teams don't play exactly the same way in the regular season that they do in the playoffs, and there has been some roster change on both sides since the clubs last met. That said, it will be up the Flyers to better adjust to the Devils' than they did in the postseason a year ago.
In last season's playoff matchup, New Jersey consistently won the board battles and often hemmed the Flyers in their own defensive zone. They consistently got pucks in deep and made life miserable on attempted breakouts. The Devils also did a good job at protecting Martin Brodeur and limiting the damage done by Philly's power play (after it ran wild against Pittsburgh in the first round).
Partially due to happenstance but also partially in reaction to one of the puck-clearing problems encountered in the Devils series -- left-shooting defensemen on right defense having to reach across their bodies and either backhand the puck or wheel around -- the Flyers have since added three right-shooting defensemen among the seven on the roster. We'll see if that makes any difference.
There have been some things going right during the first two games to date. Claude Giroux has scored in both games; a beautiful line-rush goal and a power play one-timer. Ilya Bryzgalov has played well in goal. Wayne Simmonds has been a forechecking terror to opposing defenses. Rookie Scott Laughton has not looked out of place in the NHL. The first-unit power play has settled in and is moving the puck well. The team has had very good second periods in both games.
The rest of it has not looked so hot. There are numerous struggling forwards, especially the second-year NHLers. As feared, the team defense and mobility of some of the blueliners has looked suspect in certain stretches. There have already been too many costly mental mistakes. Most of all, the penalty killing has been horrendous and the second power play unit hasn't been much better.
In the Devils' regular season opener, Travis Zajac opened the scoring after a 0-0 first period. The Islanders eventually tied the game but David Clarkson struck right back barely a minute later to restore the lead on a shot that deflected in off an New York defenseman.
Goaltender Martin Brodeur made 18 saves for the win.
On the injury front, the Flyers remain without Danny Briere (wrist fracture) and Zac Rinaldo (laceration from a skate). The team has called up rookie Tye McGinn, who spent most of the abbreviated NHL camp last week skating on the "fifth line" but was mixed and matched a few times with the regulars. The team also has Tom Sestito and Jody Shelley available.
New Jersey's most notable injury is the absence of Adam Henrique due to a broken thumb. He is out indefinitely. Second year pro Adam Larsson was a healthy scratch in the opener.
Projected Starting Lineups (subject to change)
FLYERS
19 Scott Hartnell - 28 Claude Giroux - 10 Brayden Schenn
25 Max Talbot - 14 Sean Couturier - 93 Jakub Voracek
24 Matt Read - 21 Scott Laughton - 17 Wayne Simmonds
15 Tye McGinn - 11 Eric Wellwood - 26 Ruslan Fedotenko
44 Kimmo Timonen - 22 Luke Schenn
8 Nicklas Grossmann - 5 Braydon Coburn
41 Andrej Meszaros - 27 Bruno Gervais
30 Ilya Bryzgalov
[49 Michael Leighton]
Devils
9 Dainius Zubrus - 19 Travis Zajak - 17 Ilya Kovalchuk
21 Mattias Tedenby - 26 Patrik Elias - 23 David Clarkson
20 Ryan Carter - 11 Stephen Gionta - 18 Steve Bernier
15 Stefan Matteau - 16 Jacob Josefson - 25 Cam Janssen
24 Bryce Salvador - 2 Marek Zidlicky
6 Andy Greene - 29 Mark Fayne
7 Henrik Tallinder - 28 Anton Volchenkov
30 Martin Brodeur
[1 Johan Hedberg]
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