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Flyers Gameday: 3/1/19 @ NJD

March 1, 2019, 9:19 AM ET [317 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Game 65 Preview: FLYERS @ DEVILS

Interim head coach Scott Gordon's Philadelphia Flyers (30-26-8) are in Newark on Thursday to take on John Hynes' New Jersey Devils (25-31-8). Game time at the Prudential Center is 7:00 p.m. ET.

The game will be televised on NBCSNP. The radio broadcast can be found on 97.5 FM The Fanatic with an online simulcast at FlyersRadio247.com.

This is the fourth and final meeting of the season between the Metro Division clubs, and the second and final game in New Jersey. The Flyers are 1-2-0 thus far.

Philly skated to a 5-2 win at the Wells Fargo Center on Oct. 20 and then got shut out, 3-0, at home on Nov.15 (a game that saw the Flyers hit the post five times, including four times in the first period). On Jan. 12 at The Rock, the Flyers lost in regulation by a 3-2 score.

Flyers Outlook

The Flyers are 15-4-2 over their last 21. However, the team is still seven points (six standings points plus a ROW tiebreaker disadvantage) below the playoff cutoff line with only 17 games remaining. After a torrid stretch of hockey, the Flyers are 2-2-1 over their last five games.

On Thursday, the Flyers came out on the losing end of a seesaw affair that ended in a 4-3 overtime defeat in Columbus. Travis Sanheim tallied his 7th and 8th goals of the season while Jakub Voracek opened the scoring with a power play goal (18th) in the first period. Later, Voracek set up Sanheim's second goal with his 38th assist of the season. The Flyers also received one assist apiece from Giroux (47th), Shayne Gostisbehere (23rd), Nolan Patrick (14th), Travis Konecny (21st) and Ivan Provorov (17th).

Cam Talbot will make his Flyers debut in goal on Friday night, as the Flyers will set a dubious new NHL record of having had eight different goaltenders appear in (and start) at least one game with the team. On Thursday, Brian Elliott had an uneven performance in stopping 36 of 40 shots.

Although his scoring pace has slowed in the second half of the season, Giroux still leads the team overall with 66 points (19 goals, 47 assists) in 64 games played. With 233 career goals, he is two behind tying Rod Brind'Amour for 10th on the Flyers' all-time list. This season, he's already vaulted to second on the all-time assist list (503 at present), third in games played (802) and fourth in points (743).

Devils Outlook

Ten points behind the Flyers and 16 points below the playoff cutoff, New Jersey is in spoiler mode for the rest of the season. The Devils have been an awful road team this season (8-20-3) but a much tougher out on home ice (17-11-5). New Jersey is 5-5-0 in its last 10 games overall and 4-2-0 in its last six home games.

Coming off a 2-1 home win over Montreal on Monday, the Devils took on the red-hot Calgary Flames at The Rock on Wednesday. After a scoreless first period, the Flames built a 2-0 lead on goals by Elias Lindholm (power play) and Mark Giordano. A late second-period shorthanded goal by Kevin Rooney (3rd) drew New Jersey back within one goal despite the Devils being outshot by a 30-10 margin through two periods. New Jersey had two power plays and a 10-5 shot edge in the third period but never found an equalizer in a 2-1 defeat.

Mackenzie Blackwood was strong in goal for the Devils in a losing cause. He stopped 33 of 35 shots to earn second-star honors.

Wednesday's game was marked by a terrifying moment early in the third period: At the 1:09 mark, Devils defenseman Mirco Mueller crashed headfirst into the end boards. New Jersey trainers rushed out into the ice. Mueller was placed on a stretcher and taken to University Hospital in Newark for observation. Thankfully, the player will be fine. He is doubtful for Friday's game.

The Devils already have a lengthy list of injuries, as teams buried that far down in the standings often tend to do. Reigning NHL Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall has not played since the Christmas break and underwent arthroscopic knee surgery. Frequent Flyer-killer Kyle Palmieri is also sidelined due to a lower-body injury, as is agitating forward Miles Wood (ankle). Jesper Bratt is considered day-to-day with a lower-body injury, while Pavel Zacha is day-to-day with an upper-body issue.

Projected Lines (Subject to change)

FLYERS

28 Claude Giroux - 19 Nolan Patrick - 11 Travis Konecny
23 Oskar Lindblom - 14 Sean Couturier - 93 Jakub Voracek
25 James van Riemsdyk - 21 Scott Laughton - 38 Ryan Hartman
12 Michael Raffl - 44 Phil Varone - 10 Corban Knight

9 Ivan Provorov - 6 Travis Sanheim
53 Shayne Gostisbehere - 61 Phillipe Myers
8 Robert Hägg - 3 Radko Gudas

33 Cam Talbot
[37 Brian Elliott]

Scratches: 5 Sam Morin (healthy), 47 Andrew MacDonald (healthy), 72 Carter Hart (lower body), 30 Michal Neuvirth (IR, lower body).

DEVILS

20 Blake Coleman - 13 Nico Hischier - 15 Nick Lappin
17 Kenny Agostino - 19 Travis Zajac - 18 Drew Stafford
56 Blake Pietila - 41 Michael McLeod - 42 Nathan Bastian
74 Egor Yakovlev - 58 Kevin Rooney - 39 Kurtis Gabriel​

28 Damon Severson - 6 Andy Greene
16 Steven Santini - 45 Sami Vatanen
8 Will Butcher - 5 Connor Carrick​

35 Cory Schneider
[29 Mackenzie Blackwood]

Scratches: 27 Pavel Zacha (day-to-day, upper body), 63 Jesper Bratt (day-to-day, lower body), 47 John Quenneville (day-to-day, lower body), 9 Taylor Hall (IR, arthroscopic left knee surgery), 21 Kyle Palmieri (lower body), 23 Stefan Noesen (IR, lower body), 25 Mirco Mueller (doubtful, upper body), 44 Miles Wood (ankle fracture).
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