Game 8 Preview: Flyers vs. Devils
Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (3-4-0) are home on Saturday afternoon take on John Hynes' New Jersey Devils (4-1-0). Game time at Wells Fargo Center is 1 p.m. EDT.
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.
Saturday's game is the first of four meetings this season between the Metro Division clubs. The teams will rematch in Philly in Nov. 15 before the scene shifts to the Prudential Center in New Jersey on Jan. 12 and March 1.
Flyers Outlook
The Flyers are coming off
a 6-3 road loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday evening. Philly played a decent first period, scored first (for the first time this season), and took a 2-1 lead to intermission. However, turnovers, defensive breakdowns and subpar goaltending from Cal Pickard proved to be Philly's undoing.
On Friday, the team held a
back-to-fundamentals practice at the Skate Zone in Voorhees, with five-on-five work and a battle drill out of the corner. Hakstol said that the team needs to read and react quicker than it has been in many of the first seven games played to date.
Last season, although it did not get much notice due to penalty killing issues, the Flyers' five-on-five goal differential (158 GF - 145 GA) improved from its 2016-17 performance (128 GF - 154 GA). The Flyers finished tied for 9th in the NHL last season in fewest goals allowed at five-on-five; they were actually in the top 3-5 until the latter portion of the season.
Things have taken a backward step so far in 2018-19. The Flyers enter this game having already yielded 20 goals at 5-on-5. Only the Detroit Red Wings (21) have given up more. According to the figures compiled by NaturalStatTrick.com, Flyers' opponents have already had 72 high-danger scoring chances (24th in the NHL).
Offensively, the Flyers have been decent at 5-on-5. They've scored 17 goals at 5-on-5 (tied for 3rd most in the league) and have had 58 high danger chances of their own (tied for 13th). But the team is underwater in terms of two-way play and, thus, is lucky to even be a game under .500 through seven games.
In terms of special teams, the Flyers -- on the strength of the team's potent first unit -- has played a little better than its raw numbers (5-for-26,19.2 percent) would suggest. In recent games, the Flyers have had several high-pressure power plays that did not produce a goal. The team has given up two shorthanded goals already, however.
The Flyers' penalty kill, with the exception of a two-game hiccup in the home opener against San Jose and a generally poor outing the next night in Ottawa, has thus far been improved from last year. Five opposing power plays were scored in those two games, which drags the season numbers down to 20-for-27 (74.1 percent. ranked 19th). On the whole, however, the much-maligned PK has looked better than it did for much of last season.
Goaltending play was not among the main problems -- in some games, in was even one of the strengths -- for the Flyers in the first five games of the season. Over the last two games, however, the goaltenders have struggled. Neither Brian Elliott against Florida nor Pickard in Columbus came up with needed (in a couple of cases, routine) saves. Elliott appears to be the likely starter against New Jersey.
Nolan Patrick has missed the last three games with an upper-body injury sustained in the game in Ottawa. He was a full participant in practice on Friday but deflected questions about whether he will return on Saturday. However, with likely healthy scratch Mikhail Vorobyev standing in for Sean Couturier (maintenance day) at practice on Friday -- probably to keep continuity within the rest of the planned lineup -- Patrick centered a line with Scott Laughton on and Jakub Voracek on the right. Wayne Simmonds moved up to the top line.
After sitting out two games as a semi-healthy scratch and being with his wife for the birth of their baby daughter on Tuesday, veteran defenseman Andrew MacDonald could rejoin the Flyers lineup against the Devils. Christian Folin had a solid game on Tuesday against Florida and a poor one on Thursday in Columbus.
On Saturday afternoon, Flyers captain Claude Giroux will play his 746th career game. That will tie him with Joe Watson for 5th on the Flyers' all-time games played list.
Devils Outlook
The Devils blasted out of the gates this season by rattling off four straight victories in impressive fashion. The team played a dynamic two-way brand of hockey, high-skilled but also defensively responsible. Correspondingly, the club enjoyed the fruits of 5-2 (vs. Edmonton in the Global Series), 6-0 (vs. defending Stanley Cup champion Washington), 3-2 (vs. San Jose) and 3-0 (vs. Dallas) victories.
On Thursday night, however, Hynes' team got derailed for the first time this season in a 5-3 home loss to Colorado. The Devils led 1-0 at the first intermission on second-year forward Nico Hischier's first goal of the season. New Jersey was, however, outscored 5-2 over the final 40 minutes and outshot 34-30 (including 12-8 in the first period despite the Devils' early lead).
Through five games, the Devils have averaged 4.0 goals scored per game (tied for 3rd) and yielded just 1.80 (tops in the NHL) even with the 5 GA game on Thursday. At five-on-five, the Devils have given up 12 goals in five games (ranking in the middle of the league pack) but the penalty kill has been stellar (18-for-20, 90 percent). New Jersey's 12 goals scored at 5-on-5 makes their even strength differential a wash but the power play is 6-for-25 so far (24%).
Digging a little further below the surface, per NaturalStatTrick.com, New Jersey ranks atop the NHL in fewest high-danger scoring chances allowed (20) and has produced more than double that number of their own high-danger chanced (42). That's the mark of a team that is playing the right way, and will either force the Flyers to elevate their own two-way play or potentially suffer the consequences on the scoreboard.
Kyle Palmieri is off the fastest start of his NHL career by far, racking up seven goals (four on the power play) and eight points through the first five games. Of course, no player in the world can sustain his current 35 percent (seven goals on 20 shots on net) shooting percentage but he has undeniably played great hockey so far. Reigning Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall has seven points (one goal, six assists) over the first five games. Hischier has three helpers among his four points.
The Devils have not been injury-free thus far, either. Veteran goaltender Corey Schneider (hip) has yet to play this season, while Travis Zajac, Jesper Bratt and defenseman Ben Lovejoy are all day-to-day with assorted injuries.
PROJECTED LINEUPS (Subject to change)
FLYERS
28 Claude Giroux - 14 Sean Couturier -17 Wayne Simmonds
21 Scott Laughton - 19 Nolan Patrick - 93 Jakub Voracek
23 Oskar Lindblom - 40 Jordan Weal -11 Travis Konecny
12 Michael Raffl - 15 Jori Lehterä -22 Dale Weise
9 Ivan Provorov - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
8 Robert Hägg - 26 Christian Folin
6 Travis Sanheim - 3 Radko Gudas
37 Brian Elliott
[33 Calvin Pickard]
Scratches: 24 Mikhail Vorobyev (healthy), 47 Andrew MacDonald (healthy), 10 Corban Knight (healthy), 25 James van Riemsdyk (IR, lower body), 30 Michal Neuvirth (IR, lower body), 5 Sam Morin (ACL surgery).
DEVILS
9 Taylor Hall - 13 Nico Hischier -21 Kyle Palmieri
44 Miles Wood - 37 Pavel Zacha - 20 Blake Coleman
90 Marcus Johansson - 10 Jean-Sabastien Dea - 23 Stefan Noesen
11 Brian Boyle - 58 Kevin Rooney - 18 Drew Stafford
25 Mirco Mueller - 45 Sami Vatanen
6 Andy Greene - 28 Damon Severson
8 Will Butcher - 16 Steven Santini
1 Keith Kinkaid
[31 Eddie Läck]
Scratches: 12 Ben Lovejoy (lower body, day to day), 19 Travis Zajac (lower body, day to day),
35 Cory Schneider (IR, hip) 63 Jesper Bratt (jaw, day to day).
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FARM REPORT: OCT. 20, 2018
* The Lehigh Valley Phantoms suffered a 5-4 regulation loss at home to the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins at the PPL Center on Friday night. It was an evenly played, seesaw momentum affair with some costly gaffes that ended up in the net. While there were many factors in the outcome, including a bit of puck luck and controversial calls/non-calls, Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry's pedestrian stat line (28 saves on 32 goals) obscured what was a strong night of goaltending on the WB/S side.
Jarry outplayed Phantoms rookie Carter Hart (28 saves on 33 shots). Jarry had no chance on three of the four Phantoms goals and another from distance (scored by Phantoms defenseman Philippe Myers) was a rocket through traffic. Hart had no chance on two goals, would have needed a 10-bell glove save on a high-difficulty but not impossible goal, was directly responsible for one and paid the price for a fat rebound on another. The game-winning goal came after Hart stopped an initial 2-on-1 but couldn't quite cover the puck and it was jammed it from the blue paint. He was hung out to dry on that one, so it goes in the "no chance" category, although the play would have been over if the initial shot had been covered.
To his credit, Hart battled and competed all night regardless of his stat line. He came up big on a pair of third period penalty kills where he was tested on medium-difficulty looks. The ugliest goal of the game was a multi-mistake sequence. Myers turned the puck over on attempted breakout. Shortly thereafter, the Penguins dumped the puck behind the net. Hart went behind the net to stop the puck but fumbled it off his stick blade directly to a Penguin. A quick centering pass later, WB/S had an empty-net tap-in.
The Phantoms got goals from Mike Vecchione (1st), Myers (1st), T.J. Brennan (power play, 2nd) and Greg Carey (1st). Carsen Twarynski (1A) and Nicolas Aube-Kubel (2A) were among the Phantoms who picked up assists in the game, as did Brennan and Chris Conner.
Lehigh Valley went 2-for-8 on the power play and 3-for-4 on the PK. Two of the Phantoms' penalties came closely spaced in the third period, and contributed to Teddy Blueger tying the game at 4-4. Later, Garrett Wilson tapped in the loose puck on Garrett Wilson's shot for the game-winning goal with just 63 seconds left in regulation. The Phantoms had three Grade A chances on their final 6-on-5 push but could not get another puck past Jarry.
The teams will rematch in Wilkes Barre on Saturday evening. Alex Lyon will likely get his first start of the season in goal. Lehigh Valley's starting lines on Saturday night were as follows:
10 Greg Carey - 26 Phil Varone - 16 Nicolas Aube-Kubel
24 Carsen Twarynski - 21 Phil Vecchione - 22 Chris Conner
23 Taylor Leier - 17 German Rubtsov - 38 David Kase
12 Tyrell Goulbourne - 9 Cole Bardreau - 13 Colin McDonald
43 T.J. Brennan - 44 Reece Willcox
6 Philip Samuelsson - 5 Philippe Myers
7 Zach Palmquist - 37 Mark Friedman
31 Carter Hart
[34 Alex Lyon]
Scratches: 2 James de Haas, 8 David Drake, 19 Radel Fazleev, 25 Connor Bunnaman, 41 Anthony Stolarz.
* A host of Flyers' CHL and NCAA prospects were in action on Friday night, and will be again on Saturday. The biggest standout performance on Friday was that of 2017 first-round pick Morgan Frost of the Ontario Hockey League's Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.
Frost scored a pair of power play goals that were basically unstoppable. The first was a bar-down tracer and the latter, scored in overtime, was a scorching and perfectly placed one-timer from the right circle. He also had a primary assist and a shorthanded breakaway in which he got denied.
Frost now has 13 points over his last five games. For the season, he's tied for the OHL scoring lead with 22 points (eight goals, 14 assists) in 12 games despite the Greyhounds having had a weather-related game postponement earlier this month.
No pun intended, but Frost has been on fire offensively since 2018 Arizona Coyotes first-round pick Barrett Hayton (now the Greyhounds' team captain) was returned to the Soo after initially making the Coyotes' opening night roster. They don't play together as linemates, except on power plays, but the Hounds now have a devastating 1-2 punch down the middle rather than being a one-line time like they were to start the season. Additionally, Frost has clicked with 2019 draft-eligible winger Cole McKay and Zack Trott on his 5-on-5 line.
Last but not least, Frost's individual play has picked up considerably the last few games. Earlier, he was picking up points but not bringing his "A" game except in flashes here and there. In the last few games -- even in one where he did not get a point against North Bay -- he has dominated whenever he's had the puck.
On Saturday, there will be a rematch of the 2018 OHL Championship finals. The defending champion Hamilton Bulldog (featuring Flyers prospect Matthew Strome) will pay their only visit of the regular season to the Soo.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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