Flyers-Devils: Game 80 Preview

Flyers Leaders	GP	G	A	P	Devils Leaders	GP	G	A	P
Jake Voracek	79	19	41	60	Taylor Hall	68	19	32	51
Claude Giroux	79	14	43	57	Kyle Palmieri	76	25	25	50
Brayden Schenn	76	25	29	54	Travis Zajac	76	14	29	43
Wayne Simmonds	79	30	22	52	Adam Henrique	78	20	19	39
Valtteri Filppula	76	12	30	42	Damon Severson	77	3	28	31

 

Player to Watch
74 Mike Vecchione	21 Kyle Palmieri
Last 5 Games: N/A	Last 5 Games: 0 G, 0 A, 0 P, -1

 

The wait is over for Mike Vecchione. The Union College forward who signed with the Flyers last week makes his NHL debut on Tuesday night. While Vecchione is one of two Flyers to make their NHL debut on Tuesday, he is a bit more of a mystery than Sam Morin, who has been with the organization for four years. This is a chance to see Vecchione's skill set firsthand.

 

Kyle Palmieri has been cold of late, with no points in his last five games. Against the Flyers, however, Palmieri has been excellent, with three goals and one assist in four games.

 

Goalie Matchup
35 Steve Mason	1 Keith Kinkaid
25-21-7, 2.71 GAA, .907 SV%	7-12-3, 2.70 GAA, .916 SV%

After missing Saturday's game completely with an illness, Steve Mason was still a spectator on Sunday, but served as the Flyers backup in a loss to the Rangers. He returns to the ice for the first time since last Thursday against the Devils.

Keith Kinkaid last started on Friday night in a loss to the Islanders and played well despite the result, making 36 saves on 38 shots. Kinkaid made 19 saves on 21 shots in a win over the Flyers on March 16.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Scratches: Roman Lyubimov, Chris VandeVelde

Injuries: Brandon Manning (upper-body injury, day-to-day), Michal Neuvirth (illness, day-to-day), Radko Gudas (upper-body injury, day-to-day), Nick Cousins (upper-body injury, day-to-day), Michael Raffl (lower-body injury, out 6-8 weeks), Matt Read (upper-body injury, out 6-8 weeks)

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
11 Travis Konecny	28 Claude Giroux	93 Jake Voracek
22 Dale Weise	14 Sean Couturier	10 Brayden Schenn
40 Jordan Weal	51 Valtteri Filppula	17 Wayne Simmonds
78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare	74 Mike Vecchione	36 Colin McDonald
Defense
9 Ivan Provorov	47 Andrew MacDonald
15 Michael Del Zotto	55 Nick Schultz
50 Sam Morin	53 Shayne Gostisbehere
Goalie
35 Steve Mason

Game Notes

• Power Play: Flyers (T-13th, 17th on road), Devils (19th, 13th at home)
• Penalty Kill: Flyers (T-22nd, 24th on road), Devils (20th, 30th at home) 
• Recent History vs. Devils
  • April 1, 2017 - The Flyers scored a 3-0 shutout win over the Devils at home. Brayden Schenn and Colin McDonald scored goals in the first period to put the Flyers ahead. Jordan Weal added a power-play goal in the second to cap the scoring. Michal Neuvirth started the game, but collapsed on the ice and was taken off on a stretcher. Emergency backup Anthony Stolarz finished the game, making 26 saves for the combined shutout.
  • March 16, 2017 - The Devils rolled to a 6-2 win over the Flyers in Newark. Michael Del Zotto opened the scoring for the Flyers with three minutes left in the first, but Kyle Palmieri answered to tie the game after 20 minutes. The Devils struck for two more goals in the second by Adam Henrique and Joe Blandisi, but Brayden Schenn answered for the Flyers on the power play to make it a one-goal game going to the third. The Devils iced the game with three goals in the third, two early by Taylor Hall and Henrique and an empty-netter by Hall at the end.
  • Jan. 21, 2017 - The Flyers fell to the Devils, 4-1, at home. Pavel Zacha opened the scoring midway through the first, but was answered by a goal from Travis Konecny to tie the game after one. After a fairly even period, the Devils claimed the lead late in the second with a 5-on-3 power-play goal by Kyle Palmieri and another goal in the final minute of the period by Miles Wood. Wood added his second in the third period to cap the scoring.
  • Dec. 22, 2016 – The Flyers were blanked by the Devils, 4-0, in Newark. P.A. Parenteau and Miles Wood scored in the first to get the Devils on the board. Adam Henrique scored in the second and Kyle Palmieri scored in the third to complete the scoring for the Devils, who managed four goals on 22 shots while holding the Flyers to just 16 shots in the game.
• Milestone Watch
  • Claude Giroux needs two goals to move into 15th all-time in Flyers history. Giroux also needs two assists to move into fourth all-time in Flyers history, and six assists to reach 400 for his career.
  • Wayne Simmonds needs four points to reach 400 in his career and five assists to reach 200 in his career.
  • With one more win, Steve Mason will reach 200 for his career.

Where to Watch
TV: CSN
Radio: 93.3 WMMR