Flyers-Devils: Game 19 Preview

Kevin Durso

November 15 2018

(Photo: Kate Frese)

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor

The Flyers recent stretch of winning and a six-game points streak came to an end against the Panthers on Tuesday, right as the five-game homestand reached its midpoint.

The Flyers next meeting on home ice comes against the New Jersey Devils, a team that has fallen in the standings after a hot start. The Devils sit in last place in the Metropolitan Division, but are just four points behind the Flyers.

Game time is at 7 p.m.

Team Leaders

Philadelphia Flyers	GP	G	A	P	New Jersey Devils	GP	G	A	P
Claude Giroux	18	7	15	22	Taylor Hall	16	5	14	19
Jake Voracek	18	5	12	17	Kyle Palmieri	16	10	8	18
Sean Couturier	18	7	5	11	Travis Zajac	15	7	6	13
Wayne Simmonds	18	7	3	10	Damon Severson	16	3	9	12
Oskar Lindblom	18	5	5	10	Nico Hischier	15	3	9	12

Player to Watch
19 Nolan Patrick	9 Taylor Hall
Last 5 Games: 2 G, 1 A, 3 P, +4	Last 5 Games: 3 G, 3 A, 6 P, +2

Nolan Patrick's line has been excellent in the last few games, really driving the forecheck and creating chances. They almost single-handedly completed a comeback on Tuesday. In the first meeting with New Jersey this season, Patrick had a goal and his line was responsible for the game-winning goal by Jake Voracek as well. Look for Patrick to be strong in this game.

Things had been a little slow for the reigning Hart Trophy winner before a four-point game in Pittsburgh on Tuesday. Taylor Hall is obviously dangerous at all times, especially if the Flyers take too many penalties and allow the Devils to attack on the man advantage.

Goalie Matchup
37 Brian Elliott	1 Keith Kinkaid
6-6-0, 2.62 GAA, .911 SV%	7-5-1, 2.80 GAA, .911 SV%

Brian Elliott took the loss in Tuesday's game, but made several key saves. After making 49 straight saves in his last two appearances, a 28-for-30 night still has him on a roll, despite the loss. Elliott is expected to be back in goal on Thursday.

Keith Kinkaid entered the game in Philadelphia on Oct. 20 with stellar numbers early in the season. He's come back to Earth quite a bit in the last few weeks. He GAA has more than doubled from that last meeting and the Devils record has slipped from the 4-1-0 mark they had after five games.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Injuries: Michael Raffl, Michal Neuvirth

Scratches: Jori Lehtera, Radko Gudas

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
28 Claude Giroux	14 Sean Couturier	11 Travis Konecny
23 Oskar Lindblom	19 Nolan Patrick	93 Jake Voracek
25 James van Riemsdyk	40 Jordan Weal	17 Wayne Simmonds
22 Dale Weise	21 Scott Laughton	62 Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Defense
9 Ivan Provorov	8 Robert Hagg
53 Shayne Gostisbehere	26 Christian Folin
6 Travis Sanheim	47 Andrew MacDonald
Goalie
37 Brian Elliott

Lineup Notes

James van Riemsdyk returns to the lineup for the first time since the second game of the season. He'll take the spot on the third line between Jordan Weal and Wayne Simmonds. Dale Weise drops to the fourth line with Scott Laughton shifting to center and Nicolas Aube-Kubel playing the other wing. Jori Lehtera comes out of the lineup.

JVR also was part of a new-look top power-play unit. Jake Voracek was back with the top unit and JVR played net-front. Travis Konecny and Nolan Patrick were back on the second unit with Weal, Simmonds and Ivan Provorov.

Radko Gudas missed practice on Wednesday with a maintenance day, but is unavailable for Thursday's game. For now, we'll list him among the scratches and not injuries until there's an update. Andrew MacDonald slots back into the lineup to replace him.

Devils Projected Lineup

Injuries: Brian Boyle, Nico Hischier

Scratches: John Quenneville, Drew Stafford, Steven Santini, Egor Yakovlev

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
9 Taylor Hall	19 Travis Zajac	21 Kyle Palmieri
90 Marcus Johansson	37 Pavel Zacha	63 Jesper Bratt
20 Blake Coleman	43 Brent Seney	49 Joey Anderson
44 Miles Wood	10 Jean-Sebastian Dea	23 Stefan Noesen
Defense
25 Mirco Mueller	45 Sami Vatanen
6 Andy Greene	28 Damon Severson
8 Will Butcher	12 Ben Lovejoy
Goalie
1 Keith Kinkaid

Game Notes

Power Play: Flyers (28th, 29th at home), Devils (11th, 6th on road)
Penalty Kill: Flyers (30th, 29th at home), Devils (13th, T-24th on road)
Recent History vs. Devils
- Jan. 13, 2018 – Flyers 5, Devils 3 (at NJ)
- Jan. 20, 2018 – Flyers 3, Devils 1 (at PHI)
- Feb. 1, 2017 – Devils 4, Flyers 3 (at NJ)
- Feb. 13, 2018 – Devils 5, Flyers 4 (F/SO) (at PHI)
- Oct. 20, 2018 – Flyers 5, Devils 2 (at PHI)
Flyers Leaders vs. Devils
- Claude Giroux – 45 GP, 11 G, 32 A, 43 P
- Shayne Gostisbehere – 12 GP, 3 G, 6 A, 9 P
- Jake Voracek – 35 GP, 7 G, 18 A, 25 P
- James van Riemsdyk – 28 GP, 11 G, 8 A, 19 P
- Brian Elliott – 10 GP, 6-4-0, 2.61 GAA, .912 SV%
Milestone Watch
- Claude Giroux needs one point to reach 700 for his career.
- Giroux also needs three assists to pass Brian Propp for 2nd all-time in Flyers history.