Flyers-Devils: Game 2 Preview

Kevin Durso

October 9 2019

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor

After a successful trip to Europe, where the Flyers claimed a 4-3 win over the Blackhawks in their season opener, it's time to bring things back home.

Last Friday's game was technically considered a home game for the Flyers, but they will play their home opener on Wednesday night when they face the New Jersey Devils at Wells Fargo Center.

Game time is at 7:30 p.m.

Team Leaders

Philadelphia Flyers	GP	G	A	P	New Jersey Devils	GP	G	A	P
Travis Konecny	1	2	1	3	Blake Coleman	2	2	1	3
Michael Raffl	1	1	0	1	Taylor Hall	2	0	2	2
Oskar Lindblom	1	1	0	1	Kyle Palmieri	2	1	1	2
Robert Hagg	1	0	1	1	Travis Zajac	2	1	1	2
Ivan Provorov	1	0	1	1	Pavel Zacha	2	0	1	1

Player to Watch
14 Sean Couturier	17 Wayne Simmonds
Last 5 Games: 0 G, 0 A, 0 P, E	Last 5 Games: 0 G, 1 A, 1 P

Sean Couturier was held without a point despite his linemates scoring three of the four goals in the season-opening win. Look for him to have an impact in the second game of the season, as the Flyers top forwards try to do more of the offensive contributions.

You could point to a lot of offensive threats in the Devils lineup, but when a long-time and beloved former Flyers makes his return, it takes center stage. Wayne Simmonds returns to Philadelphia for the first time since being traded at the deadline last season. While Simmonds is on the Devils third line and hasn't been around nearly as much of the offensive production early, he should be determined to have a good showing against his former team.

Goalie Matchup
79 Carter Hart	35 Cory Schneider
1 GP, 1-0-0, 3.00 GAA, .903 SV%	1 GP, 0-0-0, 2.79 GAA, .905 SV%

It wasn't Carter Hart's best start in the season opener, but he did enough to keep the Flyers' lead safe in Friday's win. Hart will be back in net for his second start of the season in the Flyers home opener.

After leaving the Devils season opener with lower-body cramps, the intention is to get Cory Schneider back in net on Wednesday night. The Devils did not have a morning skate on Wednesday. Schneider allowed two goals before exiting in the Devils 5-4 shootout loss to the Jets on Friday.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Injuries: Nolan Patrick, Andy Welinski

Scratches: Sam Morin

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
28 Claude Giroux	13 Kevin Hayes	93 Jake Voracek
23 Oskar Lindblom	14 Sean Couturier	11 Travis Konecny
25 James van Riemsdyk	21 Scott Laughton	81 Carsen Twarynski
12 Michael Raffl	82 Connor Bunnaman	18 Tyler Pitlick
Defense
9 Ivan Provorov	61 Justin Braun
6 Travis Sanheim	15 Matt Niskanen
8 Robert Hagg	53 Shayne Gostisbehere
Goalie
79 Carter Hart	37 Brian Elliott

Lineup Notes

The Flyers will use the same lineup as they did in their season-opening win over the Blackhawks on Friday.

Devils Projected Lineup

Scratches: Jesper Boqvist, Pavel Zacha, Mirco Mueller

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
9 Taylor Hall	13 Nico Hischier	97 Nikita Gusev
63 Jesper Bratt	19 Travis Zajac	21 Kyle Palmieri
20 Blake Coleman	86 Jack Hughes	17 Wayne Simmonds
44 Miles Wood	58 Kevin Rooney	40 John Hayden
Defense
45 Sami Vatanen	76 P.K. Subban
6 Andy Greene	28 Damon Severson
8 Will Butcher	5 Connor Carrick
Goalie
35 Cory Schneider	29 MacKenzie Blackwood

Game Notes

Power Play: Flyers (T-4th), Devils (T-26th)
Penalty Kill: Flyers (T-30th), Devils (T-30th)
Recent History vs. Devils
- Oct. 20, 2018 – Flyers 5, Devils 2 (at PHI)
- Nov. 15, 2018 – Devils 3, Flyers 0 (at PHI)
- Jan. 12, 2019 – Devils 3, Flyers 2 (at NJ)
- March 1, 2019 – Flyers 6, Devils 3 (at NJ)
Flyers Leaders vs. Devils
- Claude Giroux – 48 GP, 11 G, 34 A, 45 P
- James van Riemsdyk – 31 GP, 14 G, 10 A, 24 P
- Jake Voracek – 38 GP, 7 G, 22 A, 29 P
- Carter Hart – 1 GP, 0-1-0, 3.16 GAA, .885 SV%