Flyers-Devils: Game 45 Preview

Kevin Durso

January 12 2019

(Photo: Kate Frese)

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor

The losing streak finally came to an end on Thursday night. With a sense of relief, the Flyers look to string together back-to-back wins for the first time since Dec. 18 and 20.

Saturday's opponent is the New Jersey Devils, a team that has also slipped in the standings.

Game time is at 1 p.m.

Team Leaders

Philadelphia Flyers	GP	G	A	P	New Jersey Devils	GP	G	A	P
Claude Giroux	44	14	34	48	Taylor Hall	33	11	26	37
Jake Voracek	44	11	24	35	Kyle Palmieri	43	20	16	36
Sean Couturier	42	15	17	32	Nico Hischier	39	12	17	29
Travis Konecny	44	11	13	24	Travis Zajac	42	10	14	24
Wayne Simmonds	44	13	6	19	Blake Coleman	43	14	8	22

Player to Watch
11 Travis Konecny	21 Kyle Palmieri
Last 5 Games: 2 G, 1 A, 3 P, +1	Last 5 Games: 1 G, 1 A, 2 P, -2

Travis Konecny got back on the board with a goal on Thursday and has shown an extra burst of energy lately. On the top line, he's starting to look like a much more dangerous player again.

Early in the season, Kyle Palmieri was a scoring machine. He's cooled off a lot, but he's always had the Flyers number.

Goalie Matchup
79 Carter Hart	1 Keith Kinkaid
8 GP, 3-4-1, 2.46 GAA, .920 SV%	33 GP, 13-13-6, 3.07 GAA, .899 SV%

The last start for Carter Hart was arguably the best of his young career, a 37-save win that came three minutes short of a shutout. It's hard to argue with the numbers for the 20-year-old, despite the 3-4-1 record.

Keith Kinkaid has lost three straight starts and allowed three goals or more in each. His last win came on Jan. 4, making 15 saves in 49 minutes against Arizona.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Injuries: Michal Neuvirth, Andrew MacDonald, Brian Elliott, Anthony Stolarz, Corban Knight

Scratches: Jori Lehtera

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
25 James van Riemsdyk	28 Claude Giroux	11 Travis Konecny
23 Oskar Lindblom	14 Sean Couturier	93 Jake Voracek
21 Scott Laughton	19 Nolan Patrick	17 Wayne Simmonds
12 Michael Raffl	44 Phil Varone	22 Dale Weise
Defense
9 Ivan Provorov	6 Travis Sanheim
53 Shayne Gostisbehere	3 Radko Gudas
8 Robert Hagg	26 Christian Folin
Goalie
79 Carter Hart

Lineup Notes

Expect the same lineup for the Flyers as in the previous few games.

Devils Projected Lineup

Injuries: Taylor Hall, Cory Schneider

Scratches: Joey Anderson, John Quenneville, Mirco Mueller

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
90 Marcus Johansson	13 Nico Hischier	21 Kyle Palmieri
44 Miles Wood	19 Travis Zajac	63 Jesper Bratt
20 Blake Coleman	37 Pavel Zacha	18 Drew Stafford
11 Brian Boyle	43 Brett Seney	23 Stefan Noesen
Defense
6 Andy Greene	28 Damon Severson
45 Sami Vatanen	16 Steven Santini
8 Will Butcher	12 Ben Lovejoy
Goalie
1 Keith Kinkaid

Game Notes

Power Play: Flyers (30th, 30th on road), Devils (19th, 15th at home)
Penalty Kill: Flyers (T-26th, 29th on road), Devils (2nd, 5th at home)
Recent History vs. Devils
- Oct. 20, 2018 – Flyers 5, Devils 2 (at PHI)
- Nov. 15, 2018 – Devils 3, Flyers 0 (at PHI)
Flyers Leaders vs. Devils
- Claude Giroux – 46 GP, 11 G, 32 A, 43 P
- Jake Voracek – 36 GP, 7 G, 18 A, 25 P
- Shayne Gostisbehere – 13 GP, 3 G, 6 A, 9 P
Milestone Watch
- Travis Konecny needs one points to reach 100 for his career.
- Sean Couturier needs one points to reach 300 for his career.
- Claude Giroux needs three assists to reach 500 for his career.