Konecny-less Flyers Travel to New Jersey to Take on Devils
By Scott Cole
A day after being embarrassed by the Montreal Canadiens, the Flyers have no time to rest. They will travel up I-95 to take on the mighty New Jersey Devils. The Devils are one of the hottest teams in the NHL and one of the powerhouses of the Eastern Conference. Translation: this is not going to be good.
Philadelphia Flyers
Record: 23-27-10 (56 points, 7th in Metro)
So, here’s the thing. The Flyers are struggling against teams that are trying to lose (Blackhawks, Canucks, Canadiens, etc.). Do you think they have a chance to take on one of the league’s best?
But then again, that’s the weird thing about this Flyers team that is so unpredictable. It’s like they play to match the level of competition. They play poorly against bad teams, but then can rise to the occasion and defeat good ones. Philly has only two wins in February, but they were against Edmonton (in a shootout) and Calgary. Go figure.
Travis Konency is still out with an injury and has been placed on IR with no time table to return. The Flyers could sure use him today. In his place, the Flyers are recalling highly regarded prospect Elliot Desnoyers, who leads the Phantoms with 19 goals and 17 assists. The offense has scored 18 goals in all nine games this month. Do the math…that’s two goals a game. That’s not going to be good enough moving forward. Someone needs to start stepping up.
Flyers Projected Lineup
Scott Laughton — Kevin Hayes — Wade Allison
James van Riemsdyk — Morgan Frost — Owen Tippett
Elliot Desnoyers — Noah Cates — Joel Farabee
Nicolas Deslauriers — Patrick Brown – Olle Lycksell
Ivan Provorov — Travis Sanheim
Cam York — Rasmus Ristolainen
Nick Seeler — Tony DeAngelo
Samuel Ersson
New Jersey Devils
Record: 38-15-5 (81 points, 2nd in Metro)
The only team worse than the New Jersey Devils last year were the Flyers. And when you consider how bad the Flyers were last year, and that the Devils only topped them by two points, it makes this season all that more compelling. They’ve had such a quick turnaround that it makes just about everyone else in the NHL jealous of their success.
NJ has been chasing the Carolina Hurricanes all season for the Metropolitan Division lead. And much like the Hurricanes, they’ve had long extended winning streaks. They are eighth in the league in scoring goals and fifth in goals against; so they are good on both sides of the ice.
However, they have struggled against the Flyers this year. Philly beat them 5-2 to kick the season off. In December, the teams split as Jersey won 3-2 in Philadelphia before dropping a 2-1 home game. Even if the Flyers are struggling this season, it’s always good to see them defeat the Devils. That will never get old.
Devils Projected Lineup
Tomas Tatar — Nico Hischier — Dawson Mercer
Yegor Sharangovich — Jack Hughes — Jesper Bratt
Ondrej Palat – Erik Haula — Jesper Boqvist
Miles Wood — Michael McLeod — Fabian Zetterlund
Jonas Siegenthaler — Dougie Hamilton
Ryan Graves — John Marino
Kevin Bahl — Damon Severson
Akira Schmid
Where, When, and How to Watch/Listen
Time: 7 PM
Where: Prudential Center
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 FM
Live Stream: FuboTV
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