5 Things: Flyers at Devils
1. TURNPIKE TILT
It's the first of eight meetings against the Devils... The Flyers won two of the three meetings last season, but dropped the most recent game, 5-0, in February of 2020... Despite wins in their last two meetings at the Prudential Center, the Flyers have dropped five of their last eight games in Newark... These two teams are tied in the standings with the same amount of points (7) in the East Division where three points separate the top spot (Washington: 9-pts) from the sixth position (NY Islanders: 6-pts).
2. DEVIL IN THE DETAILS
The Flyers are in the Top 10 of the NHL in goals per-game, T-7th at 3.33, which is a full goal per-game more than the Devils, who rank 28th in the NHL at 2.20... The Devils have all three wins when they have scored the first goal and both of their losses when allowing the first goal... The Flyers have been outshot in all six games this season, and have given up the third-most shots on goal per-game in the NHL (35.5), while the Devils have been outshot in five of their first six games and have allowed the second-most shots on goal per-game (35.6)... Both teams are at the bottom of the NHL rankings on the penalty kill with New Jersey operating at 66.7% (28th) and the Flyers at 63.6% (29th).
3. GOING STREAKING
Devils rookie defenseman Ty Smith has recorded a point in his, and the team's, first five games with six points (1g-5a) - he is one of six d-men in NHL history to begin his career with a point streak of five games or more... Jake Voracek has points in three straight with five points (1g-4a) in that span, as does Kevin Hayes with (2g-3a) in his last three... New Jersey is unbeaten in regulation at home this season (2-0-1) and is coming off back-to-back wins... The Flyers come in having dropped three of their last four games, including two straight.
4. DUEL IN NET
With starter Mackenzie Blackwood on the Devils' COVID-19 protocol list, Scott Wedgewood will get his third straight start and comes off a 28-save shutout win, 2-0, over the NY Islanders on Sunday... Brian Elliott will get his second start of the season and is coming off a shutout of his own in his first start this season - posting a 40-save shutout in a 3-0 win over the Sabres on Jan. 19... Both Elliott & Wedgewood have identical 2.78 goals-against average in their careers against the Devils and Flyers respectively, however Elliott is 6-6-0 while Wedgewood is 1-0-0.
5. PLAYERS TO WATCH
FLYERS (LW: #28 - Claude Giroux)
It's a record-setting night for the Flyers captain... Giroux will play his 611th game as captain of the only franchise he has known, moving him past Bob Clarke for the most games in the role... Giroux has appeared in 610 of a possible 614 games since taking over the captaincy in January of 2013 at the start of the shortened 2012-13 season.
DEVILS (C: #86 - Jack Hughes)
The No. 1 overall pick from 2019 is off to a flying start with points in four of his first five games, recording three goals and seven points in that span... Compared to his rookie season, Hughes went scoreless in his first six games and took 12 games to reach seven points... Against the Flyers he has just one assist in three career games.
