5 THINGS: Flyers vs. Devils

The curtain rises on the 2022-23 regular season for John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (0-0-0) as they take on Lindy Ruff's New Jersey Devils (0-0-0) at the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday evening. Game time is 7 p.m. EDT.

GAME NOTES

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This is the first of four meetings this season between the Metropolitan Division teams. The Flyers and Devils will rematch at the Wells Fargo Center on Dec. 3 before the scene shifts to the Prudential Center in Newark on Dec. 15 and Feb. 25.
Here are five stories to follow in the opener:
1. Hart's first appearance since April 12.
Due to a lower-body injury sustained on the third day of training camp, Flyers No. 1 goaltender Carter Hart was held out of game action for the entirety of the preseason. As such, the regular season opener will be Hart's first game in goal since playing one period of the Flyers' 9-2 road loss to the Washington Capitals on April 12, 2022.
Last year was a statistical tale of two different seasons within one for Hart: before the NHL All-Star break and post-break.
Entering the All-Star break, Hart was arguably the No. 1 candidate to win the Bobby Clarke Trophy as the Flyers' most valuable player.
As of the break, Hart's .915 save percentage ranked in a tie for 16th among all NHL goalie who played in at least 10 games. Unfortunately, due a severe lack of goal support, he was saddled with a 9-14-5 record.
Among the goalies ahead of Hart in save percentage at the All-Star break, only the New York Islanders Semyon Varlamov (3-9-1, 2.57 GAA, .916 SV%) had a pre-break record below hockey .500.
Hart also suffered from inconsistent team defense in front of him; enough to cost him about one-half (0.005) to one percentage point (0.01) off his save percentage.
That might not sound like much -- something in the vicinity of one additional goal against for every 100 shots -- but the difference between a .915 save percentage and one in the .920-plus range is basically the difference between ranking around the leaguewide average and placing in the upper tier.
Unfortunately, the period after the NHL All-Star was as rough on Hart as it was on the whole team. For one thing, he dealt with injuries that sidelined him. For another, while outperforming the rest of the team before the break, Hart's own play was rather inconsistent in the latter portion of the season. He finished his season with a pedestrian-looking .905 save percentage and 3.16 GAA.
For the Flyers, having Hart return to the form he showed before last season's All-Star break and remaining healthy is vital. There's no way around it if the team is to hold its own at all.
Highly regarded prospect Samuel Ersson will open the season as Hart's backup with fellow Swedish goaltender Felix Sandström temporarily sidelined with a mild groin strain. Sandström is practicing daily but was placed for precautionary reason on the Injured Non-Roster (INR) list for the first week of the regular season.
2. Power Play: Nowhere to go but up.
Last season, the Flyers ranked last (32nd) in the NHL with a 12.6 percent success rate on the power play. Officially, that's the worst mark in Flyers' franchise history. However, the NHL only began tracking power play data in 1977-78.
Based on historical box-score research, the Flyers had a 12.3 percent success rate (33-for-269) during the inaugural 1967-68 season. It took the Flyers scoring two power play goals in the final game of last season to pull their 2021-22 numbers up to 12.6 percent (30-for-239).
Regardless of whether one considers last season's power play performance to be the "official worst" or "unofficial second-worst" season in franchise history, the bottom line is that the team's large-scale struggles to score on the man advantage played a significant role in why the Flyers ranked 31st in the NHL in goals per game.
As Flyers center Kevin Hayes put it after Wednesday's practice, there's nowhere to go but up. He expressed confidence that the addition of Tony DeAngelo to the Flyers' power play atop the point on the first unit along with having James van Riemsdyk at netfront for a whole season (rather than moving him around) will be a boost.
The Flyers devoted portions of several late-camp practices to working on the power play. The second unit outperformed the No. 1 unit, especially in Monday's practice, when PP2 connected for four goals.
The Flyers' projected power play units to start the season are as follows based on practice combos in recent days: PP1 consists of DeAngelo, Hayes, Joel Farabee, Travis Konecny and JVR. PP2 may consist of Ivan Provorov, Noah Cates, Morgan Frost, Owen Tippett and Scott Laughton. Additionally, the likes of Egor Zamula, Travis Sanheim and Wade Allison all saw some power play reps in the latter part of training camp.
3. Provorov chemistry with DeAngelo.
Ever since the abrupt retirement of two-way defenseman Matt Niskanen following the 2019-20 season, the Flyers have been in search of the right fit for playing alongside Ivan Provorov on the top defensive pairing. Veteran right-handed defenseman Ryan Ellis appeared to be that player, but injuries limited him to four games in 2021-22 and have persisted. Ellis is on long-term injured reserve (LTIR) again for the Flyers and remains out for the foreseeable future (quite possibly the entire season).
During the offseason, the Flyers acquired offensive defenseman Tony DeAngelo from the Carolina Hurricanes. The hope is that DeAngelo can click with Provorov in somewhat similar fashion to the chemistry Provorov had with Shayne Gostisbehere during the 2017-18 regular season. DeAngelo and ex-Flyer Gostisbehere are not identical players (even apart from Ghost being a left-handed shooter) but it's still a rough comparison.
Unfortunately, Provorov dealt with a minor injury during training camp and he and DeAngelo only got into one preseason game together during camp. The game -- a 3-1 loss to the Washington Capitals -- did not go well for anyone including the Provorov-DeAngelo blueline pair. They did put in multiple practices together early and late in camp.
There will be adjustments involved for both Provorov and DeAngelo in their respective games for the pairing to click. Both defensemen, for example, are used to being the primary puckhandler on their D pair. DeAngelo has said that his first look when he has the puck is usually to his blueline partner, which is something that Provorov will have to acclimate himself to quickly as they move up-ice. There will also be things that need to be worked out communication-wise and defensively.
Provorov has expressed optimism that he and DeAngelo can combine to aggressively pressure the puck within Tortorella's systems and to help the team attack more while expending less energy defending. This, of course, would be ideal. But there's work to be done teamwide, and the top defense pairing is no exception.
4. Working around injury absences.
Cam Atkinson (upper-body injury) did not play in any preseason games. He returned to practice on Wednesday but was a limited participant. He is out for the opener.
After undergoing offseason neck surgery, Joel Farabee was able to skate and practice (officially on a non-contact basis for much of training camp but the player, in reality, tested himself ahead of schedule) with the team throughout. Farabee had a doctor's appointment on Wednesday afternoon to be evaluated for medical clearance to play in the opener. Earlier in the day, he self-reported feeling fine and ready to go.
Veteran defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen dealt with an undisclosed injury in training camp that limited his availability for several days. He practiced on Wednesday with usual partner Sanheim but exited early in the session. The veteran Finnish defenseman did not take part in Thursday's morning skate.
The Flyers projected opening night lineup is as follows:
21 Scott Laughton - 13 Kevin Hayes - 11 Travis Konecny
86 Joel Farabee - 49 Noah Cates - 74 Owen Tippett
25 James van Riemsdyk - 48 Morgan Frost - 57 Wade Allison
44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 58 Tanner Laczynski - 42 Hayden Hodgson
9 Ivan Provorov - 77 Tony DeAngelo
6 Travis Sanheim - 61 Justin Braun
24 Nick Seeler - 54 Egor Zamula
79 Carter Hart
[33 Samuel Ersson]
5. Behind Enemy Lines: New Jersey Devils
The New Jersey Devils have no lack of speed or young talent but are still looking for a developmental breakthrough to where they are capable of competing with teams in the upper echelon of the tough Metro Division.
Last season, 2019 first-overall draftee Jack Hughes began to blossom into NHL stardom but was limited to 49 games played (26 goals, 59 points). Jesper Bratt, now 23 years old, led the Devils with 73 points (26g, 47a) in 76 games. Nico Hischier, the first overall pick of the 2017 Entry Draft, has emerged as a fine two-way NHL center and posted 60 points (21g, 39a) in 2021-22.
Hischier, who turned 23 back in January, has practiced on back-to-back days. However, he was placed on IR on the season-opening roster along with right winger Tyce Thompson. Veteran goalie Jonathan Bernier is on long-term injured reserve.
According to Amanda Stein, Hischier said after Wednesday's practice that his availability for the opener is "up in the air". The team practiced with these primary line combinations, doing some juggling on the blueline as it went along:
17 Yegor Sharangovich - 13 Nico Hischier - 63 Jesper Bratt
18 Ondrej Palat - 86 Jack Hughes - 91 Dawson Mercer
90 Tomas Tatar - 56 Erik Haula - 10 Alexander Holtz
44 Miles Wood - 20 Michael McLeod - 14 Nathan Bastian
71 Jonas Siegenthaler - 7 Dougie Hamilton
33 Ryan Graves - 28 Damon Severson
2 Brendan Smith - 6 John Marino
29 Mackenzie Blackwood
41 Vitek Vanecek
PP1: Hamilton, Palat, Hischier, Bratt, Hughes
PP2: Severson, Bastian, Mercer, Sharangovich, Tatar
Forwards Jesper Boqvist (No. 70) and Fabian Zetterlund (No. 49) along with young defenseman Kevin Bahl (No. 88, recalled from the AHL) also participated in Wednesday's practice and are available to be dressed for the opener. Andreas Johnsson (No. 11) missed practice due to illness.
Ruff is old-school when it comes to publicly announcing his starting goalie for the next game. He refuses to do so the day before a game although it's become fairly standard practice among many teams. He'll announce his starter after the Devils' morning skate at the Wells Fargo Center.