5 THINGS: Flyers vs. Devils

In the third game of a five-game homestand, John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (8-11-5) will host Lindy Ruff's New Jersey Devils (19-4-1) at the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday evening. Game time is 7:00 p.m. ET.

GAME NOTES
The game will be televised on NBCSP. The radio broadcast is on 97.5 The Fanatic with an online simulcast on Flyers Radio 24/7.
This is the second meeting of the season between the teams, and the second and final game in Philadelphia. The scene will shift to the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, on Dec. 15 and Feb. 25.
Back on opening night of the 2022-23 regular season (Oct. 13, 2022), the Flyers skated to a 5-2 home win over the Devils. Travis Konecny notched even strength and power play goals, Morgan Frost tallied even strength and empty-net goals, Wade Allison notched the Flyers first goal of the season, and Tanner Laczynski recorded the first two assists of his NHL career. Carter Hart (35 saves on 37 shots) outdueled Mackenzie Blackwood (20 saves on 24 shots) in net. Alexander Holtz (power play) and Damon Severson scored the goals for New Jersey with Jeper Bratt assisting on both.
Since that time, the Devils have gone on to establish themselves as one of the top teams in the NHL this season. The club has gone 10-0-0 on the road after the opening night loss to the Flyers, and is 8-1-1 overall over its last 10 games. The Flyers have lost 11 of their last 12 games (1-8-3).
Here are five things to watch in tonight's game:
1. Playing with urgency, not desperation.
Every game has moments that potentially could set the course for the rest of the night. When your team is the underdog, it's crucial to deliver when such opportunities arise because the other side likely will have more chances than yours to seize the upper hand.
When the other side generates momentum, winning teams have both the talent and know-how to regain their equilibrium sooner rather than later. The Flyers enter this game coming off a 4-1 home loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday that both of these truisms.
The first period was competitive, although the Flyers trailed 1-0 at intermission. Before the Lightning opened the scoring on a Nick Paul power play goal, Philly had some prime scoring chances for Kevin Hayes (breakaway), Noah Cates and, within the same shift, for Konecny and Frost (off a setup pass from TK).
By the time the Flyers generated any bonafide opportunities again, the Lightning had a stranglehold on the game. After the first period, however, it was all Tampa.
The Flyers were dominated to an embarrassing degree in the second period in particular, as the Lightning racked up a 17-2 shot on goal edge and expanded their lead to 3-0. At one early period juncture, Rasmus Ristolainen was stuck on the ice for a staggering 4:02 with partner Ivan Provorov out for 3:20. The Bolts didn't score during that marathon stretch of Philly being unable to establish possession but the Flyers never generated any significant momentum thereafter. Even completing back-to-back passes was a rare feat for the Flyers in the disastrous frame.
Despite giving up three goals in the opening 40 minutes of the game, Carter Hart played brilliantly. Unfortunately, in the third period, Hart was victimized on the type of fluke play that goalies dread. An Ian Cole dump in from the neutral zone bounced off the end boards, hit the back of Harr's skate and trickled into the net to make it 4-0.
Konecny subsequently broke up Andrei Vasilevskiy's shutout bid, taking a nifty cross-ice feed from Travis Sanheim and rifling home a shot. It was good to see Konecny get right back in the scoring column in his return from a six-game absence, Beyond that, the goal only meant the difference between a 4-0 loss and a 4-1 defeat; not much consolation.
This season, the Devils have evolved into a team that is both opportunistic in transition and also able to keep an opponent on its heels. The Flyers will need to play with focused urgency -- NOT desperation --to avoid the same fate they suffered at the hands of Tampa on Thursday.
2. Puck possession and transition game
The Devils are a club with outstanding team speed and have developed the ability to keep hold of the puck once they gain possession. From an underlying statistical standpoint, the Devils are the NHL's top-ranked team at 5-on-5 in terms of possession quality (number one in expected goal differential, at a 60.71 percent share) and number two in terms of possession quantity including a 57.89 percent share of unblocked shot attempts.
Aside from the Tampa game, the Flyers have gradually been improving over the course of the season in terms of exiting the defensive zone and establishing a forecheck. On the whole, though, Philadelpia still ranks fourth from the bottom at 5-on-5 in expected goal differential (44,04 percent) and sixth from the bottom in unblocked shot attempts (45.49 percent).
In terms of the bottom line of putting the puck in the net, the Devils rank fourth offensively at 3.75 goals per game and second defensively with a 2.29 team goals against average. The Flyers rank last offensively at 2.38 goals per game and 19th defensively at a 3.25 team goals against average.
At five-on-five, the Devils' goal differential 64 GF/ 34 GA) is right in line with their underlying puck possession advantage. The Flyers have been trending the wrong way, and are now in the red by five goals (41 GF/ 46 GA) at five-on-five.
However, the Flyers recent two games against the Islanders, especially their 3-1 win on Tuesday and the second period of last Saturday's game in Elmont, provide a blueprint for how to play the Devils effectively: 1) strong puck support in all three zones with an active forecheck in the end zone and neutral zone, 2) patience with the puck and not forcing low-percentage plays, 3) sealing off the middle of the ice and forcing the Devils to settle for perimeter plays against layers of defenders; 4) attention to detail -- body and stick positioning and making stick-on-puck plays to put an end to potential threats before they develop, and 5) keeping unforced turnovers to a minimum,
3. Holding even on special teams.
Dating back to Nov. 12, the Flyers special teams have been staggeringly poor over the 11-game span: 2-for-34 (5.9 percent) on the power play with a shorthanded goal allowed, and 19-for-32 (59.4 percent) on the PK. Time and again, even when the Flyers have cranked up decent overall games at 5-on-5, their special teams have sunk their chances to win.

The Flyers went into the Tampa game well aware that they needed to stay out of the penalty box to keep their struggling penalty kill from having to face Tampa's deadly power play. Unfortunately for the Flyers, the Lightning opened the scoring with a power play goal and led the rest of the night.
Entering this game, the Devils rank 19th on the power play at 20.8 percent. The Flyers, who went 2-for-3 on the PK against Tampa, dropped to 25th on the season at 73.3 percent on the penalty kill. Scott Laughton and Sanheim have scored a shorthanded goal apiece.
The Flyers went 0-for-3 on the power play against the Islanders, dropping to 13.3 percent (last in the NHL) for the season. The Devils' penalty kill ranks 8th at 82,1 percent. The team has gotten two shorthanded goals from Yegor Sharangovich and one from Dawson Mercer.
4. Flyers line play
Could Cam Atkinson play for the first time in 2022-23 in this game? It remains to be seen. Atkinson was once again a full participant, in practice on Friday at the Flyers Training Center in Voorhees. James van Riemsdyk is also ramping up toward a return to the lineup once he is ready to exit IR.
Both Konecny and Tony DeAngelo returned to the Flyers' lineup in Thursday's game against the Lightning.. Scott Laughton has been back for the last three games.
The Flyers will have a 10:30 morning skate on Saturday, although there may not be clarity on the full starting lineup until shortly before game time. The team ran five forward lines and seven defensemen at practice.
13 Kevin Hayes - 49 Noah Cates - 11 Travis Konecny
71 Max Willman - 23 Lukas Sedlak-74 Owen Tippett
21 Scott Laughton - 48 Frost - 86 Joel Farabee
44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 38 Patrick Brown 17 Zack -MacEwen
Extras: 25 James van Riemsdyk -58 Tanner Laczynski - 89 Cam Atkinson
9 Ivan Provorov - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
6 Travis Sanheim - 61 Justin Braun
24 Nick Seeler - 77 Tony DeAngelo
Extra: 54 Zamula
79 Carter Hart
[32 Felix Sandström]
5. Behind Enemy Lines: New Jersey Devils
The Devils rattled off a 13-game winning that the Toronto Maple Leafs brought to an end on Nov. 23. Since that time, New Jersey has gone 3-0-1. On Thursday, New Jersey lost at home in overtime to the Nashville Predators, 4-3.
The Devils trailed 2-0 after the first period. In the second period, the Devils struck for unanswered goals by Kevin Bahl (1st), Bratt (9th, PPG) and Holtz (2nd, PPG) to go from trailing to holding a 3-2 lead just 4:35 into the middle frame. New Jersey was not quite able to protect the lead the rest of the game, as Mikael Granlund forced overtime on a 6-on-5 goal with an empty net at the other end in the final 10 seconds of regulation. Nashville proceeded to score on the first shift of 3-on-3 sudden death to end the game.
The Devils held practice at the Prudential Center complex on Friday. They will not have a morning skate today. Per Amanda Stein, the Devils' line combos at practice were as follows (embedded below):