Overview
After a nail-biting 5-4 comeback win over the New York Islanders on Tuesday, the New Jersey Devils (10-9-1) will take on the Philadelphia Flyers (11-10-1) at the Wells Fargo Center tonight.
The Devils looked down and out for much of the game against New York, hampered by sub-par goaltending from Vitek Vanecek. The high-powered offense came through, however, with three goals on Ilya Sorokin in the third period. New Jersey has now won two consecutive games and will look to carry that momentum into tonight’s matchup against the mediocre Flyers.
The Metropolitan Division is a traffic jam right now. The Devils sit in sixth place with 20 points. The Flyers are in third place with 23 points.
Lines and Pairings
Devils –
Forwards
Toffoli-Hughes-Mercer
Palat-Hischier-Bratt
Holtz-McLeod-Lazar
Willman-Tierney-Bastian
Defense
Siegenthaler-Marino
Bahl-Smith
Hughes-Miller
Goalies
Vanecek
Schmid
Flyers –
Forwards
Forester-Couturier-Konecny
Farabee-Laughton-Atkinson
Tippett-Frost-Brink
Deslauriers-Poehling-Hathaway
Defense
York-Sanheim
Seeler-Walker
Zamula-Ristolainen
Goalies
Hart
Ersson
Keys to the Game
Vanecek Continues to Struggle
New Jersey was on a path to defeat on Tuesday and the main reason was Vitek Vanecek. After posting a .910 save percentage (SV%) and 13.28 goals saved above expected (GSAx) over 52 games last season, Vanecek has struggled heavily this year. So far, he’s amassed a .878 SV% and -9.51 GSAx over 15 games. These numbers are simply unacceptable for a starting goalie.
He dug his team into a hole against the Islanders, allowing four goals on 17 shots, good for a .764 SV%. He was pulled late in the second for Akira Schmid, who was perfect throughout the rest of the contest. Over the period and change Vanecek played, he put up -2.06 GSAx, a staggering amount for such a short time. As we’ve seen throughout the season, the offense can’t bail out bad goaltending forever. With the upcoming back-to-back schedule, Vanecek surely will be featured either tonight or Friday.
Injury Update
Another day, another injury for the Devils. This time it’s Dougie Hamilton, who suffered an upper-body injury and “couldn’t play,” the rest of the game according to head coach Lindy Ruff. He’ll likely be out tonight, meaning we’ll see more of Brendan Smith back on defense. Erik Haula also won’t play against the Flyers after missing Tuesday’s game. Timo Meier also remains sidelined but skated on his own yesterday.
Where to Watch
Tonight’s game can be seen on MSGSN at 7:00 p.m. ET.