The Devils look to end their skid as they host their rivals from Philadelphia at Prudential Center tonight (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

Match Overview

After losing 5-1 to the Nashville Predators Tuesday night, the Devils will look to stop the bleeding and put an end to their seven game losing streak when they take on the Philadelphia Flyers tonight. The two teams are heading in opposite directions. The Devils have only three wins in their last seventeen games while the Flyers are coming off a ten game win streak and are 8-1-1 in their last ten games.

It has yet to be confirmed, but appears Seth Helgeson will make his season debut for the New Jersey Devils tonight. John Hynes and co. talked about wanting the team to be harder to play against. Helgeson will provide a physical presence on the back end and will hopefully stabilize a struggling blue line.

Projected Lines

Philadelphia

Raffl/Giroux/Voraceck
Konecny/Schenn/Simmonds
VandeVelde/Bellemare/Lyubimov
Leier/Cousins/Wiese

Del Zotto/Gudas
Provorov/MacDonald
Manning/Gostisbehere

Neuvirth

New Jersey

Hall/Zajac/Cammalleri
Wood/Henrique/Palmieri
Bennett/Zacha/Parenteau
Kalinin/Fiddler/Lappin

Greene/Lovejoy
Moore/Severson
Helgeson/Merrill

Schneider

What to Watch

• The Flyers have scored 110 goals on the year, third highest in the league. They’ve also given up 104 goals on the year, the most in the league. With the Devils struggles, we could be in for a high-scoring affair if New Jersey isn’t able to buckle down defensively.

• Assuming they remained paired together, the Bennett/Zacha/Parenteau line had a strong game against Nashville Tuesday night. They’ve been impressive since being put together after all three were healthy scratches last week. They were the only line who controlled possession against Nashville. If they keep it up, they should be able to provide New Jersey with some secondary scoring.

• After being called up Thursday morning, it appears that Seth Helgeson will make his first appearance of the season for the Devils tonight. Helgeson doesn’t offer a whole lot in the way of offense, but he does provide a physical presence that Devils are lacking both up front and on the back end. He should be able to make a difference in that regard and hopefully make the team harder to play against, which is what John Hynes is looking for right now.

• The Devils have struggled mightily on defense over the last month, but Cory Schneider is not playing his best right now either. I’m sure his confidence is shaken, especially when he’s faced the barrage of shots he’s faced over this seventeen game stretch. That being said, he needs to help himself out and start making saves to help his team getting of this rut. If he can do that, it would go a long way in helping the Devils end their misery.

Tonight’s game can be seen on MSG+ at 7 PM.