All About The Jersey - New Jersey Devils vs. Philadelphia Flyers: Game #13 StreamA world class blog for Jersey's team: the New Jersey Devilshttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/47083/lou-fave.png2013-11-02T22:43:41-04:00http://www.allaboutthejersey.com/rss/stream/48210232013-11-02T22:43:41-04:002013-11-02T22:43:41-04:00Devils Lose 1-0 in Sad, 14-Shot Performance
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<img alt="This was a hockey game tonight. A sad one by the Devils." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/PEskfsZdDFC9E6QtlxPuAnrBwbQ=/0x101:4000x2768/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/22335323/20131102_jla_bm3_726.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>This was a hockey game tonight. A sad one by the Devils. | Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>The New Jersey Devils hosted the Philadelphia Flyers and lost to the Second Rate Rivals in a 1-0 game where they only put up 14 shots on net. That is not a typo. This recap goes over the sad performance the Devils put up tonight.</p> <p>Fourteen shots on net. The <a href="https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">New Jersey Devils</a> hosted a <a href="https://www.broadstreethockey.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Philadelphia Flyers</a> team that has averaged over 30 shots allowed per game, filled their pants in a 7-0 loss to Washington the prior night, started <span>Ray Emery</span> who had a sub-90% save percentage coming into the game, and inserted "defensemen" <span>Andrej Meszaros</span> and <span>Hal Gill</span> into the lineup. They not only lost 1-0 to this team but registered only fourteen shots on net.</p>
<p>It's actually worse than it looks in that prior sentence, believe it or not. The one goal came in the first period. Meszaros fired a shot from the top of the left circle, it finds it's way through traffic, and gets deflected by <span>Brayden Schenn</span>. The puck goes off the post and just over the line. Not a bad goal. No real breakdown in coverage. No error by <span>Martin Brodeur</span>. Just a bad break, really. That goal came in at 14:29 into the first period. Since that goal, the Devils had four power plays and two intermissions to get their heads right. They were out-shot 15-9 in the following two periods and their power play did next to nothing. <span>Michael Ryder</span> did beat Ray Emery - only to hit the post. In total, the Devils were out-shot 21-14 and out-attempted 34-27 in a one goal game. There's only one word to describe this kind of performance: sad.</p>
<p>Sure, you could use "embarrassing," "pathetic," "excremental," and many other angry and colorful words you and I won't use on this ice for accurate descriptors of this game. But I think sad fits the best because this was one hideous hockey game. Both teams were misfiring passes and shooting themselves in the foot on plays that could have resulted in successful plays. It would be one thing if the Flyers, angry with themselves about the 7-0 beatdown the Caps gave them, played with some fantastic resolve. But they didn't. They squandered all but one of their four full power plays with little action on net. Martin Brodeur was called upon to make a few difficult saves; emphasis on few. They had odd man rushes either denied by <span>Anton Volchenkov</span> of all players or their own inaccurate passes. They were the better team tonight, of course, but let's not pretend they played some great game. They were like the Devils on Tuesday night and the Devils were more like Tampa Bay.</p>
<p>It would be another thing if the Devils dropped a boatload of shots on net and Emery had to play like Dominik Hasek to get the result tonight. I'd be disappointed but at least we could say the Devils did what they could to try and win. They didn't even come close to that; not with 14 shots on net and 27 total attempts on net in a 60 minute effort complete with five power plays. A somewhat halfway-decent offensive effort by the Devils could have gotten the job done tonight. Instead, they wasted what they had, they literally passed up opportunities to shoot, and they have no one to blame but themselves for this loss. The Devils deserved to lose to the Flyers 1-0. That's just sad.</p>
<p><b>The Game Stats: </b>The <a target="_blank" href="http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20132014/GS020203.HTM">NHL.com Game Summary</a> | The <a target="_blank" href="http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20132014/ES020203.HTM">NHL.com Event Summary</a> | The <a target="_blank" href="http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20132014/SS020203.HTM">NHL.com Shot Summary</a> | The <a target="_blank" href="http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20132014/PL020203.HTM">NHL.com Play by Play Log</a> | The <a target="_blank" href="http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20132014/TH020203.HTM">NHL.com Devils Time on Ice Report</a> | The <a target="_blank" href="http://www.extraskater.com/game/2013-11-02-flyers-devils">Extra Skater Game Stats</a></p>
<p><b>The Opposition Opinion: </b> <a target="_blank" href="http://www.broadstreethockey.com/2013/11/2/5059518/flyers-at-devils-recap-score-win">Kurt R has this recap over at Broad Street Hockey.</a></p>
<p><b>The Game Highlights: </b>Yes, there were highlights. The video will be here when available.</p>
<p align="center"><iframe height="395" width="640" frameborder="0" src="http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/embed?playlist=2013020203-X-h"></iframe></p>
<p><b>Locked Out of the Door: </b>Key players are key players because the team is in big trouble when they're not around. The Devils dearly missed two of them tonight. <span>Travis Zajac</span> did not skate this morning and was held out due to his rolled ankle on Friday. During warmups, <span>Patrik Elias</span> was nowhere to be seen and was announced out with upper body soreness. I can understand holding players out for precautionary reasons, especially since the Devils play again tomorrow night. But I hope their injuries are minor because this team's offense without 19 and 26 was just miserable. Both Elias and Zajac play in all situations and generally drive the play forward. While Zajac hasn't been on the scoresheet all that much and Elias isn't always firing away, the Devils' could have been far less hapless at moving the puck with either player available. Zajac could have won many more faceoffs to help the Devils out as Andrei Loktionov went 0-for-7 and Adam Henrique was called upon to take the majority (he went 14-for-31). Elias could have been the proverbial straw that stirs the drink that the team was missing. Their exclusion does not excuse the rest of the forwards, most of whom are NHL vets, to combine for 14 shots on net and only three in a third period where they were down a goal. I don't want to hear many complaints about either because one thing was made clear tonight: the Devils are significantly worse on the ice without Zajac or Elias.</p>
<p>Also: the Flyers were missing their top scorer <span>Vincent Lecavalier</span> and the recently-acquired <span>Steve Downie</span>. They also shortened their forwards to ten as they gave <span>Zac Rinaldo</span> and <span>Jay Rosehill</span> only four shifts. Not that a 21-shot, 34-attempt performance is by any means good, but their effort was worlds better than the Devils tonight with two important players injured and essentially ten regular forwards. Evidence that a team can and should do what they can even when injuries affect the roster. In a game, you really just have to be better than your opponent. They were even though Craig Berube probably winced at every two-on-one and three-on-one left begging.</p>
<p><b>Inglorious Youth: </b>Without Zajac and Elias, <span>Jacob Josefson</span> and <span>Mattias Tedenby</span> played in their place. Tedenby was near-invisible except for a few moments. Josefson did some nice work on the PK but did very little overall. Lack of energy overall, though they just followed the lead of their more experienced teammates. They had their opportunity to make the case for more playing time. Instead, they proved otherwise. Tedenby's simply not a NHL forward. Josefson isn't even better than <span>Stephen Gionta</span> right now. Just as I don't want to hear about Elias or Zajac not being important, I don't want to hear about how youth is always the way forward. The Devils need results; that means they need players to play well - age doesn't matter.</p>
<p><b>Penalty Kills on Fire: </b>Or more accurately, power plays on ice. The Devils got three shots on net across five power plays. The Flyers got five shots on net across five power plays (one was in the final thirty seconds) and neatly all of them came in their last full power play in the third period. The Flyers couldn't find a seam to shoot at and the Devils couldn't get set-up more often than not. Both teams were very good at clearing the puck and giving their goalies situations where they don't have to bailout their skaters.</p>
<p><b>One Good Devil Skater: </b>By my eye, <span>Jaromir Jagr</span> was one of the few Devils to not look dreadful on offense. He carried the puck in several times (what a concept!), he maintained control of the puck in pressure, and he tried to make plays to help his teammates get into a position to succeed. Among them, he set up Ryder for his post-hitting shot. Of course, even he had an opportunity left begging. He sent a loose puck lateral across the crease instead of in the net in the second period. But at least he was <i>trying</i> to make things happen. That was far better than dumping-and-hoping. That was not as eye-rolling as when <span>Marek Zidlicky</span> tried to take matters into his own hands on offense. I'll respect that kind of effort as opposed to just floating out there, hoping for an opportunity to come to shoot. Something I saw plenty of from Michael Ryder and <span>Damien Brunner</span>.</p>
<p><b>Marty Did His Job: </b>The goal allowed was a re-direction right in front and it bounced off a post and just inside the net. He stopped everything else and in that third period, that was important as he gave the Devils a chance to still be in this game. This was his second straight no-soft-goals allowed game. This was his second straight only-beaten-once game. Brodeur did his job. While the defense overall was rather tight - with some heads up plays by Anton Volchenkov of all players - he had to make some important stops to keep the game in reach. The rest of the team played like they were down seven. Let's be real. He's 41 and we know from the past few seasons that he's not going to always be good in net. So when he does play well, like he did tonight, it's imperative that the rest of the team take advantage. It's another way why this performance tonight was so saddening.</p>
<p><b>No Rest Now After Plenty of It: </b>Making this performance even worse in perspective is the fact that the Devils were off for the last three days. That's three days of preparation. That's three days of getting the team's mind right along with the gameplan. Yet, they came out and were absolutely lackluster for sixty minutes. Not even challenging Emery all that often despite a Flyers' defense that has been ripped apart regularly this season. Now they need to go on the road and get a result - something they haven't done well at last month - tomorrow. The Devils just made things harder on themselves with the egg they laid on the ice tonight and, again, they have no one else to blame for it.</p>
<p><b>A Symbolic Play of the Night: </b>Volchenkov correctly pinched into the high slot for a shot on net. He misses the net and tumbles after colliding with the legs of a diving Flyer. Philly rushes up for a 2-on-1, Volchenkov tries to catch up (and nearly does), Brodeur stops <span>Scott Hartnell</span>, and Volchenkov rams into the net almost face first. Bad offense by the Devils, slightly better from the Flyers, and no finish either way.</p>
<p><b>One Last Dig: </b>Paul Holmgren, <i>you're welcome.</i></p>
<p><b>Your Take: </b>The performance sucked, the game was very sloppy by both sides, and the Devils deserved to get shutout because they didn't put in anything close to a below-average offensive effort. What do you think of all of this? It's clear what they have to work on in the future. Can the Devils actually bounce back from this game? Please leave your answers and other thoughts in the comments. Thanks to everyone who commented in the Gamethread and who followed <a target="_blank" href="http://www.twitter.com/inlouwetrust">@InLouWeTrust</a> along on Twitter. Thank you for reading.</p>
https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2013/11/2/5059780/new-jersey-devils-put-sad-14-shot-performance-1-0-loss-philadelphia-flyersJohn Fischer2013-11-02T18:00:07-04:002013-11-02T18:00:07-04:00Devils vs. Flyers: Gamethread #13
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<p>The New Jersey Devils are hosting the Second Rate Rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers; hoping to extend a winning streak to three games. This post is a gamethread for fans to discuss the game as it happens until the recap is up.</p> <p><strong>The Time: </strong>7:00 PM EDT</p>
<p><strong>The Broadcast: </strong>TV - MSG+2; Radio - 660 AM / 101.9 FM WFAN</p>
<p><strong>The Matchup: </strong>The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/">New Jersey Devils</a> (3-5-4) vs. the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.broadstreethockey.com/">Philadelphia Flyers</a> (3-8-0; SBN Blog: <a href="http://www.broadstreethockey.com/">Broad Street Hockey</a>)</p>
<p><strong>The Previews: </strong>My preview from <a href="http://www.inlouwetrust.com/2013/11/2/5056482/new-jersey-devils-vs-philadelphia-flyers-game-13-preview">earlier this morning is right here.</a> Kurt R of Broad Street Hockey <a href="http://www.broadstreethockey.com/2013/11/2/5056966/flyers-at-devils-preview-do-we-have-to">has this preview over there.</a></p>
<p><strong>A Song for Tonight: </strong><a href="https://twitter.com/BroadStBull/statuses/395378586506780672">Well</a>, here is <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPlQpGeTbIE">a catchy tune!</a></p>
<p><strong>Game Night Info: </strong>Bad news for the Devils: <span>Travis Zajac</span> will not play tonight. <a target="_blank" href="http://blogs.northjersey.com/blogs/fireice/comments/travis_zajac_to_sit_out_devils_game_vs._flyers_tonight_with_right_ankle_injury/">He's "day to day" with his ankle injury as reported earlier today by Tom Gulitti.</a> <span>Jacob Josefson</span> will be in the lineup right in Zajac's spot so he'll center <span>Damien Brunner</span> and <span>Dainius Zubrus</span> to start the game. For the Flyers, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/inqflyersreport/230342375.html">Marc Narducci reported at Philly.com</a><span> at <span>Tye McGinn</span> was called up and should play tonight. On Twitter, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/sjnard/status/396743205498396673" target="_blank">Narducci says we should expect Steve Mason to start.</a><span> Lastly and arguably the most strange of news, </span><a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/InsideTheFlyers/status/396741964030164993">Anthony SanFilippo of the Flyers organization stated on Twitter</a><span> that <span>Andrej Meszaros</span> and <span>Hal Gill</span> (who's still in the league, apparently) are in on defense in place of Erik Gustafsson and <span>Luke Schenn</span>. Three words, Devils: attack, attack, attack.</span></p>
<p><strong>The Reminder of Rules:</strong> This is a place where you can (and should) comment about this game before, during, and after it's played, until the recap is up. This is a place where we primarily discuss the Devils game. An odd mention of other NHL games is OK, but it shouldn't dominate discussion. All comments will be clean, respectful of each other, relevant to the game, and legal (read: no streams). Please refrain from super-big pictures and/or .GIFs to keep the gamethread moving for everyone.</p>
<p>Go Devils!</p>
https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2013/11/2/5057058/new-jersey-devils-vs-philadelphia-flyers-gamethread-13John Fischer2013-11-02T07:00:08-04:002013-11-02T07:00:08-04:00Devils vs. Flyers: Game Preview #13
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<img alt="Loktionov! Couturier! It's Saturday night hockey at the Rock!" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/n9dgOBFyZca759V6MvWTlGEHEUw=/3x0:3996x2662/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/22244111/20130926_ajl_aa9_202.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Loktionov! Couturier! It's Saturday night hockey at the Rock! | Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Second Rate Rivals come to Newark looking for something positive after a poor game against the Caps. The New Jersey Devils seek to earn their first winning streak of the season. This post previews tonight's rivalry game.</p> <p>No one noticed I misnumbered the Tampa Bay & Boston previews and gamethreads. Oops. My bad. But I corrected it for this game; even a Second Rate Rival deserves that.</p>
<p><b>The Time: </b>7:00 PM EDT</p>
<p><b>The Broadcast: </b>TV - MSG+2; Radio - 660 AM / 101.9 FM WFAN</p>
<p><b>The Matchup: </b>The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/">New Jersey Devils</a> (3-5-4) vs. the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.broadstreethockey.com/">Philadelphia Flyers</a> (3-9-0; SBN Blog: <a href="http://www.broadstreethockey.com/">Broad Street Hockey</a>)</p>
<p><b>The Last Devils Game: </b>The Devils hosted Tampa Bay for a nationally televised game. What the nation got to see was a Lightning team demonstrate how to repeatedly fail to make a clean breakout and a clean zone entry shift after shift. The Devils' stick-checking was on point and they were rarely caught terribly out of position to make a play. There were a few moments of danger but <span>Martin Brodeur</span> stopped nearly everything. The Devils got up first and second in the game with both goals coming off turnovers by the visitors. <span>Adam Henrique</span> turned a steal into a shorthanded two-on-one give-and-go with <span>Patrik Elias</span>. Henrique beat <span>Ben Bishop</span> with the final touch. <span>Martin St. Louis</span> whiffed on a puck at the blueline and <span>Jaromir Jagr</span> knocked it away to create space for himself. Jagr pushed as he only could and beat Bishop on the ensuing breakaway to make it 2-0. Steve Stamkos put the Lightning on the board with a late power play goal in the second period. The Lightning took that event and did the absolute opposite of building on it. They had a few moments but the Devils were the superior side, Brodeur made one or two bail out saves, and the Devils held on to win 2-1. <a href="http://www.inlouwetrust.com/2013/10/29/5040002/new-jersey-devils-vs-tampa-bay-lightning-game-preview-11/in/4804349" target="_blank">My recap of the game is here.</a></p>
<p><b>The Last Flyers Game: </b>On Friday night, the Flyers hosted the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.japersrink.com/">Washington Capitals</a>. The Caps did not have Alexander Ovechkin. The Flyers apparently did not have an actual team effort. The Caps got on the board late in the first with a goal by <span>Nicklas Backstrom</span>. After the first five minutes of the second period, the Caps were up 4-0 with a goals by <span>Joel Ward</span>, <span>Jason Chimera</span>, and a second from Backstrom. All at evens. The goalie change in the middle of that stopped nothing. Ward put up a second second period goal and <span>Troy Brouwer</span> converted a power play to make it 6-0, which really led the Philly faithful into a rousing rendition of "Fire Holmgren" at the end of the period. The third period saw Ward get his hat trick and the extra point for the Caps. The Flyers got mean mad the only way they can shortly afterwards, which did nothing for their cause except jack the penalties in minutes count well above eighty. Alas, they were one minute short of breaking triple digits. They also did not score a single goal. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.broadstreethockey.com/2013/11/1/5057162/flyers-vs-capitals-recap">Travis Hughes had no words but ten pictures and a .GIF in his recap at Broad Street Hockey.</a></p>
<p><b>The Goal: </b> Pound the puck on net. The Devils really haven't been able to do that this season with one lone exception in Ottawa. However, this is the night to get that going. The Flyers are coming off a big blow out loss and the Devils need to do what they can to pour on the misery. The Flyers head into this game with an average shots allowed rate of over 31 per game. As a team, <a href="http://www.extraskater.com/team/philadelphia-flyers/2013" target="_blank">the Flyers have often been on the wrong end of possession stats.</a> They have one of <a href="http://www.extraskater.com/teams/2013/5v5?sort=ca60" target="_blank">the highest attempts allowed rates in the league in 5-on-5 play.</a> As a blueline, <a href="http://www.extraskater.com/players/on-ice?pos=D&sit=5v5&team=phi&season=2013&min_gp=10" target="_blank">only Kimmo Timonen and Eric Gustafsson have finished above 50% Corsi percentage in 5-on-5 play.</a> The other five defenders to have suited up in orange and black have often been in their own end trying to do their job. It's clear the Flyers just don't hold teams back all that much.</p>
<p>Then there is their goaltending. Prior to the Caps game, it was expected to have <span>Ray Emery</span> in tonight. <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/inqflyersreport/Flyers-Hall-to-eat-up-Talbots-PK-mins.html" target="_blank">Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer reported as such on Friday</a>. <span>Steve Mason</span> started the game against the Caps; but he got yanked for Emery after allowing three goals on ten shots. Emery got in, got lit up, and then got thrown out of the third period after starting a goalie fight against an unwilling participant. So Mason got back in. Believe it or not, Mason has been quite good this season <a href="http://www.nhl.com/ice/playerstats.htm?season=20132014&gameType=2&team=PHI&position=G&country=&status=&viewName=summary#" target="_blank">with a 92.8% save percentage</a> until the Caps game. Emery has only made two starts, he came in relief of last night's game, and <a href="http://www.nhl.com/ice/playerstats.htm?season=20132014&gameType=2&team=PHI&position=G&country=&status=&viewName=summary" target="_blank">his save percentage across all three appearances has been much lower than Mason.</a> The Flyers might put Mason back in; which could be harder though given what the Caps did, perhaps not. Either way, both guys got lit up recently, the skaters didn't help them much, and could be prone to an aggressive Devils team.</p>
<p>The Flyers have been leaky with respect to allowing shots and attempts, Washington made them look like scrubs without their top player, and their backup might be in net tonight. Unless Philly plays a wonderful game or the Devils stink on ice, there will be opportunities for offense for New Jersey. It'll be up to the Devils to make the most of it if they want to ensure the Second Rate Rivals leave the Rock just as unhappy as they did when they arrived.</p>
<p><b>Same Devils: </b>The New Jersey Devils had the good fortune to not have any games in the last three days. This has allowed some players to get some rest and recover a little bit. The only scare was <span>Travis Zajac</span> rolling his ankle in Friday's practice, but <a href="http://blogs.northjersey.com/blogs/fireice/comments/zajac_says_hes_all_right_to_play_saturday_after_rolling_ankle_in_practice_brodeur_to_start_again/" target="_blank">he says he should be fine for tonight according to this Friday post by Tom Gulitti at Fire & Ice.</a></p>
<p><a href="http://blogs.northjersey.com/blogs/fireice/comments/zajac_says_hes_all_right_to_play_saturday_after_rolling_ankle_in_practice_brodeur_to_start_again/" target="_blank"></a>With the team coming off consecutive wins against two good Atlantic Division teams, the practice lineup on Friday has not changed from the actual lineup on Tuesday. For those who don't know or want to see them anyway, <a href="http://blogs.northjersey.com/blogs/fireice/schneider_practicing_with_the_devils_for_the_second_day_in_a_row_kinkaid_missing/" target="_blank">here's Gulitti's initial post about Friday's practice.</a> I can understand what Peter DeBoer is doing here. The team has won two games, they looked better than a good Tampa Bay team, and so there's no compelling reason to make a change. <span>Eric Gelinas</span> remains on the blueline along with <span>Adam Larsson</span>; the CBGB line remains as the fourths; and the three scratches will likely be <span>Jacob Josefson</span>, <span>Peter Harrold</span>, and <span>Mattias Tedenby</span> again.</p>
<p>the only potential lineup change I could see involves the goalies. Martin Brodeur will start tonight and I do hope he builds on his good play from the last five periods. Again, he needs to not give up soft goals to help give the Devils a chance to win. The backup role could change. <span>Cory Schneider</span> has been on injured reserve retroactive to last week due to a lower body issue. <span>Keith Kinkaid</span> has been up with the team as a backup. <a href="http://blogs.northjersey.com/blogs/fireice/comments/zajac_says_hes_all_right_to_play_saturday_after_rolling_ankle_in_practice_brodeur_to_start_again/" target="_blank">Schneider thinks he should be ready for Sunday's game in Minnesota according to this post by Gulitti.</a> He'll need to be activated first, which will lead to Kinkaid getting sent down. If that happens for tonight, then it's a good bet he'll get the start against the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.hockeywilderness.com/">Wild</a> as the Devils will likely split the back-to-back. But that's for Sunday; for tonight, Brodeur just needs to not give easy goals up to a Flyers team that is looking for any.</p>
<p><b>Bang, Bang, Bang: </b>I am admittedly a little concerned about the Gelinas-Larsson pairing tonight because of who the Flyers are. There's plenty of guys up front who can bang with the best of them. Every one of their lines will have at least one player who can play physical if not prefers to do so. <span>Scott Hartnell</span>, <span>Wayne Simmonds</span>, <span>Zac Rinaldo</span>, and the re-acquired <span>Steve Downie</span> all play with various levels of "edge." Three of those (Hint: it's not the chump who goes knee-on-knee when getting blown out) are rather skilled hockey players who can and will make plays on the puck. Then there's the general reputation of the Flyers. A guy like <span>Claude Giroux</span> doesn't go out there to throw pain bombs, but it would surprise no one if he did. Consider also that this is a rivalry game and it's reasonable to expect a physical game. Especially after a game where they got a metaphorical wedgie from an Ovechkin-less Caps team. When the Flyers can't win, they get mean. See: Game 5 in 2012; last night's 7-0 loss to the Caps.</p>
<p>Hence my concern about the third pairing. One of Larsson's biggest problems is that he gets hit a lot and one of Gelinas' issues is that he's not a physical player despite his large frame. The rest of the D shouldn't have a problem with it. I don't expect most of the forwards to be put too off by it. Keeping Josefson away from this one is preferable in my opinion. But it's going an interesting challenge for Larsson-Gelinas as they're going to have to deal with a physical presence no matter DeBoer tries to get them out against with the last line change.</p>
<p><b>The Devils Aren't the Only Ones Who Could Use Hotter Sticks: </b>On paper, their group of forwards should present a production challenge. But the team has struggled to score this season. Their <a href="http://www.extraskater.com/teams/2013/all?sort=shooting_pct" target="_blank">overall shooting percentage is a mere 6.5% before the Caps game according to Extra Skater. </a> They're <a href="http://www.extraskater.com/teams/2013/5v5?sort=shooting_pct" target="_blank">actually below 6% in 5-on-5 shooting percentage.</a> Philadelphia is one of the few teams with fewer goals scored than the Devils and that's a big surprise given they still have a formidable top-nine on paper. It's really weird to see that Giroux and Hartnell both have no goals. (Surely, that won't last.) Only Brayden Schenn, <span>Vincent Lecavalier</span>, and <span>Matt Read</span> have more than one goal scored among their top three lines. <span>Tye McGinn</span> put up three goals early on this season and the team sent him down. <a style="background-color: #ffffff;" href="http://www.nhl.com/ice/teamstats.htm?fetchKey=20142ALLSAAAll&sort=powerPlayPercentage&viewName=powerPlay" target="_blank">Their power play has been converting at a rate of 11.6%</a> with five goals out of 43 opportunities prior to the Washington game. Last season may have been lost for them but scoring goals was not at all their problem. It appears from my view point that their sticks have just gone cold. And when the opposition does well or makes a come back, well, they can't really respond. No wonder they're at the bottom of the Metropolitan.</p>
<p>The hope for the Flyers is that the collective scoring slump ends at some point. While Mason's been very good and the defense remains, well, not so good, their strength needs to come from their forwards. That they can ice three scoring lines and wreck havoc with match-ups. They have not been able to do that so far. Let us hope that does not change starting with tonight's game. Luck and fortune will do as they wish; all the Flyers can do is go for attempts. It'll be up to the Devils to try and repeat what they did to the Lightning; make it as difficult as possible to get them.</p>
<p><b>Your Scorers Are Out: </b>The Flyers can claim two players to have been productive. Well, one entirely with the Flyers and one who they just picked up. When the Flyers got Steve Downie from Colorado, his seven points with Colorado puts him in a tie with Lecavalier for the team lead in points. While that's an indictment of the team's offense so far, it's a reason why this was such a good trade. Downie may have a reputation for reckless behavior, but he's got game. He's played with top players in Tampa Bay and in Colorado. At Broad Street Hockey, <a href="http://www.broadstreethockey.com/2013/10/31/5051590/steve-downie-trade-flyers-max-talbot-avalanche" target="_blank">Travis Hughes plainly stated that he's an offensive upgrade</a> over Max Talbot, the man the Avs wanted for some reason. In theory he should help. The metaphorical oasis in the Flyer's goal-scoring desert has been Lecavalier. He leads the team with five goals with a hat trick three games ago and another goal two games ago. An attempt a goal streak obviously ended. But he's still got a lot left in the tank. He would be quite dangerous, especially on a line with Downie and Giroux. Surely these two could help Giroux get on the board. If not, Giroux could help them light the lamp.</p>
<p>Would and could are operative words. As the Caps applied a 7-0 beatdown, the Flyers applied, well, a beatdown. Downie got a 17-minute special for a fight (instigator, fight, misconduct) and a concussion to go with that. Lecavalier suffered a facial injury. <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/DNFlyers/status/396457306764103680">This was reported right after the game by Frank "Emery's the Third Star of the Game" Seravalli.</a> Call it injuries after an insulting on-ice performance. At least messages were sent.</p>
<p>Anyway, the team's top scorer and someone who was brought in to spark the offense are both out injured for this game. I'd still say the Giroux line would be the most dangerous if only because Giroux is a legitimate high-end talent. But this news at least gives DeBoer and the coaches more options for match-ups because who knows how Berube adjusts the lines after this.</p>
<p><b>Still Tread Lightly: </b>This will be a rivalry game and if there's anything that a team gets up for it, it's these kinds of games. After all, the Devils haven't been a high-scoring team, they were on a seven game winless streak, and it just so happened that the one of the few nights they lit up a goalie and ended that streak was against Our Hated Rivals. Who's to say that the Flyers won't play like a bunch of desperate dudes, move their feet a lot, and make something happen to make up for last night's embarrassment of a performance? Other than the Capitals and anyone who saw last night's game?</p>
<p>So it's on the Devils to keep calm and - going back to the goal - exploit the Flyers whenever they can for shots on net. I don't think they're going to be so wildly successful at stopping or slowing them down in the neutral zone like they did to Tampa Bay. But I do think that if they can stop them from getting set-up in a cycle and avoid some breakdowns in discipline or positioning, then they can find those opportunities to attack themselves. Crack Emery (or Mason) and keep it up until the game's over and the scoreline is heavily in favor of the good guys. Don't risk being the "rebound team" the Flyers want to find after getting wrecked by a Caps team missing their top player.</p>
<p><b>Your Take: </b>The Devils will take on a Flyers team that is coming off a bad, bad loss in the midst of a season with relatively little goal scoring and poor possession. Will the Devils take full advantage? Or do you think Philly will put up more of a fight - not an actual one, one on the scoreboard? Who on the Devils do you think has to have a good game - beyond the goalie - to make this night a successful one? Please leave your answers and other thoughts on tonight's game in the comments. Thank you for reading.</p>
https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2013/11/2/5056482/new-jersey-devils-vs-philadelphia-flyers-game-13-previewJohn Fischer