Philadelphia
2nd Metropolitan41-21-2-5
New Jersey
8th Metropolitan28-29-6-6
Philadelphia @ New Jersey preview
Prudential Center
Last Meeting ( Oct 9, 2019 ) New Jersey 0, Philadelphia 4
Taylor Hall pointed the finger at the fans for their response to a sputtering power play during New Jersey Devils' latest loss. The fans may have something to say to the former Hart Trophy recipient on Friday when the cellar-dwelling Devils attempt to get back on their feet against the visiting Philadelphia Flyers.
"We're kind of battling our own fans at this point," Hall told reporters of the reaction New Jersey received in Wednesday's 7-6 overtime loss to Tampa Bay. "It's a tie game and we're getting booed. That's a tough environment to play in sometimes, especially when you're at home." Hall notched a pair of assists versus the Lightning and has recorded a point in seven of 10 games this season, but he was thwarted from point-blank range by a sprawling Carter Hart in the Devils' 4-0 loss at Philadelphia on Oct. 9. Hart turned aside all 25 shots for his first career shutout in that game, but the 21-year-old lost his next four starts (0-3-1) while receiving an early exit in two of them. Oskar Lindblom, who scored his team co-leading sixth goal in the Flyers' 7-1 shellacking by Pittsburgh on Tuesday, set up Sean Couturier's third-period goal in the previous contest against New Jersey.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBCS Philadelphia, TVAS, MSG Plus-2 (New Jersey)
ABOUT THE FLYERS (5-5-1): Coach Alain Vigneault pointed the finger at captain Claude Giroux and fellow veteran forward Jakub Voracek for their recent play on Wednesday, one day after the team absorbed its second straight lopsided loss. The organization, in turn, elected to shake up its roster in response to a pair of clunkers, recalling defenseman Phil Myers and forwards German Rubtsov and Carsen Twarynski from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League while shuffling forward Misha Vorobyev and blue-liner Samuel Morin to the Phantoms. The Flyers also placed Scott Laughton on long-term injured reserve, with general manager Chuck Fletcher telling reporters that the forward had surgery on his right index finger and is expected to be sidelined three or four weeks.
ABOUT THE DEVILS (2-5-3): Kyle Palmieri capped his second career hat trick and recorded his 300th point in the process when he cleaned up a rebound off defenseman Will Butcher's drive with 7.4 seconds remaining in regulation. New Jersey coach John Hynes was pleased with Wednesday's performance of both the 28-year-old Palmieri as well as the newly minted line of Jesper Bratt (two goals), Nico Hischier (two assists) and Pavel Zacha (one assist). "It's really good to see (Bratt) take the lesson of being scratched and what it was and came back and had a very good performance," Hynes said. "I think Pav played well, Nico stepped up and we talked to Nico about that, of getting his game to a level that we needed to, and really liked that line, and that's encouraging."
OVERTIME
1. Philadelphia C Travis Konecny has seven goals and nine points in 14 career encounters with New Jersey.
2. Devils RW Wayne Simmonds ended an eight-game point drought with three assists on Wednesday heading into the tilt versus his former team.
3. Voracek resides one goal shy of 200 and one assist short of 450 in his career.
PREDICTION: Flyers 3, Devils 2