Philadelphia @ New Jersey preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 12, 2019 ) Philadelphia 2, New Jersey 3

The Philadelphia Flyers did not get the result they hoped for in the opener of their three-game road trip, but they still managed to remain within reach of a postseason berth. Philadelphia hopes for a better outcome when it continues its trek Friday against the New Jersey Devils.

The Flyers squandered a lead but managed to forge a tie before dropping a 4-3 overtime decision at Columbus on Thursday and climbed within six points of Carolina for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. Defenseman Travis Sanheim helped Philadelphia earn a point by scoring his second goal of the night with 6:48 remaining in the third period, giving him three tallies in his last two games and at least one point in five of his last six contests. New Jersey split the first two contests of its three-game homestand, finishing on both sides of a 2-1 decision. Kevin Rooney scored the lone goal in Wednesday's loss to Calgary, giving him a point in back-to-back games after registering a total of three over his first 23 contests this season.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBCS Philadelphia, MSG Plus 2 (New Jersey)

ABOUT THE FLYERS (30-26-8): Jakub Voracek's brief slump appears to be over as the 29-year-old Czech has recorded three goals and as many assists over his last three games - tallying in each contest. Voracek, who is seven goals shy of 200 for his career, endured a three-game point drought after collecting four tallies and seven assists during a nine-game streak. Captain Claude Giroux has notched two goals and three assists over his last three contests and needs one tally to reach the 20-goal plateau for the seventh time in his career.

ABOUT THE DEVILS (25-31-8): Mirco Mueller could be out of the lineup for a while after leaving Wednesday's game on a stretcher and being hospitalized with an upper-body injury. The 23-year-old Swiss defenseman, who crashed head-first into the boards early in the third period, took to Twitter on Thursday to announce his injury isn't serious and that he hopes to return to action soon. New Jersey announced that Taylor Hall underwent successful left knee surgery earlier this week and will begin rehabilitation immediately.

OVERTIME

1. Devils D Sami Vatanen blocked three shots in 22 minutes, 12 seconds of ice time on Wednesday after missing the previous 14 games with a concussion.

2. Philadelphia RW Travis Konecny has collected seven goals and eight assists over his last 17 games.

3. New Jersey has gone five games without a power-play goal after recording at least one in each of its previous five contests.

PREDICTION: Flyers 4, Devils 3