Flyers at Devils
Less than 24 hours after suffering a disheartening loss, the Philadelphia Flyers look to avoid a third straight setback when they visit the Metropolitan Division-rival New Jersey Devils on Thursday. Philadelphia dropped a 5-3 decision at Washington on Wednesday, jumping out to an early two-goal lead before allowing five consecutive tallies.
Travis Konecny has been red-hot for the Flyers as he has scored a goal in five straight contests and carries a six-game point streak into Thursday's matchup. New Jersey hopes to land on the scoreboard for the first time in three home games after being shut out by Detroit on Jan. 22 and Nashville three nights later. The Devils ended their four-game overall slide with Tuesday's 3-1 triumph in Buffalo as Kyle Palmieri recorded a goal and an assist following a five-game point drought. New Jersey's losing streak began with a 3-1 setback at Philadelphia on Jan. 20, which came a week after a 5-3 home loss to the Flyers.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBCS Philadelphia, MSG Plus (New Jersey)
ABOUT THE FLYERS (24-18-8): Rookie Nolan Patrick scored a goal and set up another on Wednesday to register the first multi-point performance of his brief career. The 19-year-old center, who was selected second overall in last June's draft, has recorded only four tallies and seven assists in 41 contests this season. Sean Couturier notched an assist against the Capitals to avoid being kept off the scoresheet in consecutive contests for the first time since a three-game stretch from Dec. 14-18.
ABOUT THE DEVILS (25-16-8): New Jersey welcomed back two players from three-game injury absences on Tuesday as Keith Kinkaid (groin) produced a 27-save performance while Taylor Hall (thumb) scored what proved to be the winning goal. The 26-year-old Hall, who also missed the All-Star Game due to his ailment, has collected 13 (six goals) of his team-leading 49 points during his eight-game streak. Defenseman Mirco Mueller also returned to the lineup against the Sabres and received nearly 14 minutes of ice time after missing 31 contests with a broken clavicle.
OVERTIME
1. Flyers G Alex Lyon was recalled from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League on Tuesday and made his NHL debut versus Washington, stopping all five shots he faced in relief of Michal Neuvirth.
2. The Devils are third in the Metropolitan, one point behind second-place Pittsburgh, while the Flyers are two points behind them and occupy the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
3. Philadelphia has suffered back-to-back regulation losses for the first time since Nov. 28 and Dec. 2.