Devils at Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers have won two games in a row to keep their flicking postseason aspirations alive. The Flyers look to continue their ascent on Thursday, when they host the reeling New Jersey Devils. After mustering just three goals during its four-game losing streak, Philadelphia rode Scott Hartnell's seventh career hat trick to a 7-3 victory over Montreal on Monday before defensemen Erik Gustafsson and Kimmo Timonen scored in a 4-2 win over the New York Rangers one night later.
Ilya Kovalchuk already has been ruled out of Thursday's game for New Jersey, which is 0-6-4 since the superstar went down with a right shoulder injury. "The plan originally was for him to travel and us to look at it in the morning," Devils coach Peter DeBoer said. "But he's not close enough to be a consideration, so we're going to leave him back." New Jersey sits one point behind Philadelphia, which trails the eighth-place Rangers by five in the Eastern Conference.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, TSN, MSG Plus (New Jersey), CSN (Philadelphia)
ABOUT THE DEVILS (15-17-10): Goals have been hard to come by for the Garden State representatives, who have mustered a grand total of 16 during their winless streak. The Devils, who haven't found the back of the net in over a week, dropped 2-0 decisions to both Ottawa (on Friday) and Toronto (on Monday). New Jersey is 1-for-28 on the power play in April and will look to prevent its first 11-game skid since an 0-7-4 stretch during the 1990-91 campaign.
ABOUT THE FLYERS (19-21-3): Philadelphia presented pesky forwards Zac Rinaldo and Jay Rosehill with two-year contract extensions on Wednesday. Rinaldo has collected three goals and two assists in 32 games, but it's his 143 hits and 85 penalty minutes that often get him noticed. Rosehill, who was acquired from Anaheim on April 1, has one goal and 47 penalty minutes in seven games.
OVERTIME
1. Flyers G Ilya Bryzgalov turned aside 27 shots in a 2-1 shootout victory over New Jersey on March 15. Bryzgalov is expected to get the start after receiving the night off on Tuesday.
2. New Jersey recalled D Alexander Urbom from Albany of the American Hockey League under emergency conditions. Captain Bryce Salvador is nursing a wrist injury and likely will miss Thursday's contest.
3. Philadelphia D Bruno Gervais is expected to have surgery on Thursday to repair a torn stomach muscle. He is out indefinitely.