Flyers at Devils
Struggling Metropolitan Division rivals collide in the Garden State as the Philadelphia Flyers visit the New Jersey Devils on Saturday. Philadelphia saw its winless streak stretch to four games (0-3-1) with a 2-1 loss to cellar-dwelling Carolina on Friday but received a ray of light as captain Claude Giroux's lower-body injury turned out to be less severe than originally feared. "I know I got lucky. It's pretty scary. ... My first reaction was (Erik) Karlsson and what happened to him," Giroux said, referencing the torn Achilles injury sustained by the Ottawa defenseman in February.
While Giroux is considered probable to compete in Philadelphia's finale of its season-high eight-game road trip, New Jersey suffered its 10th loss in 12 contests (2-7-3) with a 4-2 setback to Montreal on Friday. Michael Ryder scored in his return from a three-game absence due to the mumps and snapped a 21-game goalless drought in the loss. "I think I blacked out. It's been so long since I scored," Ryder said.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, CSN Philadelphia, MSG Plus (New Jersey)
ABOUT THE FLYERS (14-17-7): Vincent Lecavalier has rebounded nicely after being benched from Dec. 2-16, recording four goals and an assist in his last six contests. The 34-year-old set up Chris VandeVelde's second goal of the campaign in the third period for Philadelphia's lone tally on Friday. Defenseman Mark Streit, who also had an assist, set up four tallies in the first two meetings with New Jersey this season.
ABOUT THE DEVILS (13-20-7): General manager Lou Lamoriello saw his team lose for the third time in four contests since replacing the fired Peter DeBoer with co-coaches Scott Stevens and Adam Oates. "(The new system will) take a little time. But systems have nothing to do with turnovers or lack of discipline," Lamoriello said following Friday's defeat. Defenseman Peter Harrold is questionable for Saturday's tilt after he was hit in the face by the stick of Canadiens blue-liner Nathan Beaulieu midway into first period and did not return.
OVERTIME
1. Philadelphia RW Jakub Voracek has just one point (a goal) in his last four games after collected three tallies and six assists in his previous four.
2. Devils LW Mike Cammalleri scored versus the Canadiens and tallied twice in his team's 6-4 season-opening victory over the Flyers on Oct. 9.
3. Philadelphia RW Wayne Simmonds recorded three goals and an assist in the first two meetings with New Jersey.