Tonight’s game is on CSN Philly, 97.5 The Fanatic, and CSNPhilly.com (and the NBC Sports) locally or with a cable subscription. In NJ and those whereabouts, you can watch this one on MSG+. Otherwise, you can watch via NHL.tv or NHL Center ice.
It’s a Flyers-Devils game, so there’s an overwhelmingly good chance that tonight’s game will end in sadness and disappointment. Also, there’s another one next week, and I have no idea how there are so many of these god damn games this year. I’m pretty sure there have already been about seventeen of them this season. (Or three, maybe.) Thanks to developments earlier today, the Flyers would be eliminated from playoff contention tonight with a loss and at least one point gained by Toronto, and I can’t think of a setting that makes that outcome more likely than a home game against the Devils coming off of a three-game winning streak. Flyers hockey! Catch the fever!
Lineup-wise, though, there IS one fun development, that being the movement of Travis Konecny to the top line while Colin McDonald moves into his old spot on the fourth line. So if you’ve been asking for Konecny to get a chance with actual offensive talent, the way that most of us have been … here’s that chance.
Otherwise, lines and pairs are the same as against Ottawa. Michal Neuvirth makes an appearance in net against Cory Schneider.
Flyers lineup (via)
Forwards
- Travis Konecny – Claude Giroux – Jakub Voracek
- Jordan Weal – Valtteri Filppula – Wayne Simmonds
- Dale Weise – Sean Couturier – Brayden Schenn
- Chris VandeVelde – Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – Colin McDonald
Defensemen
- Ivan Provorov – Andrew MacDonald
- Michael Del Zotto – Shayne Gostisbehere
- Brandon Manning – Radko Gudas
Goalies
- Michal Neuvirth
- Steve Mason
Scratches: Michael Raffl (injury), Meat Read (injury), Nick Cousins (injury), Roman Lyubimov (not being Chris VandeVelde), Mike Vecchione (new guy), Nick Schultz (old guy)
New Jersey lineup (via)
Forwards
- Taylor Hall – Travis Zajac – Kyle Palmieri
- Adam Henrique – Joseph Blandisi – Beau Bennett
- John Quenneville – Pavel Zacha – Stefan Noesen
- Miles Wood – Blake Coleman – Blake Pietila
Defensemen
- John Moore – Damon Severson
- Andy Greene – Ben Lovejoy
- Steven Santini – Dalton Prout
Goalies
- Cory Schneider
- Keith Kinkaid