Flyers 3 - 5 Devils
Final
  for this game

Coming off rare home loss, Devils play host to Flyers

Feb 15, 2013 - 3:52 PM (Sports Network) - The New Jersey Devils try to rebound from their first regulation home loss on Friday when they welcome the Philadelphia Flyers to Prudential Center.

The defending Eastern Conference champions saw their five-game winning streak come to an end on Tuesday with a 4-2 loss to Carolina.

Ilya Kovalchuk and Ryan Carter each scored for New Jersey, which was coming off a home-and-home sweep of Pittsburgh over the weekend. Martin Brodeur stopped 21-of-24 shots in the loss.

"Give (Carolina) credit, they came out and they were skating and getting the puck in deep and were on us all night," said Devils defenseman Bryce Salvador. "You can't take anything away from them."

To make matters worse, the Devils learned on Thursday that they will be without left wing Dainius Zubrus for the next four to six weeks following left wrist surgery. However, Alexei Ponikarovsky could see some ice time after being reacquired on Wednesday in a deal that sent two draft picks to Winnipeg.

Ponikarovsky scored nine points in the Devils' playoff run a year ago, but signed with the Jets in the summer.

Philadelphia, meanwhile, won for the second time in three tries on Tuesday, as Ilya Bryzgalov made 24 saves and Tye McGinn recorded the deciding goal early in the third period to help the Flyers take a 3-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets at MTS Centre.

Brayden Schenn and Kimmo Timonen added markers, while Jakub Voracek added a pair of assists for the Flyers, who won their fourth game in the last six outings.

"What I liked about it was it was 60 minutes of a committed hockey team that went out to win a game to keep us moving in the right direction," said Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette.

Philadelphia, which evened its record at 1-1-0 on a season-high six-game road trip, also won for just the second time in eight road tilts in 2013. The Flyers will close this trek with stops in Montreal, Long Island and Pittsburgh.

Schenn has two goals and four assists in the last six games, Voracek has a team-best seven points during that stretch and linemate McGinn has lit the lamp in each of the last two contests.

Philadelphia lost to the Devils back on Jan. 22 and has dropped four in a row as the road team in this series, including the playoffs.






Related News