Game Preview: Devils (13-6-1) at Philadelphia Flyers (10-6-3)

Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

The Devils will cap off the five-game road trip on Saturday night with another installment of the battle of the turnpike with the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers are coming off a comeback overtime victory over the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night, whereas the Devils are coming off two straight losses to the teams in Florida. The Flyers are led by newly acquired Trevor Zegras, who is at a point-per-game pace over the first 20 games of the season.

The Flyers have had a very strong start to the season, penalty killing-wise, as they rank second in the entire league at 86.2%. This is not a promising sign for the Devils' power play, which is still looking to overcome the absence of Jack Hughes. With the Devils also only having one goal in their last eight periods, it'll be another battle tonight as the Flyers are in the top 10 in the league in goals against per game, allowing just 2.79.

The Devils' morning skate featured a few changes within the top six, with the hope of sparking some offensive improvement. The Devils' first line will be Meier - Hischier - Bratt, a line that's very top-heavy but has the potential to take over a game. The second line will be Gritsyuk and Brown, centered by Dawson Mercer. Gritsyuk and Brown were on a line together to begin the year centered by Cody Glass, and they were very effective.

Jake Allen will get the start for a consecutive game, which is the correct call as he was the Devils' star in the 1-0 loss on Thursday night. As mentioned previously, this will most likely become a regular occurrence for the next while as Jacob Markstrom works his way through a struggle and a tweak in injury.

Key to the Game

The first line has to lead the way for the Devils tonight. Between Meier, Hischier, and Bratt they've combined for just five goals in the Devils' last 10 games. That cannot happen with the Devils missing Hughes. I expect the first line to provide some much-needed offense and to lead the Devils to a win to end the road trip feeling positive.