John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (20-20-6) are in Newark on Saturday afternoon to take on Sheldon Keefe's New Jersey Devils (26-15-6). Game time at Prudential Center is 12:30 p.m. EST.
The game will be televised on NBCSP. The radio broadcast is on 97.5 The Fanatic with an online simulcast on 97.5 The Fanatic.
Saturday's matinee is the first of four meetings this season between the rival Metropolitan Division clubs. The Flyers and Devils will rematch on January 27 (Wells Fargo Center), Jan. 29 (Prudential Center) and the afternoon of March 9 (Wells Fargo Center).
The Flyers have gained seven of eight possible points in their last four games, going 3-0-1. However, the Flyers have been unable to make headway in the race for an Eastern Conference wildcard spot. The Flyers enter Saturday's game coming off a 5-3 win in Elmont over the New York Islanders. Tortorella's team has posted a 10-9-5 record thus far in away games.
New Jersey is in second place in the Metro, one point ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes but trailing the Washington Capitals by seven points. The Devils are 3-4-3 in their last 10 games, with each of their last three games being decided beyond regulation (1-0-2). On home ice this season, the Devils are 13-6-4.
Here are five things to watch in Saturday's game.
1. Captain Coots
Flyers captain Sean Couturier enters Saturday's game one goal away from attaining 200 goals for his NHL career. Currently playing on a 5-on-5 line with Joel Farabee and Matvei Michkov, Couturier posted one goal and one assist in Thursday's victory over the Islanders.
Across his NHL regular season career to date, Couturier has notched more goals against the Devils (13) than any other NHL opponent. Overall, in 48 head-to-head games against New Jersey, Couturier has compiled 23 points (13g, 10a).
2. Patience with the puck
Saturday's opponent, the Devils, rank in the NHL's top five in lowest team goals against average (2.53 GAA) and the top one-third of the league in 5-on-5 puck possession (51.82 percent Corsi, ranked 9th). The Devils also rank in the top one-third in credited hits (24.04 average, ranked 8th).
In a nutshell, that means the Flyers will need to be opportunistic when they have a scoring chance but also patient when there's a situation where it's smarter to put the puck to soft ice and maintain their structure as five-man units.
Offensively, the Devils rank 11th in the NHL with an average of 3.11 goals scored per game. Philly ranks 12th at 3.04 GPG.
Saturday afternoon's game marks the Flyers' seventh game in less than 12 nights. Every team in the NHL has a compacted schedule leading up to the 4 Nations Face-off, however. Fatigue and accumulated bumps and bruises are a fact of NHL life this time of year.
3. Playing without Poehling
Flyers checking center and penalty killing regular Ryan Poehling has been ruled out for Saturday's game. He had to leave Thursday's game in Elmont early in the first period after sustaining an upper-body injury on a Maxim Tsyplakov high hit that appeared to make most of its contact with Poehling's head.
Tsyplakov received a three-game suspension from the NHL. In the meantime, it is hard to reliably pinpoint Poehling's next availability to play. In Saturday's game, winger Olle Lycksell will dress in the vacated lineup spot.
Who will play center in Poehling's absence? The likeliest candidate is alternate captain Scott Laughton (nine goals, 14 assists). "Laughts" has shuttled between center and left wing frequently in recent years after primarily playing center earlier in his career.
Laughton received a fine from the NHL for a late-game cross-check on New York's Tsyplakov in Thursday's game. There was no suspension, so the Flyers did not have to recall a player from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
4. Frosty heating up
Playing on a line with Owen Tippett (13g, 15a) and team leading scorer Travis Konecny (20g, 33a), Flyers center Morgan Frost (11g, 13a) brings a five-game point streak into Saturday's matchup.
Over the last five games, Frost has posted six points, with four goals and two assists. His career-best point streak is six games.
Over the last three seasons, Frost has tended to play his best hockey during the latter half of the year, following slow starts. For an in-depth look at Frost's pattern of strong second halves, as well as discussions on Konecny, Couturier and defenseman Travis Sanheim, see this week's edition of the Friday Forecheck.
5. Flyers special teams
The Flyers long-suffering power play showed signs of progress when they scored two goals apiece on the man advantage in games against Anaheim and Florida. However, they did not click against Columbus or on Thursday against the Islanders (ranked dead last leaguewide on the PK).
Entering Saturday's game in Newark, the Flyers rank 28th leaguewide on the power play at an even 16 percent success rate. The Devils rank 10th on the PK at 82.2 percent success.
After ranking near the top in the NHL for most of last season and up to Thanksgiving this year, the Flyers' penalty kill has been in decline the last seven weeks. The club has dropped to 21st in the NHL (77.5 percent). The Devils' power play ranks third leaguewide at 28.8 percent.
With the Flyers missing Poehling from the lineup, there will be an added burden on regular PK forwards such as Noah Cates, Laughton, Konecny and Garnet Hathaway to do heavy lifting as needed if and when the Flyers have to play shorthanded on Saturday.
On Thursday against the Islanders normally weak power play (ranked last in the NHL), the Flyers gave up two goals. They offset one with a Hathaway shorthanded tally from a Konecny setup pass. Nonetheless, for the Flyers to beat the Devils, Philly will have to do a much better job of dealing with a top power play club.
