+1
The New Jersey Devils (35-36-5) are coping with the reality of missing the playoffs for the first time in 15 seasons. But that fact won't diminish their chance to play spoiler against their biggest rival.
New Jersey will look to move back to NHL-.500 tonight when they face the struggling Philadelphia Flyers (46-21-10) at the Prudential Center.
With only six regular season games remaining, both teams stand on opposite ends of the playoff spectrum. New Jersey enters tonight's game sitting in 12th place in the Eastern Conference, 12 points out of a playoff spot. If the Buffalo Sabres gain one point in the standings, they will mathmatically eliminate the Devils.
The Flyers, on the other hand, hold the top seed in the Eastern Conference with 102 points. But their lead is tenuous at best. They've lost three of their last five and are just 5-2-4 since defenseman Chris Pronger broke his hand March 8.
Despite being out of the playoff picture, the Devils want to finish the season strong.
"I’d like to put pressure on these guys a little bit and say that the last games that we have to play from here on (will be the best way to judge the season)," Lemaire told Tom Gulitti of The Bergen Record. "It would be very simple just to say that, ‘Hey, we came back. We did well up to now. It’s fine.’ But it will be fine if we play well from now until the end."
One of those goals will be to even the season series against the Flyers. Philadelphia won nine of the last 12 meetings against the Devils, and lead this season's series 3-1-1. The Flyers won their last game at New Jersey, 4-2. Both Danny Briere and Scott Hartnell scored two goals apiece in the win.
Johan Hedberg will start for the Devils. He's faced the Flyers five times this season, going 2-3-0 with a 2.80 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage. This is his first start since a 2-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on February 25.
Despite facing them five times, Hedberg knows the Flyers are a difficult opponent.
"There is no easy nights anyway," Hedberg told Gulitti. "It's been proven all year. If you’re not sharp one night, any team will beat you. But they’re a good team. I’ve seen them quite a few times this year. They’re a lot of cycling around the net, a lot of crashing around the net. Pretty intense."
Anton Volchenkov will also return to the lineup. The defenseman missed two games after sustaining a lower-body injury in a loss to Pittsburgh last Friday.
Devils 4, Flyers 2: New Jersey Avoids Playoff Elimination
Newark, NJ (Sports Network) - Patrik Elias notched his eighth career hat trick to lead New Jersey over Philadelphia, 4-2, at Prudential Center.
Nick Palmieri also tallied and Brian Rolston added three assists for the Devils, who remained in the playoff picture with their second straight win.
Johan Hedberg made 34 stops as New Jersey still hopes to avoid missing out on the postseason for the first time since 1996. Jacques Lemaire's club would have been eliminated from postseason contention with a loss of any kind on Friday.
James van Riemsdyk and Jeff Carter scored for the Flyers, who have dropped five of seven but still remained one point ahead of Washington for top spot in the Eastern Conference and four ahead of Pittsburgh in the Atlantic Division.
Brian Boucher yielded all four goals on 24 shots.
Hedberg stretched out to rob Danny Briere's left-wing chance just over two minutes into the third period, then Carter eventually hit the net with a helper from Zherdev at 4:18 to forge a 2-2 deadlock.
Ilya Kovalchuk then wound his way through the Flyers zone and let a shot go that was tipped in by Palmieri at the side of the crease for a 3-2 Devils' edge at 8:55, and Elias capped his trifecta with 2:46 remaining when review upheld his score that ticked off the back of his skate.
The Flyers got on the board with 9:10 to play in the first, when van Riemsdyk drove the net and tipped in a right-wing shot from Mike Richards.
The Devils equalized at 6:28 of the second period when Elias one-timed a Rolston feed from the high slot, then went up a goal at 8:20 while shorthanded thanks to Elias finishing off another dish from Rolston.
Complete Coverage >
Apr 02 9:44a by Ed Valentine