Thursday October 9, 2014

Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia

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The New Jersey Devils will open up their season when they face the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night.

Coming from the same division, the Devils and the Flyers played each other four times in 2013-14, with each winning two games against the other. As rivals, they are known for playing low-scoring, tightly played games, as both were able to pick up a shutout against the other and only one of their games ended up being more than a one-goal difference.

This is going to be New Jersey's opening game of the season, and they will be looking to put last campaign far in their rear-view mirror. Last season, they had one of the best defenses in the NHL, but they struggled to score and missed the playoffs after accumulating just 88 points. They relied heavily on 41-year-old Jaromir Jagr, who had 24 goals and a team-leading 43 assists in 82 games. Veteran defenseman Marek Zidlicky added 12 goals and 30 assists.

The Devils needed more offense for this year's team, so they went out and got Mike Cammalleri and Martin Havlat during the offseason. Cammalleri had 45 points in 63 games for the Flames last year, while Havlat had 22 points in 48 games for the San Jose Sharks. Two players that the Devils lost were Martin Brodeur and Andrei Loktionov, which shouldn't have a major impact on their roster.

Injuries to Watch

New Jersey Devils

10/07/14 C Travis Zajac Lower Body "?" Thursday vs. Philadelphia
10/06/14 D Andy Greene Undisclosed probable Thursday vs. Philadelphia
10/06/14 RW Damien Brunner Facial probable Thursday vs. Philadelphia

Philadelphia Flyers

10/05/14 D Kimmo Timonen Blood Clot out indefinitely
10/05/14 RW Wayne Simmonds Foot "?" Wednesday vs. Boston

Guy's Pick: Take Philadelphia

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