Prior to last season, forward Vincent Lecavalier had never been a healthy scratch in his NHL career. The potential Hall-of-Famer sat 17 times last year and has been in the press box for the first eight contests of the 2015-16 campaign.
In lieu of Pierre-Edouard Bellemare’s lower body injury, Lecavalier will be inserted into the lineup tonight as the Flyers play the New Jersey Devils, playing left wing on the fourth line with Chris VandeVelde and Ryan White.
The opening face-off is set for 7 p.m.
Joining Bellemare and Sean Couturier (concussion) on the scratch sheet tonight will be defenseman Radko Gudas who has over 20 hits in his last three games. He’ll be replaced by Brandon Manning who figures to play alongside Luke Schenn, another frequent scratch who recorded two assists on Tuesday night in the OT loss to the Buffalo Sabres.
Top-line right wing Jake Voracek will look to get on the board tonight as he has not found the back of the net since last season. Although he has been held with a goal, the rest of the team has been seemingly scoring at will, tallying 10 goals in the last three contests. They will look to continue that trend tonight against goaltender Cory Schneider who boasts a 4-2-1 record with a 2.39 GAA and a .912 save percentage.
While the Flyers have been a pleasant surprise with their 4-2-2 start, the same can be said about New Jersey, who enter tonight’s game one point behind with a 4-4-1 record.
Led by forward Adam Henrique, the Devils have won four out of their last five meetings against the Flyers. Henrique, who leads the team this year with six goals, has registered nine goals and six assists against the Flyers in 17 career tilts, his highest point total against any NHL club.
Although goaltender Michal Neuvirth has been activated from injured-reserve, he will back-up starter Steve Mason who will try to keep Henrique and Co. at bay. Mason enters the game with a 2-2-2 record, a 3.43 GAA and a .899 save percentage.
Besides a classic divisional rivalry game, fans in attendance will also be treated to $1 hot dogs, the first such promotion this season.
Game Notes
- Power Play: Flyers (22nd, 26th at home), Devils (9th, T-7th on road)
- Penalty Kill: Flyers (24th, T-7th at home), Devils (T-25th, 27th on road)
- The Flyers were 1-3-0 against the Devils last season. The Flyers only win came on Dec. 11 in a 4-1 victory at home. The Flyers lost the other three meetings, 6-4 on Oct. 9, 5-2 on Jan. 3 and 5-2 on March 8.
- Flyers leaders vs. Devils
- Claude Giroux – 31 games, 8 goals, 20 assists, 28 points
- Vincent Lecavalier – 57 games, 18 goals, 29 assists, 47 points
- Wayne Simmonds – 23 games, 8 goals, 6 assists, 14 points
- Steve Mason – 7 games, 0-6-0, 3.78 GAA
- Milestone Watch: Wayne Simmonds needs four points to reach 200 as a Flyer.
Flyers Projected Lineup
Line 1: Michael Raffl-Claude Giroux-Jake Voracek
Line 2: Matt Read-Sam Gagner-Wayne Simmonds
Line 3: R.J. Umberger-Scott Laughton-Brayden Schenn
Line 4: Vincent Lecavalier-Chris VandeVelde-Ryan White
D-Pair 1: Michael Del Zotto-Mark Streit
D-Pair 2: Nick Schultz-Evgeny Medvedev
D-Pair 3: Brandon Manning-Luke Schenn
Goalie: Steve Mason
Scratches: Radko Gudas, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Sean Couturier
Where to Watch
TV: CSN
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Zach Hopkins is a contributing writer for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @healedbyhockey.
