Preview: Flyers Begin Season Series Against Devils

Today, the Philadelphia Flyers (20-20-6) visit the New Jersey Devils (26-15-6) at the Prudential Center. The opening faceoff is at 12:30pm/ET.

John Tortorella has his lineup in a good place. The Flyers banded against the New York Islanders after Maxim Tsyplakov knocked Ryan Poehling (upper body) out of the game. Tsyplakov is serving a three-game suspension but wasn’t penalized for the hit. Poehling will not compete against the Devils.

“Poehls [Poehling] has done some really good things for us. [He’s] one of our top penalty killers. We just go and play. Lycksy [Lycksell] goes in, we’ll fool around with the lines, and we play.” – John Tortorella; 1/17/2025

Olle Lycksell will enter the lineup in New Jersey.

The Devils (-205) are sizable favorites, per DraftKings Sportsbook. Philadelphia has an edge on New Jersey at the faceoff dot, which could change without Poehling. As long as the Flyers stay out of the penalty box, they can compete.

When: 1/18/2025; 12:30pm/ET
Where: Prudential Center; Newark, NJ
Broadcast Info: NBC Sports Philadelphia; Flyers Radio 24/7
Last Game PHI: 1/16/25; 5-3 W; at New York Islanders
Last Game NJD: 1/16/25; 4-3 OTL; at Toronto Maple Leafs

Philadelphia Flyers

Sam Ersson (12-7-2, 88.8%SV, 2.87GAA) will start.

Ersson faced the highest shot volume in his last five starts against the Islanders. He saved 26/29 shots for an 89.7%SV.

Philadelphia battles the Devils for the first time this season. Ersson will face pressure from an offense ranking 11th in the NHL and a powerplay that ranks 3rd. In his career, Ersson is 2-2-0 against New Jersey.

Jamie Drysdale (-15, 48BLK, 6HIT, 11TK:35GV, 54.7%FF) heated up lately. He notched three points on the powerplay (1G, 2A) as a puck-moving defender along the blue line. That’s what Tortorella wants from him. He views Drysdale as a ‘rover.’

Drysdale didn’t add a point in his last game. He blocked two shots and held strong on defense. His contribution to the offense was starting the transition on the attack when Morgan Frost scored.

Frost (11G, 13A) is scorching. He has six points (4G, 2A) in his last five games. The Devils are on the fringe of being an elite team in the NHL, but Frost is still doing damage against clubs represented in the top half of the NHL Standings. Lately, he scored versus the Dallas Stars and Florida Panthers.

Projected Lineup: Philadelphia Flyers

#71 Tyson Foerster – #27 Noah Cates – #10 Bobby Brink
#74 Owen Tippett – #48 Morgan Frost – #11 Travis Konecny
#86 Joel Farabee – #14 Sean Couturier – #39 Matvei Michkov
#15 Olle Lycksell – #21 Scott Laughton – #19 Garnet Hathaway

#8 Cam York – #6 Travis Sanheim
#5 Egor Zamula – #55 Rasmus Ristolainen
#24 Nick Seeler – #9 Jamie Drysdale

#33 Sam Ersson
(#82 Ivan Fedotov)

Projected Lineup: New Jersey Devils

#18 Ondřej Palát – #86 Jack Hughes – #63 Jesper Bratt
#28 Timo Meier – #13 Nico Hischier – #11 Stefan Noesen
#47 Paul Cotter – #37 Justin Dowling – #91 Dawson Mercer
#48 Brian Halonen – #42 Curtis Lazar – #14 Nathan Bastian

#5 Brenden Dillon – #7 Dougie Hamilton
#71 Jonas Siegenthaler – #8 Johnathan Kovacevic
#43 Luke Hughes – #22 Brett Pesce

#34 Jake Allen
(#25 Jacob Markström)