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Flyers Game 51, Direction-Defining Game; Lines, Notes, and How to Watch vs. Devils

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Flyers vs Devils Gameday Graphic

The Philadelphia Flyers (22-22-6) are set to take on the New Jersey Devils (28-17-6) as they return home from their New York City back-to-back.



After scoring early in both games, the Flyers return home winless. The Flyers are 5-5-2 in the new year. The Devils have not been much better since the calendar turned, as they have gone 4-4-3 in 2025.

This is the first back-to-back set, as the two sides will face off again on Wednesday. Puck drop on Monday is at 7:00 P.M. EST. in the Wells Fargo Center.

Projected Lines

Forwards

Owen Tippett – Morgan Frost – Travis Konecny

Tyson Foerster – Noah Cates – Bobby Brink

Joel Farabee – Sean Couturier – Matvei Michkov

Scott Laughton – Rodrigo Abols – Garnet Hathaway

Defensemen

Travis Sanheim – Jamie Drysdale

Cam York – Rasmus Ristolainen

Nick Seeler – Erik Johnson

Goalie

Sam Ersson

Power Play Units

PP1: Travis Konceny – Morgan Frost – Matvei Michkov – Owen Tippett – Jamie Drysdale

PP2: Bobby Brink – Noah Cates – Tyson Foerster – Travis Sanheim – Rasmus Ristolainen

Penalty Kill Units

PK1: Sean Couturier – Travis Konecny – Travis Sanheim – Rasmus Ristolainen

PK2: Noah Cates – Garnet Hathaway – Nick Seeler – Egor Zamula

Direction Defining Game

The Flyers have already had a four-game losing streak since the holiday break and now have back-to-back losses. Philadelphia will look to avoid extending the losing skid and get back into the win column before back-to-back losses extend even further.

However, looking at the Flyers’ schedule before the trade deadline, Monday’s game could very well define the rest of the season for the Flyers. Seven games remain on the Flyers’ schedule before the Four Nations Face-Off break, four of which are against current playoff teams. Pittsburgh is the only team with a worse winning percentage than the Flyers on the remaining schedule.

Furthering the point, in the six games after the break prior to the trade deadline, the schedule gets even harder. The only sub-.500 team the Flyers will see before the deadline is Pittsburgh, who they will play three times before the March 7th deadline.

If the Flyers cannot overcome their losing streak now, it will only get harder. The result of this game could easily affect the outcome of the season.

Laughton’s Return

Scott Laughton has missed the last three games due to a personal family matter. We last saw Laughton play in the Flyers’ thrilling 3-1 win over the Devils just over a week ago.

In 47 games this season, the Flyers’ alternate captain has scored 23 points, including nine goals and 14 assists.

Despite primarily playing on the fourth line, Laughton plays a key role on special teams, primarily on the penalty kill. Beyond that, Laughton is a leader on this Flyers team. It will be good to have Laughton back in the lineup.

It is worth noting that no lineup changes were announced Monday morning, but Laughton did skate during Sunday’s practice. If he is available, it is hard to imagine he does not play.

Mixed-Up Defensive Pairs

After Egor Zamula suffered an “upper-body ailment” prior to the Flyers’ game against the Islanders on Friday, Philly’s defensive pairs were thrown into a blender. The same lines that were made to adjust to the Zamula injury will play in another game, and there are definitely some interesting pairs.

I am intrigued by Sanheim-Drysdale. Drysdale moved from the bottom pair with Seeler to the top pair with Sanheim. We all know Drysdale is not a super-defensive defenseman, but playing with Sanheim should help, as playing with Seeler did. I really like Sanheim playing on the left side, as he has a left shot. This could help Sanheim tap back into his offensive potential as well.

For the rest of the pairs, York-Ristolaoinen has the potential to be an absolute lockdown pairing, and the Seeler-Johnson line was genuinely surprising on Friday, especially with Johnson’s play.

Previous Matchup

As mentioned earlier, the Flyers took the first matchup between the two teams earlier this month.

Bobby Brink’s power-play goal lifted the Flyers over the Devils late in the third period, and Travis Konecny’s empty-netter extended the Flyers’ lead to two scores. Matvei Michkov scored the first goal for the Flyers.

How to Watch

TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia, ESPN+

Radio: 97.5. The Fanatic

Puck drop is at 7 P.M. EST. in the Wells Fargo Center.

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