New Jersey Devils at Philadelphia Flyers - Preseason Game #1 Preview

The Time: 7 PM EDT

The Broadcast: Per Broad Street Hockey, the Comcast Network will do the Flyers' broadcast on TV. If you're not local to those stations, then the game will be on NHL Network.  However, if you're in the New Jersey area, the NHL Network will black out coverage according to Tom Gulitti. I don't see anything listed on WFAN for the Devils, but 610 AM WIP should have the Flyers' radio coverage. There's no other local coverage; it's a Flyers feed or nothing.  Sorry.  If anybody knows of something else that is legal, then please share it in the comments.  No illegal stream discussion will be allowed.

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils at the Philadelphia Flyers.  Both teams begin their preseason with each other.  Please go to Broad Street Hockey for Flyers coverage.

The Goal: As much as we'd appreciate a win over the Flyers, it really doesn't matter. Both teams aren't going to play their entire first team, they're likely going to be a mix of NHL players, AHL players, prospects, and try-outs.  The real goal of the game for both teams is to see how players perform.  For many, how they do in these early preseason games will determine if they are worth keeping around next week, much less the NHL season.   This is especially true for the Devils, since some of these players could be on the trading block by next week. 

Basically, the players involved need to go out there, work hard, execute well, avoid injury, and impress the coaching staff.  It may be cliche, but that doesn't make it true.   Read on for a little more on tonight's game.

 

As of this writing, 8 PM EDT on September 20, there really isn't much known about who will play for either team.  Through this post at Broad Street Hockey, the Flyers will start Michael Leighton and play goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky at some point on Tuesday.   Tom Gulitti reported in this post that Andy Greene and Johan Hedberg believed that they will be making the trip to the Wells Fargo Center.   In that same post, John MacLean revealed that Hedberg and Martin Brodeur won't play in the same game yet.  So it's (somewhat) safe to guess that Brodeur won't be playing on Tuesday, and that's fine.  He doesn't have to prove anything.

Beyond that, I couldn't tell you who is and isn't playing for either side.  I'm sure both rosters will be revealed sometime tomorrow.  So please follow Gulitti and Chere for the Devils; and Philly.com for the Flyers among other sources for updated information.

In the meantime, I'd like to point out that the Devils held a scrimmage on Monday.  Gulitti has a full account of the game itself, including intra-squad lineups.  Alexander Vasyunov got the game-winner, Jacob Josefson impressed, and Ilya Kovalchuk continued to be on the right wing with Zach Parise and Travis Zajac (and scored a goal).  Intra-squad scrimmages mean even less than preseason games in the long term; but I wonder if they'll suit up tonight.  Or not at all. 

If you're looking for players who have every reason to bring their A+ game tonight, check if Marcus Nilson and/or Adam Mair are in the lineup.  While I'm not big on Mair and Tom went through a lot on Nilson, both are on try-out contracts.  I would think they would eventually fit in a depth role at best on the Devils.  Since the Devils do have a number of minor league players and prospects who can play in depth roles, they absolutely need to sparkle in their given roles should they want to have any shot to get any kind of a contract.

As we await game time, please use the comments to this post to for further discussion.  Please feel free to link any updates here, talk about what you want to see, and ask whatever question you may have.   Preseason tends to make these short, but don't worry, we hope to get into regular season form along with the players too. Thanks for reading.