Tonight on NBCSN, it’s the New Jersey Devils hosting the Philadelphia Flyers starting at 7:30 p.m. ET. Following are some game notes, as compiled by the NHL on NBC research team:
• On Oct. 18, the Devils (0-4-3, 3 pts.) and Flyers (1-7-0, 2 pts.) sat in the bottom two spots in the Eastern Conference; since that date, only three teams in the conference have earned more points than the Flyers.
Since Oct. 18 W-L-OTL Pts.
Penguins 25-11-1 51
Bruins 24-10-2 50
Canadiens 20-12-5 45
Flyers 20-10-4 44
• Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur, the NHL’s all-time career leader in wins with 681, will seek his 50th career victory over the Flyers tonight (49-31-9 record). There are 32 instances in NHL history of a goalie having at least 50 wins against a single opponent, including one by Brodeur, who has a 50-28-8 record against the Islanders. (Elias Sports Bureau)
• Only four NHL players have scored more career goals on Martin Brodeur than Flyers center Vincent Lecavalier (15 goals in 43 games), including Brodeur’s teammate, Jaromir Jagr (18 in 65).
19 – Simon Gagne (18 with Philadelphia)
18 – Jagr (0 with Philadelphia), Mike Knuble (13 with Philadelphia)
16 – Eric Lindros (13 with Philadelphia)
15 – Lecavalier (0 with Philadelphia), Alex Kovalev, Martin St. Louis
The only active goalies on whom Lecavalier has scored more goals are Buffalo’s Ryan Miller (16 in 25 games) and Carolina’s Cam Ward (16 in 35). (Elias Sports Bureau)
• After scoring three or more goals in only one of their first 15 games this season, the Flyers have scored 3+ in nine of their last 10 (since Dec. 15). Their 37 goals over that 10-game span are the third-most in the NHL, trailing only St. Louis (39) and Anaheim (38).
• Flyers winger Scott Hartnell enters tonight on a seven-game point streak (3-5=8 points), tied for his career high. Hartnell has faced the Devils more times (45) than any other NHL team in his career, but his 19 points (10-9=19) against New Jersey rank only T-10th.
• The Flyers are tops in the NHL in both penalty minutes for (679) and against (628), while the Devils are 30th in both categories (341 /319). The 1,307 total penalty minutes in 42 Flyers games is almost double (647 minutes) the 660 total minutes charged in 43 Devils games.
• Tonight, the Flyers and Oilers can make NHL history in Newark and St. Louis, respectively. The last three Flyers-Devils and Oilers-Blues meetings have all ended in shutouts by the road team. (See PHI-NJ details below.) No two teams have ever combined to post four straight road shutouts. (Elias Sports Bureau)
April 18, 2013: New Jersey 3, at Philadelphia 0 (Brodeur: 23 saves)
November 2, 2013: Philadelphia 1, at New Jersey 0 (Emery: 14 saves)
November 7, 2013: New Jersey 3, at Philadelphia 0 (Brodeur: 22 saves)