Flyers (20-11-4) at Devils (12-13-7)
7 p.m. on TCN, CSNPhilly.com and the NBC Sports App; Pregame Live at 6:30
The Flyers look to build off Wednesday's thrilling 3-2 shootout win when they visit the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on Thursday night before a five-day holiday break.
Here are five things you need to know for the matchup:
1. Getting defensive
Led by the performance of 19-year-old Ivan Provorov, the Flyers played aggressive and disruptive defense to shut down the Capitals' top-five scorers. Alex Ovechkin was held without a shot on goal until three seconds left in regulation, while he, Nicklas Backstrom, Marcus Johansson, Evgeny Kuznetsov and T.J. Oshie all went pointless.
The Flyers also awarded Washington only one power play, which they killed in the final two minutes of the third period.
The Flyers, as a whole, weren't at their best against the Capitals, but that type of defensive effort will give them a chance to win every night.
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"Any time you play that team, you want to keep them off the scoreboard," Wayne Simmonds said. "You want to keep (Ovechkin) away from the puck and we did a good job tonight."
2. Mason or Stolarz?
Steve Mason was brilliant against the Capitals, making 36 saves and stopping three of four shots in the shootout.
Any other time, you would want him in net the following game. And despite Mason exhausting himself in the victory, you could argue that the Flyers may not want to give him a breather when a five-day hiatus awaits.
But Wednesday's win would be an ideal sendoff for Mason entering the holiday break (see more below). Meanwhile, the Flyers could go with young Anthony Stolarz, who would love this start. The 22-year-old rookie is from Edison, New Jersey, and grew up a Devils fan. He's also coming off a shutout and deserves the net, as much as Mason deserves a night off for the first time since Dec. 11.
Whoever tends the pipes, the Flyers like their options.
3. Good deal with Devils
The Devils have always been a tough out given their methodical, but effective style of play, but the Flyers need to take advantage of their five meetings with New Jersey, one of the few lower-tier teams in the Metropolitan Division.
Right now, the Devils are spiraling.
New Jersey has lost seven straight games, a stretch in which it's been outscored, 30-9. The Devils have lost 14 of their last 17 and rank in the bottom six of the league in goals per game (2.28) and goals against per game (3.00).
4. Keep an eye on ...
Flyers: We'll go Michael Raffl, who provided more secondary scoring in Wednesday's win by potting a key game-tying marker in the second period. The Flyers are 5-0-2 when the complementary forward scores a goal.
Devils: Despite New Jersey struggling, center Adam Henrique has three goals and four assists in his last nine games. And he's always played the Flyers well, with 10 career tallies against them and a plus-13 rating in 21 games.
5. This and that
• Mason has bad career numbers against the Devils. He's 0-7-0 lifetime facing New Jersey with a 3.70 goals-against average and .861 save percentage.
• Devils goalie Cory Schneider is 4-3-1 with a 2.71 goals-against average and .906 save percentage in eight career games against the Flyers.
• The Flyers are at 20 wins before Christmas for the first time since the 2011-12 season.
• The Flyers have four shootout wins already, tying their franchise high for such victories in a season.
