New Jersey Devils: 27-17-3, 57 points
Philadelphia Flyers: 26-15-5, 57 points
Martin Brodeur v. Antero Niittymaki
This is as big of a pre All-Star break game as you can get. The Devils and Flyers currently sit tied in second in the Atlantic Division, the league's best and most competitive. Whoever wins this game will take over first place for the time being, because the division leading Penguins are off tonight.
Antero Niittymaki will get his second straight start in goal tonight, after making 25 saves on 26 shots against the East-leading Senators on Sunday. He has posted a 6-0-1 record over the past month, and he's a huge reason why the Flyers are 8-1-1 in their last 10 games.
However, it seems that no matter how hot the Flyers or any individual player is, the true litmus test is how they stand up against the Devils. The Flyers are 1-4-0 against New Jersey this season, including dropping their last four. The Flyers cannot succeed in the playoffs unless they can overcome this mental block and beat the Devils.
The Flyers need to stay patient and avoid mistakes. New Jersey has always thrived off of taking advantage of turnovers and bad penalties, and it's important to stay out of the box and remained focus. It's well documented that the Devils are a tough team to come from behind against, so starting fast should be the Flyers' number one priority tonight.
Tonight's scratches, according to Bill Meltzer:
Lasse Kukkonen
Joffrey Lupul
Rory Fitzpatrick
Dennis Tolpeko has be reassigned to the Phantoms after recovering from his injury.
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