Flyers vs. Devils: How To Watch, Lineups, Keys To The Game

In any sport, having a short memory when things go wrong is part of the formula to being successful. The Philadelphia Flyers are certainly going to need to have that on Thursday night, with the understanding that things need to get better going forward. A lot better.

After Wednesday's 7-0 drubbing to the Pittsburgh Penguins to open the season, the Flyers are right back in action on Thursday night, on the road to take on the New Jersey Devils at 7 PM.

How to Watch

Time: 7 PM
Location: Prudential Center in Newark, NJ
Streaming: ESPN+/Hulu
Radio: Rock 104.1 and the Rock 104.1 Free Mobile App

Projected Flyers Lines vs. Devils

Injury & Roster Updates

Lineup Updates: The Flyers did not have a morning skate after playing on Wednesday night, but you can expect some possible changes to the lineup. Garrett Wilson could come in on the fourth line and David Jiricek will likely get his first look on the third-pairing.
Starting Goalie: Joseph Woll gets the start for the Flyers. Woll makes his Flyers' debut, after being acquired via trade in the offseason. He was 15-16-7 last season with Toronto, with a 3.34 GAA and .899 save percentage.
Injuries
- Denver Barkey: upper-body injury, placed on IR to start the season

Opponent Snapshot: New Jersey Devils

Penguins Projected Lineup vs. Flyers

28 Timo Meier - 13 Nico Hischier - 77 Luke Evangelista
63 Jesper Bratt - 86 Jack Hughes - 39 Anthony Mantha
81 Arseny Gritsyuk - 17 Evan Rodrigues - 91 Dawson Mercer
93 Amadeus Lombardi - 12 Cody Glass - 11 Stefan Noesen

43 Luke Hughes - 22 Brett Pesce
71 Jonas Siegenthaler - 7 Dougie Hamilton
5 Brenden Dillon - 47 Declan Chisholm

34 Jake Allen
50 Nico Daws

Special Teams (2025-26 Stats)
- Power Play: 22.0% (13th)
- Penalty Kill: 79.3% (17th)
Who’s hot?: Jack Hughes led the team with 77 points in 61 games last season. Nico Hischier was the team-leader in goals with 28. Jesper Bratt had 22 goals and 71 points.
Who’s in net?: Jake Allen gets the start for the Devils. Allen had a 17-17-2 with a 2.74 GAA and .904 save percentage in 37 games last season.
Injuries: Forwards Nick Bjugstad and Connor Brown and defensemen Seamus Casey and Johnathan Kovacevic are starting the season on IR.

Keys to the Game

Flush the Opener: It was a night to forget on Wednesday, but the Flyers can truly make it forgettable by moving on quickly and flushing that result with a better one on Thursday.
First Chance for Woll: Joseph Woll was one of the key acquisitions for the Flyers, certainly an upgrade on paper at the backup position. Now he has the chance to show that it's an upgrade with his first start as a Flyer, and his teammates could certainly use a strong showing.
Attention to Detail: So much of any team's success is in the details of the game, and the Flyers' were non-existent in the opener. Getting back to that attention to detail — having better breakouts, smoother line changes, and making smart decisions — is imperative.

By the Numbers

The Flyers play their first road game of the season on Thursday night. Last season, they were 23-14-4 on the road and their 23 wins ranked seventh in the NHL.
Travis Konecny (36), Owen Tippett (33), Matvei Michkov (30), and Trevor Zegras (30) all reached 30 points or more on the road in 2025-26.
Tyson Foerster has six goals and nine points in 10 career games against the Devils. Zegras has five goals and seven points in eight games against the Devils. Michkov has four goals and six points in seven games against the Devils.

Quotable

"I honestly don't have an answer. I don't know if we won a battle. When you don't win battles, they have the puck. They out-coached us tonight, they out-played us. They did everything better than us tonight." - Rick Tocchet
"You're on TNT, a headline game, and I just thought, we were down 4-0 and some plays we were making were disturbing plays. Obviously we've got to figure this out quickly. Our D-zone, since I've been here, it's the worst D-zone I've ever seen." - Tocchet
"At some point, we've got to learn here. We've got to wake up. Last exhibition game we played was the same way. Everyone's like, 'oh, it's training camp, we're going to ease our way into the season,' but we've got to wake up here. There's no panic, nothing, but I think we've got to realize we're not that good, what happened last year is last year and it's a fresh year, and we've got to get back to out-working teams and trying to get points. We're going to move on, but we've got to open our eyes and wake up here and get back to doing the little things." - Sean Couturier

X-Factors

Porter Martone: Nobody played well in Wednesday's opener, but it was an especially rough night for rookie Porter Martone. If you can learn a lot from how your team, and certain players, respond to adversity, this will be a good test for the young Flyers forward.
Jack Hughes: America's golden goal-scorer has plenty of skill and can take over a game. A lot of the Devils' potential success this season relies on offensive ability, and if this game goes anything like Wednesday's, Hughes will have a field day with the open space available to showcase his skill.