The New Jersey Devils have struggled recently, winning one of three during their most recent homestand.  Tonight, they leave the Garden State for Pennsylvania, the "Keystone State."  The Devils visit the storming Philadelphia Flyers winners in 7 of their last 8 games, the only loss coming in an overtime to Boston.

Although the Devils have had much success versus Philly the past 16 games (14-1-1), every meeting is physical and a challenge for both organizations.  Then again, New Jersey has goalie Martin Brodeur and Philadelphia uses a combination of Martin Biron (primary) and Antero Nittymaki (in relief).  Lately though, Flyers head coach John Steven has inserted Nittymaki into the lineup which has paid major dividends.  Biron has cooled off after a 7-2-0 start with 1.40GAA and 2 shutouts in October.  He has gone 10-9-4 since then with a goals against above three and zero blanks.  Meanwhile, Finish native Nittymaki has improved over the course of the season, especially in January.  If he starts tonight, do not be surprised.

Nittymaki’s Numbers:

October 0-1-0, 4.03GAA, .840 SV%

Nov. 2-1-0, 2.56GAA, .908 SV%

Dec. 2-2-0, 2.01, .937

Jan. 5-0-1, 2.16, 9.39

That’s right.  Nittymaki has not lost in regulation this month.  In addition to his dominance, the Flyers have been nearly unstoppable.  After being blanked by New Jersey on Jan. 4, the Flyers have rebounded to score 38 goals during their eight-game unbeaten streak, an average of over nearly five per game.

The Devils have played low scoring hockey as always, winning with timely scoring and the league’s third best goalie in terms of GAA.

John “Mad Dog” Madden returned last game with vengeance from a laceration to his ankle that held him out for two games.  Madden scored twice, including the eventual game winner in the Devils 3-2 win over Toronto, which ended their two-game losing streak.

The game tonight is very important for both teams.  It determines first place, which was held by Pittsburgh after last night’s one point in its shootout loss.  Bigger news in the Atlantic Division came about, as Sidney Crosby, who suffered a high ankle sprain last Friday, will miss at least a month with the injury.  That is a major blow to the Penguins, who were starting to play terrific hockey, winning 7 of 10.

Travis Zajac has also picked up the slack for the Devils who enter tonight as the lowest scoring team in the NHL with 111.  He has goals in his last three games and six in eight, after tallying five times through the team’s first 39 games.

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