The arrow appeared to be pointing upward last season for the Philadelphia Flyers and New Jersey Devils after they each reached the playoffs. But the only race the Flyers and Devils are involved in this season is the one headed for the bottom of the Eastern Conference.

The Flyers and Devils will each look to avoid falling into the Eastern Conference basement Saturday afternoon, when they face each other at Prudential Center.

Both teams will enter Saturday's game in the midst of extended tailspins. The Devils suffered their third straight defeat and lost for the fourth time in five games Thursday, when they fell to the host Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-2. The visiting Flyers snapped an eight-game losing streak Thursday, when they edged the Dallas Stars, 2-1.

The Devils (16-20-7), whose 39 points entering Friday ranked ahead of only the Flyers in the Eastern Conference, fell behind 3-0 in the first period yet looked as if they might snap out of their funk when Blake Coleman and Brian Boyle scored 26 seconds apart late in the second period to pull within 3-2. But Toronto outshot New Jersey 15-3 in the third period and iced the game with an empty net goal in the final minute.

Afterward, the Devils weren't satisfied with coming close against one of the East's elite teams.

"There's no moral victories at this point," Devils right winger Kyle Palmieri said. "We need to start stringing together wins and playing complete games and giving ourselves a shot." >> Read More

Popular in the Community