Devils get Zajac, Volchenkov back; Elias to IR

Forward Travis Zajac and defenseman Anton Volchenkov will return to the lineup Thursday when the New Jersey Devils play at the Philadelphia Flyers.

Devils coach Peter DeBoer announced the lineup additions during his meeting with the media at Wells Fargo Center after the team's morning skate.

Zajac has been out the past two games with a sprained right ankle and Volchenkov missed one game with a lower-body injury. Defenseman Peter Harrold, who was placed on injured reserve retroactive to Oct. 22, will replace Mark Fayne in the lineup. Patrik Elias was placed on IR to make room for Harrold's return.

The Devils have been held without a goal for two straight games. If the team goes 10:13 without scoring a goal against the Flyers, it will mark the second longest goal-less streak in franchise history (159:18).

The Devils aren't the only team having issues with scoring. The Flyers rank last in the League with a 1.57 goals-per-game average; the Devils rank No. 28 (1.86). Flyers captain Claude Giroux has yet to score for his team and has a minus-10 rating.

"We need to stay positive," Giroux told reporters Wednesday. "We are a good team. When we start believing it, when we start playing like it, we'll be a dangerous team."

The Flyers have been anything but dangerous on offense in 14 games this season. The team has four goals in the past four games (1-2-1) and is 15th in the Eastern Conference (4-9-1, nine points).

"I really believe that when we start believing that we're a good team, that's when we're going to start winning games," Giroux said. "We're not convinced that we are right now."

Flyers forward Steve Downie (concussion) began skating on his own this week and has been upgraded from "out indefinitely" to "day-to-day," according to general manager Paul Holmgren.

Flyers coach Craig Berube reportedly will start Ray Emery in net. Emery, who earned the shutout against the Devils just five days ago, is 6-3-2 with two shutouts, a 1.90 goals-against average and .931 save percentage in 11 career games against New Jersey.

Here's how the lineups might look Thursday:

FLYERS

Scott Hartnell - Claude Giroux - Jakub Voracek

Brayden Schenn - Vincent Lecavalier - Matt Read

Michael Raffl - Sean Couturier - Wayne Simmonds

Kris Newbury - Adam Hall - Zac Rinaldo

Kimmo Timonen - Braydon Coburn

Nicklas Grossman - Mark Streit

Andrej Meszaros - Hal Gill

Ray Emery

Steve Mason

Scratched: Erik Gustafsson, Luke Schenn, Jay Rosehill

Injured: Steve Downie (concussion)

DEVILS

Dainius Zubrus - Andrei Loktionov - Jaromir Jagr

Mattias Tedenby - Adam Henrique - Michael Ryder

Cam Janssen - Travis Zajac - Damien Brunner

Ryan Carter - Stephen Gionta - Steve Bernier

Andy Greene - Peter Harrold

Anton Volchenkov - Marek Zidlicky

Eric Gelinas - Adam Larsson

Martin Brodeur

Cory Schneider

Scratched: Mark Fayne, Jacob Josefson

Injured: Patrik Elias (back), Jon Merrill (facial lacerations), Ryane Clowe (head), Bryce Salvador (foot)