PHILADELPHIA, Pa.- The Devils and Flyers finish off their four-game mini-series in Philadelphia Saturday afternoon. The Devils won the previous two meetings in New Jersey, and are 2-0-1 in the mini-series.
"I would think that Philly is going to bring their A Game after losing in our building," Ruff said. "It will be a tougher game."
The Devils will be without P.K. Subban (COVID-19 protocol), Jonas Siegenthaler (COVID-19 protocol), Matt Tennyson (lower-body) and Andreas Johnsson (lower-body).
Subban, who has cleared the mandatory quarantine period, hasn't practiced or skated with the team since being diagnosed with the virus. So the team won't just throw him immediately into the lineup.
Siegenthaler is still under protocol. Tennyson is "still nursing an injury," while Johnsson is "a little bit ways away," per Devils head coach Lindy Ruff.
SECOND SHOWING
With the depletion on the backend, the Devils will once again call upon rookie blueliner Kevin Bahl, who will play his second-career NHL game this evening.
Bahl made his NHL debut Thursday night. Typically, rookies are running on adrenaline and excitement during that opening game. That same adrenaline and excitement is missing in the second game, so players tend to have a dip in play. Despite that fact, Ruff won't address the issue with Bahl.
"I hate going to a player and bringing up the fact that there is history sometime that the second game is a lot tougher," he said.
TOP-9
Historically, NHL teams consisted of two high-end scoring lines and two grinding lines. Players were categorized on whether they fit into the Top-6 forward group to appear on the top two scoring lines, or as Bottom-6 players on a checking line.
But the modern NHL has more of an emphasis on scoring, skill and skating. And thus, the grinding lines are going out of style, particularly in the last five years. Now teams, such as the Devils, consist of three scoring lines and one grinding line.
"We're not really a top-6 team, I look at us as a top-9 team," Ruff said.
But the Devils also are unique in a way in that their "grinding line" of Nathan Bastian, Michael McLeod and Miles Wood, can certainly play the fourth-line role, but also has the skill to sometimes elevate into that Top-9. Wood, in fact, leads the club in goals with 17.
Ruff noted that it's a line "that some nights plays more minutes 5-on-5 than some of our other what you would call a top-6."
As such, the Devils will play whichever line is going on a particular night. Ruff isn't afraid to roll four lines, to roll three lines or to elevate different lines.
"We're a team that's evolving," Ruff said.
