G81 New Jersey Devils @ Philadelphia Flyers: Playing spoiler

The Devils have the opportunity to take a division rival down with them.

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Here are a few notes to get you set for New Jersey vs. Philadelphia:

A big goaltending advantage

Not a lot has gone right for the Devils of late (or this season). The one stabilizer they’ve been able to rely on down the stretch is goaltending.

Jake Allen has been nothing short of excellent since the day he joined the Devils. His surface stats don’t pop off the page as he has won six of 12 decisions and owns a .906 save percentage. His numbers under the hood look a whole lot better.

Allen has managed a ridiculous .891 save percentage against high-danger shots. It has felt like he’s made big save after big save every night and that checks out statistically.

Of the 40 most utilized goaltenders since deadline day, only three have fared better than Allen against Grade A shots.

Andrei Vasilevskiy, Jake Oettinger, Connor Hellebuyck, Igor Shesterkin, Jacob Markstrom, and Ilya Sorokin are just a few of the many lagging behind Allen in that regard.

It hasn’t been as sunny in Philadelphia. Samuel Ersson owns an .846 save percentage and .723 high-danger save percentage since deadline day and he has performed best of the Flyers’ three goaltenders.

Suffice to say, the Devils should have a big edge in goal in this game. They could trot out Joe from the local sandwich shop and still probably get better netminding than the Flyers. That is going to be their best path to victory against a desperate team playing for their season.

Tipping your cap