The New Jersey Devils return to their old stomping grounds of East Rutherford this Saturday to take on the Philadelphia Flyers at MetLife Stadium in the NHL Stadium Series.
The Stadium Series is one of the most anticipated events the league puts on during the season for a national TV audience. This event always takes place in a baseball or football stadium and typically happens once a year with two teams, so being selected for it is exciting. This year, four teams were selected: the Devils and Flyers, who will play on Saturday, and the New York Rangers and New York Islanders, who will play on Sunday.
New Jersey are playing in their first Stadium Series since 2014, when they played at Yankee Stadium against the Rangers.
Until the All-Star break, it was unsure if this game would be exciting for fans to watch. The Devils were hitting a rough spot as they lost games, lacked effort, and seemed lifeless half the time. This past week has given fans a reason to have hope again.
As this is a divisional matchup, the Devils need the two points to continue climbing back into a playoff position.
Since the All-Star break ended, the Devils have gone 3-1-1, have had good goaltending, and have been defending well against top teams. Superstar Jack Hughes returned to the lineup after being out for over a month and has been playing as he was before the injury.
Head coach Lindy Ruff recently announced that Vitek Vanecek will not be able to play as he is dealing with a lower-body injury. This means Nico Daws and Akira Schmid will likely be the goalie tandem. Daws pulled off back-to-back wins for the Devils earlier this week against the Seattle Kraken and the Nashville Predators as the Devils desperately needed the four points to climb the rankings.
This will be an exciting game for the young Devils as they have a chance to prove themselves to the league after a rough first half of the season on national television.
NHL Stadium Series Information
The Devils played in East Rutherford for 24 years before moving to the Prudential Center in 2008. This will be the first time since the Devils return to East Rutherford in hopes of pulling off a win.
The actual game will begin at 8 p.m., but the fun starts before, as The Jonas Brothers will be putting on a concert at 6:30 p.m. and during the second intermission.
The game will be on ABC and streaming on ESPN+.
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