NEWARK, N.J. — They will focus on getting their lines set and doing a better job of winning faceoffs.
Those are two areas of extra homework coach Dave Hakstol said his Flyers will be doing this coming week now that the preseason has ended.
The Flyers open the regular season Thursday in Tampa Bay.
They wrapped things up with a 3-2 shootout loss to the Devils on Friday night at Prudential Center to finish 3-2-2 in preseason play.
“We want to get our lines squared away,” Hakstol said. “We probably didn’t have one line that will look the same come Monday.”
Which means Michael Raffl and Sean Couturier should return to practice then. Both have upper-body injuries.
Winning faceoffs didn’t cut it in the preseason.
Put it this way: The Flyers won only 42 percent against the Rangers this week, 48 percent against the Islanders last week and averaged 47 percent in two losses to the Devils this week.
“Faceoffs again under 50 percent. We got to do a better job there,” Hakstol said. “We’re going to keep pushing in all the areas.”
The Flyers again had a sluggish start against the Devils and a gradual increase in energy. That issue repeated itself much of last season.
Prior to the game, Hakstol said he wanted to see his team progress in areas and not take steps backward.
“Just want to see a progression and us play a little quicker in all areas of the game without having to think too much,” he said. “You want to game to become more instinctual.”
After the loss, he was asked about that.
“I liked the second period and checking in the third and first half of the third,” he said. “I’d like to see us generate a little more in the third. Keep our foot on the gas a little more in the third period.”
Lineups
The final preseason game saw a few changes. R.J. Umberger got a look on Claude Giroux’s line with Jakub Voracek, while Vinny Lecavalier was the right wing on Pierre-Edouard Bellemare’s line with Chris VandeVelde. Brayden Schenn went to left wing on Sam Gagner’s line with Wayne Simmonds. Scott Laughton centered Matt Read and Ryan White.
Defensemen
No change in the Nick Schultz-Mark Streit pairing, but Michael Del Zotto worked with Brandon Manning, and Evgeny Medvedev skated with Radko Gudas, with the latter on the left side. Andrew MacDonald and Luke Schenn were scratched.
Goalies
Michal Neuvirth (knee) was held out of this game for “precautionary reasons,” Hakstol said. … Jason LaBarbera was the backup. Assuming Neuvirth is indeed healthy, LaBarbera should go back to the Phantoms on Monday, if not sooner. (UPDATE: He was loaned to Lehigh Valley Saturday.) … Steve Mason faced 29 saves and had the harder shots to defend all night.
Special teams
The Flyers began the game with a four-minute power play after Umberger was cut with a high-stick. Incredibly, the best power play in the preseason didn’t get a single shot on goalie Cory Schneider or even a sniff of a scoring chance. … It took until 9:42 into the period before the Flyers had their first shot — by Read. Meanwhile, Mason had to make a three-save flurry right after that Flyers' power play. … The Flyers had one shot on their first three power plays. … White scored shorthanded and Voracek scored his first goal of the preseason in the third period on the power play. The Flyers were 1 for 5 on the power play Friday night to finish the preseason 10 for 30.
Goals
White’s shorthanded goal in the second period for a 1-0 lead was the result of Medvedev’s point shot. We can’t stress this enough. Medvedev is the only Flyers D-man who consistently puts his shot on the net — not above it, not five feet wide of it. Voracek scored right in front of the net on the power play in the third period. Of concern is the Flyers' even-strength scoring. They had 12 such goals in preseason play versus 10 power-play goals and one shorthanded goal. Even-strength scoring was an issue all of last season.