Devils hoping to ‘bury’ Flyers tonight

According to Ilya Bryzgalov, the Flyers are “done” if they lose to New Jersey tonight.

Devils coach Pete DeBoer would love nothing more.

“We want to try to bury the teams below us as quickly as possible,” DeBoer said, per NHL.com. “Doesn’t matter whether it’s Philadelphia or Florida or anybody else — you get an opportunity to separate yourself from the teams below you, you want to take full advantage of that. It’s all about getting points right now. It’s not necessarily about the opponent; it’s about putting points on the board and trying to solidify a spot in the top eight.”

A surprise team to many after Zach Parise left for Minnesota this summer, the Devils (13-9-5) sit sixth in the Eastern Conference, three points clear of the ninth-place Rangers. With three wins in their last four, New Jersey seems to have righted the ship after a six-game winless skid that was marked by poor goaltending from Johan Hedberg.

Hedberg stopped 23 of 25 Philly shots in Wednesday’s 5-2 victory.

And the play in front of the goaltender has also improved, according to center Travis Zajac.

“We’re better than we were a couple weeks ago,” Zajac told NHL.com. “We’re starting to win more battles, starting to make more plays. We’re back to frustrating teams and being aggressive and in teams’ faces. When we’re assertive and making it tough for teams, it’s better for us.”