Devils vs. Flyers Tonight, 7:00 p.m.

The New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia Flyers will both open their preseason schedules tonight at the Soverign Bank Arena for a 7 o'clock start.

Brent Sutter will be making his coaching debut for the Devils, taking over for Lou Lamoriello, who fired Claude Julien with three games left in the 2006-07 regular season and coached the Devils in the playoffs.

Sutter, 45, resigned as coach and general manager of the Western Hockey League's Red Deer Rebels -- accepting the resignation himself since he owns the team -- to become the Devils man behind the bench.

While the Devils have not yet announced a lineup for tonight, the Flyers did release a list of players who will be participating. Surprisingly, a good amount of regulars will take the ice including newly acquired, $10 million man, Danny Briere, who will most likely see time centering a line between Simon Gagne and Mike Knuble. Scottie Upshall, who was brought over in exchange for Peter Forsberg and his many pairs of skates last season, is also expected to lace 'em up, along with blue liner Kimo Timonnen, who signed as a free agent from the Nashville Predators over the summer.

With the complete roster overhaul the Flyers have gone through since last season's abysmal nightmare, finishing last in points in the entire NHL, Philadelphia can ill afford another sluggish start. Finding the right combination of line-sets and defensive pairings will be crucial in the preseason, instead of mixing and matching for the first month of the regular season when the games actually count.

The Devils -- who lost first-line center Scott Gomez via free agency to division-rival New York Rangers -- were busy in the offseason, but did not land any "big name" free agents. They did; however, get a pair of defensemen that will sure up the blue line in Karel Rachunek and Vitaly Vishnevski.

Rachunek spent last season playing for the Rangers and recorded six goals and 20 assists, while Vishnevski tallied three goals and 10 assists splitting time with Nashville and the Atlanta Thrashers.

To counter the loss of Gomez, the Devils went after former Flyer, Dainius Zubrus, and signed him to a six-year contract worth $20.4 million. Zubrus, 29, recorded 52 points (20g, 32a) with the Washington Capitals and Buffalo Sabres in 2006-07.

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For ticket availability for tonight's game, contact (609) 599-9500.

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