FLYERS-JETS GAME PREVIEW (4:45 AM EST)
Looking to sweep a difficult three-games-in-four-nights road trip and capture their fourth win in a row, the Philadelphia Flyers (7-10-1) are in Manitoba to take on the Winnipeg Jets (9-9-2). Game time is 8:00 p.m. eastern. The match will be televised locally on The Comcast Network.
This is the first of two meetings between the teams this season, because the Jets have moved from the Eastern to Western Conference. They will face off again at 11:30 a.m. on Nov. 29 when the Jets come to Philly as the Flyers' opponent in the annual Black Friday game at the Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers have won three of their last four games against the Jets and are 3-3-1 against the club since the former Atlanta Thrashers franchise moved north of the border.
After tonight's game, the Flyers are idle until next Tuesday. The team will have a three-game homestand next week, playing the Ottawa Senators, Buffalo Sabres and the New York Islanders.
FLYERS OUTLOOK
The Flyers are coming off a 5-0 shutout win in Ottawa on Tuesday and a grind-it-out 2-1 victory in Pittsburgh the following night. Brayden Schenn tallied a pair of goals in the win against the Penguins, while Ray Emery followed Steve Mason's stellar goaltending performance against Ottawa with one of his own.
After scoring just 22 goals in their first 15 games of the regular season, the Flyers have outscored their last three opponents by a combined margin of 11-3. Over the course of their wins against Edmonton, Ottawa and Pittsburgh, the Flyers previously moribund power play went 3-for-8, including three goals in their last four opportunities.
Mason is likely to get the call in net tonight for the Flyers. With the exception of the five goals he enjoyed in wins against the Islanders and Senators, Mason has not gotten much offensive support this season. That is the main reason he brings a 5-7-1 record into tonight's game. Mason has by far been the team's best player over the first six weeks of the regular season, and his .930 save percentage and 2.15 goals against average to date are a more accurate reflection of his play than his losing record.
With his even strength and power play tallies against the Penguins, Brayden Schenn has taken over the Flyers' team scoring lead with 12 points (six goals, six assists) in 18 games. Linemate Vincent Lecavalier (seven goals, 10 points in 14 games) has the team's highest points-per-game average to date.
Top line center Claude Giroux has not scored a goal on the road trip thus far, after breaking free from a season-long goal drought in the win against Edmonton last Saturday afternoon. However, the team captain had a pair of nifty assists in the Ottawa game and he turned in a solid all-around performance in Pittsburgh despite being held without a point.
Giroux's right winger, Jakub Voracek, has four points during the team's three-game winning streak. He notched two goals in the Ottawa game and assisted on the game-winning power play goal in Pittsburgh. On the latter goal, Voracek weaved a shot through traffic, enabling Steve Downie and eventual scorer Schenn to get to the puck in front of the net.
Rookie forward Michael Raffl should be mostly or fully recovered from the flu after missing practice on Monday and the first two games of the road trip. However, Berube may not want to make any changes to his lineup with the way the team has played this week.
JETS OUTLOOK
Winnipeg has also played good hockey of late, bringing a three-game winning streak into tonight's match. Overall, the Jets have won four of their last five matches.
This is a dangerous game for the Flyers in two different ways: energy management and potential emotional letdown.
On paper at least, the Jets should have fresher legs than the Flyers.
Winnipeg has been off for the last two nights and has only played one game since the weekend. Tonight's game is also the third home match of the club's last four games. By contrast, the Flyers practiced in Voorhees, NJ on Monday, played in Ottawa on Tuesday, traveled back to the U.S. to play in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, then traveled back to Canada and changed time zones to play in Winnipeg tonight.
The final game of any three-in-four stretch is always the most difficult from an energy management standpoint, especially in the third period of the final game. Given the rather extensive travel over the course of this week -- even by typical three-in-four standards -- it is an absolute must for the Flyers to manage their energy intelligently tonight.
First of all, the Flyers need to keep their shifts short and avoid taking an excessive number of icings or getting pinned deep in their own zone repeatedly. The players need to keep up the strong work they've exhibited without the puck -- active sticks, support from teammates, keeping their feet moving -- that contributed heavily to their recent wins.
Secondly, the Flyers need to show discipline and stay out of the penalty box. It does not matter than Winnipeg's power play comes into tonight ranked last in the NHL at 8.4 percent efficiency. Even if the penalties get killed successfully (Philly enters tonight tied for eighth in the NHL at 84.9 percent on the PK), it can be draining.
Lastly, the Flyers need to guard against the possibility of an emotional letdown. The Jets are a good team and tough opponent worthy of respect. Winnipeg has historically been a tough building for visiting clubs (although the Jets are just 6-5-1 for the season at home). Winnipeg has good team speed and some dangerous weapons of their own.
That said, a mid-November game in Winnipeg on the heels of the team's best all-around performance of the season and an emotionally satisfying win on national television against the arch-rival Penguins has "trap game" written all over it. The Flyers have to avoid the mentality that this has already been a successful road trip and dig deep physically and mentally to emerge with one or two points from what could be a rather tough game.
The Jets have been doing their share of goal scoring lately. They are coming off a 3-2 shootout win in Detroit, and have scored 14 regulation-time goals with two shootout victories in their last five games. Apart from a 4-1 loss in Chicago last week, Winnipeg has been scoring enough goals to win. Moreover, Flyers-Jets games have sometimes become high-scoring affairs in recent years.
Bryan Little, who scored his 11th goal of the season in the Detroit game, leads the Jets with 18 points in 20 games. He has three goals and five points over the team's current three-game winning streak.
Team captain Andrew Ladd -- who played on the same dominant line as Giroux and Steven Stamkos at the 2013 IIHF World Championships -- has five goals and 17 points to date this season. He has two goals and seven points in the last five games.
Meanwhile, Evander Kane has gone pointless in four of the last six games and has not scored a goal in that span. Nevertheless, the power forward remains a dangerous presence on the ice.
Any time a team plays against the Jets, they need to be aware of the potential for Winnipeg's defensemen to pinch up on the play or trigger the rush with breakout passes. While the Jets are prone to defensive breakdowns at times -- as attested to by the 57 goals they have yielded to date -- the blueline corps has a lot of mobility and puck skills.
Dustin Byfuglien (one goal, 12 points, minus-five, 28 penalty minutes) is an incurable risk-taker but he can be a force to be reckoned with when he sets his mind to it. Tobias Enström (two goals, eight points, plus-three) is a fine puck-moving defenseman. Zach Bogosian has sacrificed offense for defense to become the team's key shutdown defenseman, and has compiled a plus-eight rating on the season.
Goaltender Ondrej Pavelec (7-7-3, 2.85 GAA, .913 goals against average) is capable of stealing games at times. The native of Kladno, Czech Republic authored a 41-save shutout of the Predators last week and also made 41 stops in the win against Detroit. On the flip side, Pavelec can also blow sky high at times.
On the injury front, prized rookie defenseman Jacob Trouba remains on injured reserve. Veteran forward Jim Slater (sports hernia) and assistant captain Mark Stuart (hip) are also unavailable for the Jets.
PROJECTED LINE COMBINATIONS (Subject to change)
FLYERS
19 Scott Hartnell - 28 Claude Giroux - 93 Jakub Voracek
10 Brayden Schenn - 40 Vincent Lecavalier - 17 Wayne Simmonds
9 Steve Downie - 14 Sean Couturier - 24 Matt Read
37 Jay Rosehill - 18 Adam Hall - 36 Zac Rinaldo
44 Kimmo Timonen - 5 Braydon Coburn
8 Nicklas Grossmann - 32 Mark Streit
26 Erik Gustafsson - 22 Luke Schenn
35 Steve Mason
[29 Ray Emery]
Potential Scratches: Michael Raffl (flu/healthy), Andrej Meszaros (healthy), Hal Gill (healthy), Chris Pronger (LTIR, post-concussion syndrome).
JETS
16 Andrew Ladd - 18 Bryan Little - 26 Blake Wheeler
9 Evander Kane - 12 Olli Jokinen - 40 Devin Setoguchi
15 Matt Halischuk - 55 Mark Scheifele - 67 Michael Frolik
27 Eric Tangradi - 17 James Wright - 22 Chris Thorburn
33 Dustin Byfuglien - 24 Grant Clitsome
44 Zach Bogosian - 39 Tobias Enstrom
7 Keaton Ellerby - 2 Adam Pardy
31 Ondrej Pavelec
[35 Al Montoya]
Potential scratches: Anthony Peluso (healthy), Zach Redmond (healthy), Jacob Trouba (IR, upper body), Jim Slater (IR, sports hernia), Mark Stuart (IR, hip), Paul Postma (IR, blood clot in leg).
************
Kindle users: Please sign up for Flyers Buzz. For more information
click here.
Click below to follow me on Twitter:
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
Join the Discussion:
»