Wanna blog? Start your own hockey blog with My HockeyBuzz. Register for free today!
 

Flyers Gameday: 1/14/19 vs. MIN

January 14, 2019, 12:20 AM ET [644 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Game 46 Preview: FLYERS @ WILD

Interim head coach Scott Gordon's Philadelphia Flyers (16-23-6) are home on Monday to take on Bruce Boudreau's Minnesota Wild (22-19-3). Game time at the Wells Fargo Center is 7:00 p.m. ET.

The game will be televised on NBCSP. The radio broadcast can be found on 97.5 FM The Fanatic with an online simulcast at FlyersRadio247.com.

This is the first of two meetings between the inter-conference teams this season, and the lone game in Philadelphia. When the teams met last season -- during which time now-Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher and assistant general manager Brent Flahr were still in those respective roles for the Wild -- the Flyers got shut out on both ends of a mid-November home-and-home set: 1-0 in Philadelphia on Nov. 11 and 3-0 in St. Paul three nights later.

In the first game, a scorching-hot Jason Zucker scored his 6th goal in a three-game span (during which time he accounted for every Minnesota goal) to break a scoreless deadlock early in the third period. Devan Dubnyk notched a 32-save shutout while Brian Elliott stopped 26 of 27 Minnesota shots in a losing cause.

In the rematch, the Flyers were unable to solve Dubnyk on 30 shots. A Nino Niederreiter goal just 12 seconds after the game's opening faceoff stood as the match's only goal until late in the third period when the Wild scored two empty-net goals (Eric Staal and Zucker) to make it a three-goal margin of victory. Elliott stopped 17 of 18 shots.

Flyers Outlook

The Flyers are 1-7-2 in their 10 games since the leaguewide Christmas break. On Saturday afternoon in Newark, the Flyers suffered a 3-2 loss at the hands of the New Jersey Devils.
Philadelphia enters Monday's game with the bottom record in the NHL.

Damon Severson (6th), Nico Hischier (13th) and Miles Wood (5th) scored for the Devils. Hischier, Drew Stafford, Pavel Zacha and Blake Coleman earned one assist apiece. For Philly, James van Riemsdyk (8th) scored for the second straight game. Sean Couturier (16th) scored just before the end of the game. Couturier, Ivan Provorov, Jakub Voracek and and van Riemsdyk had one assist each.

Carter Hart stopped 23 of 26 shots in Saturday's loss. He played fine but fellow rookie counterpart Mackenzie Blackwood played just a little bit better for New Jersey. Hart will get the start in goal on Monday. Thus far, the 20-year-old Hart (the youngest goaltender in the NHL) is 3-5-1 in nine starts with a .916 save percentage and a 2.54 goals-against average. He flirted with his first career NHL shutout last Thursday against Dallas before giving up a latter third-period goal to Jamie Benn.

With the Flyers mired in another drought (0-for-14) on the power play, Gordon said after Sunday's practice in Voorhees that he and assistant coach Kris Knoblauch are planning some structural -- and personnel -- changes on the power play for Monday's game. For the season, the Flyers rank 30th in the NHL (17-for-133, 12.8 percent) and also rank in the bottom one-third of the league (20th overall) in man advantage opportunities. Philly has yielded seven shorthanded goals; only four teams have yielded more.

Gordon said on Sunday that van Riemsdyk's availability for Monday is questionable; about 50-50. If he is unable to play, Michael Raffl will skate left wing on the Claude Giroux line and Jori Lehterä will re-enter the lineup on the fourth line. JVR took a shot off his leg or knee in Saturday's game but in a different spot than the one that kept him out for 16 games earlier this season. JVR has scored goals in back-to-back games and, overall, has scored eight goals among his 18 points in 29 games.

Andrew MacDonald, who has missed the last six games with a lower-body injury, will rejoin the lineup on Monday. He will be paired with Shayne Gostisbehere. Christian Folin will be a healthy scratch.

Flyers captain and sixth-time NHL All-Star Game representative Claude Giroux leads the team with 48 points (14 goals, 34 assists). Voracek is next with 36 points (11 goals, 25 assists, -17), followed by Couturier (16 goals, 18 assists, 34 points), Travis Konecny (11 goals, 13 assists 24 points) and Wayne Simmonds (13 goals, six assists, 19 points, -15).

Apart from goaltending issues (injuries, average to subpar play from all but Elliott and Hart), the ongoing struggles of Ivan Provorov (four goals, 14 points, -17) and Shayne Gostisbehere (five goals, 17 points, -16), the lack of 200-foot play effectiveness from key forwards such as Voracek and Simmonds and inconsistency from many others, the Flyers have also had many of their young homegrown forwards mired in lengthy goal droughts. These are players whom the team was counting on taking a step forward this season.

Nolan Patrick (five goals, six assists, 11 points, -9) is pointless in five games since returning to the lineup from injury. Excluding a shootout-winning goal at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 23, is goalless in the last 24 games and has two assists in that span.

Oskar Lindblom (four goals, eight assists, 12 points, -8) had an eight-point-in-seven-game stretch leading up to van Riemsdyk's return from injury, has not scored a goal since Nov. 5; a span of 29 games. He has four assists in that stretch.

A 20-goal scorer as a second-year pro last season, Konecny has been scuffling for goals since early December. Dating back to Dec. 9, Konecny has scored two goals and three assists in an 18-game span. Gordon recently spoke to Konecny about improving the attention to detail in his 200-foot game (conversations he had frequently, too, with former coach Dave Hakstol).

Overall, the Flyers rank tied for 26th offensively in the NHL, scoring just 2.69 goals per game. The club has scored two or fewer goals 21 times to date this season, including six shutout losses and eight games with one goal. The Flyers last scored four or more goals in their 6-5 overtime loss in Tampa Bay back on Dec. 27.

At the other end of the ice, the Flyers rank 29th with a 3.56 team goals against average. The Flyers have still allowed the second-fewest scoring chances in the NHL (only Monday's opponent, Minnesota, has statistically allowed fewer scoring chances), within the top one-third (9th overall) in both team Corsi and Fenwick ratings, and by far lead the NHL in faceoff percentage. However, none of that has meant a thing in goal differential.

At five-on-five, the Flyers' 85 goals scored rank 20th in the league, while the 100 allowed rank tied for 25th. At four-on-four, the Flyers have scored once and allowed three goals. The team is 1-6 in three-on-three overtimes.

Ironically enough, the most lamented and pilloried aspect of the team's game -- the long-struggling penalty kill -- has been one of the few bright spots over the last six weeks. The team was at 68.5 percent heading into the Black Friday matinee against the New York Rangers. The team is now at 76.4 percent for the season; still only 27th in the NHL because the team was so far underwater in the first seven weeks. Opponents are 34-for-144, and Philly has played shorthanded the 10th-most times in the NHL. The Flyers have scored three shorthanded goals.

One bright spot this season after a down year last year has been a bounceback campaign from veteran defenseman Radko Gudas. That, however, has not been nearly enough to make up for the many things that gone awry.

Wild Outlook

The Wild have gone 5-4-1 over their last 10 games and bring an 11-11-0 road record on the season into Monday's game. The team is currently occupying the lower wildcard spot in the Western Conference by virtue having played fewer games than the free-falling Anaheim Ducks or Vancouver Canucks.

Monday's game is the front end of a road/home back-to-back set (the Wild will host the LA Kings on Tuesday) and the middle game of a three-in-four. On Saturday, the Wild absorbed a 5-2 home loss to the Detroit Red Wings.

A pair of goals by veteran Thomas Vanek in the second period turned the tide in Detroit's favor after Minnesota built a 2-1 lead on tallies by Luke Kunin (1st) and Niederreiter (8th). Tyler Bertuzzi scored twice in the third period to complete a hat trick he started in the opening stanza and put Detroit ahead by three goals. Dubnyk stopped 32 of 37 shots.

Veteran Zach Parise leads the Wild in scoring with 40 points (19 goals, 21 assists) in 43 games. He is followed by Mikael Granlund (12 goals, 27 assists, 39 points), defenseman Ryan Suter (four goals, 24 assists, 28 points), Eric Staal (13 goals, 14 assists, 27 points), Jared Spurgeon (seven goals, 19 assists, 26 points) and Mikko Koivu (six goals, 20 assists, 26 points).

In goal, Dubnyk enters Monday's game with 17-15-3 record, 2.62 GAA, .914 save percentage and one shutout. Backup netminder Alex Stalock has made eight starts and three relief appearances, posting a 5-4-0 record, 2.75 GAA, and .898 save percentage.

The Wild have averaged 2.82 goals per game (21st) and also allowed 2.82 goals per game (8th). Statistically, the team has yielded the fewest scoring chances of any club in the NHL according to NaturalStatTrick.com, while having the 8th-most scoring chances of their own. The team ranks 13th in Corsi and 11th in Fenwick measures.

In terms of the bottom line, the team has scored 81 goals at five-on-five (21st, one spot and two goals behind the Flyers) and yielded 87 (T-13th). At 4-on-4, the team has scored once and given up three goals (same as the Flyers), and the club is 2-2 in games decided during 3-on-3 overtime.

The Minnesota power play comes in ranked 9th (28-for-127, 22.1 percent) but only four teams have had fewer power play opportunities than the Wild. The team has given up two shorthanded goals thus far.

The team's penalty kill enters the game ranked 4th in the NHL at 84.7 percent (opponents are 20-for-135). The Wild have scored five shorthanded goals, led by two from Granlund.


Projected Lines (Subject to change)

FLYERS

25 James van Riemsdyk - 28 Claude Giroux - 11 Travis Konecny
23 Oskar Lindblom - 14 Sean Couturier - 93 Jakub Voracek
21 Scott Laughton - 19 Nolan Patrick -17 Wayne Simmonds
15 Jori Lehterä - 44 Phil Varone - 12 Michael Raffl

9 Ivan Provorov - 6 Travis Sanheim
53 Shayne Gostisbehere -47 Andrew MacDonald
8 Robert Hägg - 3 Radko Gudas

79 Carter Hart
[56 Mike McKenna]

Scratches: 22 Dale Weise (healthy), 26 Christian Folin (healthy), 41 Anthony Stolarz (IR, lower body), 30 Michal Neuvirth (IR, lower body), 37 Brian Elliott (IR, lower body), 10 Corban Knight (IR, collarbone), 5 Sam Morin (ACL surgery).

WILD

16 Jason Zucker - 9 Mikko Koivu - 64 Mikael Granlund
18 Jordan Greenway - 12 Eric Staal -- 22 Nino Niederreiter
11 Zach Parise - 3 Charlie Coyle - 19 Luke Kunin
17 Marcus Foligno - 14 Joel Eriksson Ek - 23 J.T. Brown​

20 Ryan Suter - 46 Jared Spurgeon
25 Jonas Brodin - 29 Greg Pateryn
36 Nick Seeler - 39 Nate Prosser​

40 Devan Dubnyk
[32 Alex Stalock​]

Scratches: 15 Matt Hendricks (healthy), 21 Eric Fehr (day-to-day), 24 Matt Dumba (IR, torn pectoral).

***********

PHANTOMS GO 0-FOR-WEEKEND

The last two weekends have not been kind to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, as the team has gone 1-5-0 over its last six games. Last weekend, the team went 1-2-0 over a three-night road trip through New England. This weekend, the Phantoms went 0-3-0 against teams near the bottom of the standings.

On Friday night, Lehigh Valley outshot the Binghamton Devils by a 31-19 margin but mustered only a mid-second period goal by defenseman Zach Palmquist in a 2-1 home loss. Then Phantoms went 0-for-2 on the power play, 2-for-2 on the PK. Alex Lyon stopped 17 of 19 shots.

On Saturday, the Phantoms put forth an atrocious, low-energy performance in a 3-0 loss to a harder-working and more determined Hershey Bears team that the Phantoms had beaten with regularity (often in blowouts) earlier this season. Lehigh Valley was outshot 27-9 through two periods (32-18 overall). In fairness, the Phantoms were severely depleted up front, having only 11 healthy forwards to dress and starting veteran offensive defenseman T.J. Brennan as a winger. Lyon got the start in goal again and, apart from an misplay on a wraparound goal, did his part to keep the game manageable.

On Sunday, the Phantoms and Bears rematched in Hershey. Branden Komm, an ECHL callup from Reading with Carter Hart and the injured Anthony Stolarz on NHL recall, got his second start of the season in goal. He only lasted 6:36, yielding three goals on four shots before giving way to Lyon as the Phantoms quickly fell in a 3-1 hole.

The first Hershey goal, scored by Nathan Walker, was a deflection goal that slid through the five-hole on Komm. The second goal, scored by Liam O'Brien that deflected in off Komm from the right corner; a soft goal that his struggling team simply could not afford to give up already trailing 1-0.

Returning the lineup from a one-game absence due to illness, Taylor Leier scored on a long rebound into the bottom of the left circle off a shot by Mark Friedman. The tally came immediately after a Phantoms power play expired, and cut the deficit to 3-1.

Friedman got beaten off the rush and Mike Sgarbossa (17th goal of the season) beat Komm high to the long side from the right dot to make it 3-1 at 6:36. Exit Komm, enter Lyon.

At 14:19 of the first period, Leier scored again -- this one counted as a power play goal -- for his second tally of the game and 9th of the season. Brennan picked up his second assist of the period and 26th of the season on the play, while Greg Carey (20th assist) got the primary helper.

Returning to the lineup from a one-game absence due to getting banged up in Friday's game, rookie center Connor Bunnaman (9th goal of the season) re-directed a snap pass from Nicolas Aube-Kubel past Vitek Vanecek (23 saves on 27 shots) to tie the game at 3-3.

Hershey retook the lead, for good as it turned out, on a coverage miscue that enabled Juuso Ikonen to nicely set up defenseman Connor Hobbs (2nd) for a back-door goal that Lyon (18 saves on 20 shots) had little chance to stop at 14:29 of the second period.

The Bears re-established a two-goal lead at 1:53 of the third period. The Bears' Jayson Megna cleanly won a right circle faceoff back to Hobbs at the point. Hobbs shot was fairly routine but Lyon was unable to make a clean save and he attempted -- and failed -- to sweep away the rebound to safety as it slid out of his reach. With Lyon opened up, Brian Pinho slid the loose puck through Lyon's pads for a 3-1 advantage.

Trailing by two, Lehigh Valley had an early third-period power play opportunity but did not generate any chances with it (the Phantoms went 1-for-4 on the power play, 3-for-3 on the kill).

Midway through the period, Friedman was on the receiving end of a two-handed chop to the ankle, going down in a heap. The near-side referee called the Phantoms second-year defenseman for diving although he struggled to get up. Meanwhile, at the stoppage, Friedman limped off of the ice and up the tunnel, initially unable to bear much of any foot on his foot. Phantoms forward Mike Huntebrinker had to serve the "embelllishment" penalty for his teammate.

The Phantoms killed the penalty but lost two more minutes off the clock. Late in the period, Mike Vecchione's hard work around the net (8th goal) paid off in a 6-on-5 tally with 1:26 left on the clock to tie the game. Leier completed a three-point game with the primary assist on the goal, Carey got the other helper for his second assist of the game and 21st of the season.

At right about the same time as the New Orleans Saints went ahead of the Philadelphia Eagles in their NFC Playoff game, the Phantoms ran out of time in their final 6-on-5 push.

After starting out 4-0-1 in their first five games under interim head coach Kerry Huffman, the Phantoms are now 5-5-1. Although Bunnaman and Leier returned to the lineup on Sunday, the Lehigh Valley forward corps is still missing quite a few players due to injury (German Rubtsov for the season due to shoulder surgery, David Kase on a week-to-week basis that is getting close to day-to-day status, Cole Badreau on a week-to-week basis) and callup (reigning AHL MVP Phil Varone).

The Phantoms have another busy slate of games upcoming this week. On Wednesday, the team hosts the Springfield Thunderbirds. On Friday, the Phantoms are in Connecticut to play the Hartford Wolf Pack and then return home on Saturday to host the Rochester Americans.

*************

FLYERS PROSPECTS: WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS

With the holiday season over and 2018-19 World Junior Championships in the books, the Flyers top prospects are back with their respective CHL, NCAA and European teams. A few highlights from notable games and performers over the weekend:

* Morgan Frost racked up a two-goal, two-assist game on Friday night, figuring in all of his Soo Greyhounds team's goals in a 4-3 win over the Windsor Spitfires. On Saturday, he picked up his eighth shorthanded point of the season as he set up fellow WJC team member Barrett Hayton for a first-period shortie. Overall, Frost leads the OHL with a 1.86 points-per-game average (23 goals, 42 assists, 65 points in 35 games) but is 10 points off the league scoring lead by virtue of having missed seven games due to his Team Canada committments.

* The arrival of center Nick Suzuki to the Guelph Storm in a big trade with the Owen Sound Attack has already paid dividends for Flyers prospect Isaac Ratcliffe. The two have formed a power house line with Mackenzie Entwhistle. In three games since Suzuki's arrival, Ratcliffe has already racked up five goals and eight points. On Sunday, Ratcliffe compiled a hat trick and an assist within the first two periods of an 8-4 blowout of the Ottawa 67's. For the season, Ratcliffe has 30 goals and 47 points in 39 games.

* Matthew Strome has compiled four goals and seven points over his last four games for the defending OHL champion Hamilton Bulldogs. Overall, he has 19 goals and 50 points in 43 games. Strome scored the overtime winner amid a three-point game on Friday against Flint.

* The NCAA game of greatest intrigue to Flyers prospect watchers this weekend pitted fellow 2019 first-round picks (and WJC teammates on Team USA) Joel Farabee and Jay O'Brien against each other on Saturday night as Boston University defeated Providence, 4-3. Each player was credited with one assist in the game. Farabee is now up to 16 points (six goals, 10 assists) in 19 games as a freshman. Beset early by two injuries and a lack of puck luck on scoring chances given his reputation for hands being among his prime assets, the points are starting to come now for O'Brien. Overall, he has a modest two goals and four points in 12 games but he has a current four-game point streak-(separated by his time with Team USA).

* Held pointless in a 2-1 loss to Michigan on Friday, Tanner Laczynski notched a goal and an assist the next night in the rematch as the Ohio State Buckeyes prevailed, 4-2. Laczynski, who missed three games earlier this season, has seven goals and 20 points in 19 games.

* Minnesota Duluth split its weekend games with St. Cloud State. Team USA silver medal winner Noah Cates tallied a nifty goal and was plus-two in Friday's 3-1 win for Minnesota Duluth. The next night, the freshman did not record a point but had two shots on goal in a 4-2 loss. For the season, Cates has five goals and eight points in 18 games.

* Entry-level contracted defenseman Yegor Zamula's Calgary Hitmen grabbed a 4-3 overtime road win in Saskatoon on Friday before being on the receiving end of a 7-3 thrashing in Prince Albert the next night. Zamula scored his 9th goal of the season and assisted on a pair of tallies, including the game-winning OT goal on a Calgary power play in the game against the Blades. He was held off the scoresheet and was minus-two the next night. For the season, Zamula is tied for fourth in the WHL in scoring among defensemen with 39 points (nine goals, 30 assists with four of his goals and 21 of his points coming on the power play.
Join the Discussion: » 644 Comments » Post New Comment
More from Bill Meltzer
» Flyers Gameday: 3/28/24 @ MTL
» Wrap: Flyers Lose 6-5 OT Game to Rangers
» Flyers Gameday: 3/26/24 @ NYR
» Quick Hits: Flyers-FLA Wrap, Flyers Daily, Phantoms, Bigger than Hockey
» Flyers Gameday: 3/24/2024 vs. FLA; Phantoms Update