Game 13 Preview: Flyers @ Kings
Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (5-7-0) are in California on Thursday evening to take on John Stevens' Los Angeles Kings (3-7-1). Game time at the Staples Center is 10:30 p.m. EDT.
The game will be televised on NBCSNP. 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 this season between the inter-conference clubs. The teams will rematch at the Wells Fargo Center on Feb. 7.
Last season, the Kings swept the season series. On Oct. 5, 2017 in Los Angeles, the Kings blanked the Flyers, 2-0, behind a 35-save shutout by Jonathan Quick. On Dec. 18 at the Wells Fargo Center, the Kings took a 2-1 lead into the third period and then pulled away with a pair of third period to goals to skate off with a 4-1 victory.
Flyers Outlook
Thursday's game is the second of a four-game road trip for the Flyers through California and Arizona. On Tuesday in Anaheim, the Flyers ended a four-game losing streak with a 3-2 win over the Ducks. Now the Flyers will be looking to win back-to-back games for the first time this season.
In Tuesday's game, the Flyers scored first for just the second time this season. They also ended a 1-for-18 drought on the power play that had seen the top unit go seven games without a goal on the man advantage. The Flyers never trailed in the game, taking a 1-0 lead to the first intermission at the end of a solid opening period and then a 2-1 advantage to the second intermission. After giving up a late power play goal, the game seemed headed for overtime until Philly pulled it out with 1:51 left in the third period.
Sean Couturier (power play, 4th), Ivan Provorov (1st) and Nolan Patrick (3rd) scored for the Flyers. Claude Giroux had a pair of assists. Oskar Lindblom set up Patrick's game winner. Brian Elliott earned the win in goal, stopping 23 of 25 shots.
The Flyers announced on Wednesday that fourth-line forward Corban Knight will miss the next four months after undergoing surgery to repair a broken collarbone.
In 10 of the first 12 games this season, the Flyers have trailed first (4-6-0). Overall, the Flyers have scored 35 goal and yielded 48. At five-on-five, the team has been outscored 30- 23. The power play is 7-for-44 (15.9 percent, ranked 22nd) with two shorthanded goals yielded. The penalty kill is ranked 30th at 67.4 percent (29-for-43).
Kings Outlook
As with the Flyers, the Kings are another struggling team that enters this game coming off a victory in a game of between win-starved teams. On Sunday, the Kings won for just the third time season, sending the New York Rangers down to a 4-3 loss at the Staples Center.
The Kings trailed 2-0 midway through the game but pulled even before the end of the second period on power play goals by Dustin Brown (1st goal and 1st game of the season) and Ilya Kovalchuk (3rd). The game remained knotted at 2-2 until Trevor Lewis (2nd) put LA on top with 9:31 left in the third period. The Rangers promptly got the goal back but, with 55 seconds left in the third period, Alec Martinez (1st) lifted the Kings to a regulation win.
Martinez's goal was one that is rarely scene in today's NHL. On an Rangers dump-in and line change. Martinez retrieved the puck behind his own end. Skating the puck himself out of his own zone, he saw there was room in the neutral zone so he kept going. At the Rangers blue line, he avoided a stick-check attempt and skated into the New York zone. From above the right circle, Martinez fired a 40-foot snap shot through a defender's legs. Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist was off his angle and the puck beat him low to the glove side.
Even with the win in their last game, the Kings bring the NHL's lowest winning percentage (.318) into Thursday's tilt because the Rangers won their next game, the Detroit Red Wings (now 3-7-2) have won back-to-back matches. The only team in the NHL other than LA with seven or fewer points, the Florida Panthers (2-4-3) have only played nine games to date while the Kings have played 11.
For John Stevens, who subsequently spent seven season as an assistant coach with LA and is in his second season as head coach, the team's current seven-game homestand (Thursday's game is the second) could determine whether he remains as the Kings' head coach or is relieved of his duties. By the time the homestand is done, the Kings will have been in LA for a stretch of 9 of 11 games; nearly a quarter of the home schedule will be completed by Nov. 13.
Much of the veteran-laden Kings core group of players has been struggling in the early going of the season. Returning from a five-year "NHL retirement" spent in the KHL, two-time former 50-goal scorer Kovalchuk leads the Kings in scoring with eight points (three goals). Perennial Norris Trophy contender Drew Doughty also has eight points (one goal, minus-four). Ex-Flyer Jeff Carter has two goals and five points. Two-time Selke Trophy winner Anze Kopitar (three goals, four points, even plus-minus) is offensively having an early season much like that of last year's Selke top runner-up Couturier.
The Kings announced on Wednesday that two-time Jennings Trophy winner Jonathan Quick is shelved for a minimum of three months after undergoing knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus. Quick struggled mightily (0-3-1, 4.55 GAA, .845 SV%) before exiting the lineup.
The starting goaltending chores are now being manned by former Dallas Stars 2010 1st-round pick Jack Campbell. While in the Dallas organization, Campbell never was able to turn potential into performance on a sustained basis. Now 26, Campbell is in his third season in the LA organization and is getting his first extended NHL playing time. He's held his own so far this season, posting a 3-4-0 record, 2.72 GAA and .912 save percentage with one shutout. Thirty-six-year-old veteran Peter Budaj backs up Campbell.
Defenseman Paul Ladue left practice early on Wednesday with an undisclosed issue. Oscar Fantenberg is available to play. The Kings also recalled defenseman Daniel Brickey on Wednesday from the AHL's Ontario Reign. Additionally, the team has assigned left winger Austin Wagner to the AHL and recalled Sheldon Rempal.
No Kings player has scored more than three goals yet to this point. Overall, the team has scored a mere 22 goals (2.00 GPG, last in the NHL) and allowed 39 (3.54 GAA, ranked 23rd). At five-on-five, LA has scored just 16 goals (tied for 29th) and allowed 24 goals (tied for 19th). The Kings power play comes in at 5-for-38 (13.2 percent, ranked 29th) with two shorthanded goals yielded. The penalty kill is 24 for 31 (77.4 percent, ranked 20th).
PROJECTED LINEUPS (Subject to change)
FLYERS
28 Claude Giroux - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny
23 Oskar Lindblom - 19 Nolan Patrick - 93 Jakub Voracek
22 Dale Weise - 40 Jordan Weal - 17 Wayne Simmonds
21 Scott Laughton - 15 Jori Lehterä - 62 Nicolas Aube-Kubel
9 Ivan Provorov - 8 Robert Hägg
53 Shayne Gostisbehere - 26 Christian Folin
6 Travis Sanheim - 3 Radko Gudas
37 Brian Elliott
[30 Michal Neuvirth]
Scratches: 47 Andrew MacDonald (healthy), 39 Tyrell Goulbourne (recalled Oct. 28, could dress on fourth line), 33 Cal Pickard (healthy), 12 Michael Raffl (IR, lower body), 10 Corban Knight (IR, collarbone), 25 James van Riemsdyk (IR, lower body), 5 Sam Morin (ACL surgery).
KINGS
19 Alex Iafallo - 11 Anze Kopitar - 23 Dustin Brown
70 Tanner Pearson - 77 Jeff Carter - 73 Tyler Toffoli
17 Ilya Kovalchuk - 9 Adrian Kempe - 22 Trevor Lewis
13 Kyle Clifford - 44 Nate Thompson - 41 Sheldon Rempal
24 Derek Forbort - 8 Drew Doughty
6 Jake Muzzin - 27 Alec Martinez
3 Dion Phaneuf - 7 Oscar Fantenberg
36 Jack Campbell
[31 Peter Budaj]
Scratches: 2 Paul Ladue (undisclosed), 78 Daniel Brickley (healthy), , 32 Jonathan Quick (IR, knee), 42 Gabe Vilardi (IR, back), 76 Jonny Brodzinski (IR, shoulder).
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