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Flyers Gameday: 3/23/21 vs. NJ |
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GAME 31: FLYERS VS. DEVILS
Alain Vigneault's Philadelphia Flyers (15-11-4) are home on Tuesday to take on Lindy Ruff's New Jersey Devils . Game time at the Wells Fargo Center is 7:00 p.m. EDT. The game will be televised on NBCSP.
The Flyers are playing the second game of a back-to-back, their third game in four nights and their fifth game in seven nights (off days on March 19 and 21). The Devils are also playing for the third time in four night but had one extra off day (March 17, 19 and 22nd) with an idle night on Monday.
Over the next five games, the Flyers will close out the month of March with this game against New Jersey and then two apiece against the New York Rangers and Buffalo Sabres. Philly needs a lot of points in a hurry to position themselves to make a push for a playoff spot. There are 10 points on the table against teams below them in the standings.
Entering play on Tuesday, the Flyers are two points behind Boston (but the Bruins hold two games in hand now due to their recent COVID-related postponents) and six points behind Pittsburgh (with Philly holding two games in hand). The Penguins host the lowly Sabres, who are winless their last 14 games including an 0-2-1 mark against the Flyers in that span, on Wednesday and Thursday.
Flyers Outlook
Last night, the Flyers gained only one point from a 2-1 home overtime loss to the Islanders despite being significantly the better team throughout regulation, including a 37-15 shot on goal edge through 60 minutes.
The Flyers largely dominated the first period but Isles nursed the game to the first intermission scoreless, thanks to clutch goaltending. The game remained scoreless until Oskar Lindblom (5th goal of the season) scored from right in front of the net with 7:57 remaining in the second period. Oliver Wahlstrom (8th) tied the game early in the third period on scrum around the Philadelphia net.
In overtime, Anthony Beauvillier (4th) won the game for his team, assisted by J.G. Pageau (2nd helper of the game). A bad pass by Joel Farabee went off the stick of Shayne Gostisbehere and possession was lost. Beauvillier then scored on a wraparound in which Brian Elliott was slow to get over to cover.
A failed Flyers power play late in regulation with a chance to win the game came back to haunt Philly in OT. All three OT shots belonged to New York.
Elliott stopped 17 of 19 shots in a losing cause. Ilya Sorokin was outstanding in net for the Islanders, denying 36 of 37 shots including numerous tough opportunities.
The Flyers do not have a morning skate. Vigneault will speak to the media at 4:30 p.m. today. It seems likely that the lineup combinations will stay the same as last night, with the exception of Carter Hart getting the start in goal.
Overall this season, scoring goals has not been a problem for the Flyers. However, the team has managed only six goals over the last four games; five of which have come from the line of Claude Giroux centering Oskar Lindblom and Jakub Voracek. Three have been scored by Lindblom, who has gone from two to five goals on the season.
Devlis Outlook
New Jersey is 4-4-2 over its last 10 games but have gained at least one point from each of their last five games (3-0-2) including earning five of six possible possible points from a stretch of three straight games against the Penguins.
The Devils have formidable team speed and there's a lot of young talent on the roster but the team still lacks two-way consistency and its productivity has been sporadic. In goal, Mackenzie Blackwood's struggles have not been quite as severe as Carter Hart's but, as with his Flyers counterpart, he has not taken the hoped-for jump from highly promising young NHL starter to an elite goaltender. Scott Wedgewood has had the better season, and has seen his playing time increase.
Pavel Zacha leads the Devils this season with a modest 18 points but there is just a six-point spread between first and ninth (veteran Travis Zajac) in point production across the team . Second-year NHLer Jack Hughes has had bouts of inconsistency, as is so often the case with players that young, but had a goal and an assist against the Devils two games ago. Twenty-year-old defenseman Ty Smith, a first-round pick in 2018, is showing a lot of promise in his rookie season including 15 points in 29 games.
Projected lineups
FLYERS (will be updated)
25 James van Riemsdyk - 24 Sean Couturier - 86 Joel Farabee
21 Scott Laughton - 13 Kevin Hayes - 93 Jake Voracek
23 Oskar Lindblom - 28 Claude Giroux - 11 Travis Konecny
12 Michael Raffl - 19 Nolan Patrick - 62 Nicolas Aube-Kubel
9 Ivan Provorov - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
6 Travis Sanheim - 61 Justin Braun
56 Erik Gustafsson - 5 Phil Myers
79 Carter Hart
[37 Brian Elliott or 34 Alex Lyon]
PP1: Giroux, Patrick, Farabee, Voracek, Provorov.
PP2: Hayes, Couturier, JVR, Konecny, Gostisbehere.
Scratches: 81 Carsen Twarynski (healthy), 37 Brian Elliott (possible rest day if Lyon backs up Hart).
Injured reserve: 8 Robert Hägg (shoulder, 2-4 weeks from 3/17/21), 48 Morgan Frost (shoulder surgery).
COVID-19 protocol: None.
DEVILS
59 Janne Kuokkanen - 19 Travis Zajac - 17 Yegor Sharangovich
63 Jesper Bratt - 86 Jack Hughes - 21 Kyle Palmieri
44 Miles Wood - 37 Pavel Zacha - 39 Nick Merkley
11 Andreas Johnsson - 20 Michael McLeod - 23 Mikhail Maltsev
24 Ty Smith - 28 Damon Severson
70 Dmitry Kulikov - 76 P.K. Subban
22 Ryan Murray - 45 Sami Vatanen
29 Mackenzie Blackwood
41 Scott Wedgewood
PP1: Merkley, Hughes, Wood, Severson, Subban.
PP2: Bratt, Zacha, Kuokkanen, Palmieri, Smith.
Scratches: 8 Will Butcher (healthy), 97 Nikita Gusev (healthy), 47 Aaron Dell (healthy).
Injured Reserve: 13 Nico Hischier (surgery to repair frontal sinus injury), 14 Nathan Bastian (lower body).
COVID-19 protocol: None.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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