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Flyers Gameday: 3/24/2022 @ STL; Phantoms Lose in Hersey |
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Game 64 Preview: Flyers @ Blues
In the second game of a five-game road trip, interim head coach Mike Yeo's Philadelphia Flyers (20-32-11) are in Missouri on Thursday to take on Craig Berube's St. Louis Blues (35-18-9). Game time at the Enterprise Center is 8:00 p.m. EDT (ESPN+, Hulu, 97.5 The Fanatic).
This is the second and final meeting of the season between the teams and the lone game in St. Louis. The Flyers are 0-1-0 to date.
The Flyers enter this game coming off a 6-3 road loss to the Detroit Red Wings. Philadelphia is winless in its last 13 road games, dating back to Dec. 29. The Blues are opening a three-game homestand. They are coming off a 5-2 road win against the Washington Capitals.
On Wednesday, the Flyers recalled forward Hayden Hodgson -- whose AHL contract was replaced earlier this week with a two-way NHL deal for the rest of this season -- from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The hard-nosed 26-year-old forward could make his NHL debut in this game, with the Flyers otherwise having to dress 11 forwards and 7 defensemen. It's likely nonetheless that there will again be significant line combination juggling throughout the game as there was last game.
For an in-depth preview of Tuesday's matchups, hot-and-cold trends for various players, and a deep dive into why the Blues' key team stats (GPG, GAA, won-loss record) are so much better than the Flyers' despite the clubs having very similar 5-on-5 puck possession and shot quality differentials -- ranking in the lower one-third of the NHL in team Corsi and expected goals shares -- see today's Five Things on PhiladelphiaFlyers.com.
PROJECTED LINEUP
FLYERS
25 James van Riemsdyk - 86 Joel Farabee - 89 Cam Atkinson
[Mix-and match] - 13 Kevin Hayes - 11 Travis Konecny
71 Max Willman - 48 Morgan Frost - 74 Owen Tippett
42 Hayden Hodgson - 38 Patrick Brown - 17 Zack MacEwen
9 Ivan Provorov - 45 Cam York
6 Travis Sanheim - 70 Rasmus Ristolainen
3 Keith Yandle - 24 Nick Seeler / 8 Kevin Connauton
35 Martin Jones
[79 Carter Hart]
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Phantoms Drop 5-1 Decision in Hershey
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms were already in "very little margin for error" territory heading into Wednesday's games in Hershey in the Flyers' top farm team's uphill struggle to earn a postseason spot. The task became that much tougher following a 5-1 defeat last night.
Wade Allison, who has four goals and nine points in his last four games and seems to be fine after his most recent injury scare (skate laceration to his arm/wrist on March 11, for which he needed stitches), got the Phantoms off to quick start as he scored from his off-wing to make it 1-0 just 20 seconds into the game. Adam Johnson and Egor Zamula drew the assists.
Unfortunately, that was the only goal for the Phantoms all night (goals have been exceptionally tough to come by against the Bears of late). Two late first period goals vaulted the Bears from a 1-0 deficit to a 2-1 lead, and then the Bears lead swelled to 4-1 in the second period. A disallowed would-be goal that kept the Phantoms behind by three goals entering the third period added to the frustration. Lehigh Valley put up a feeble resistance in the third period, getting outshot 10-1. The Bears punctuated the win with a Beck Malenstyn shorthanded goal with 2:09 left in the third period. It was Malenstyn's second goal of the game.
Felix Sandström (29 saves on 34 shots) absorbed the loss in goal for the Phantoms. Pheonix Copley (26 saves on 27 shots) earned the win for Hershey.
Allison had four shots on goal for the Phantoms. It was a quiet game for Tanner Laczynski, who had goals in each of his three previous games but who still seems to be working his way back to excelling in winning the puck battles that were his bread-and-butter as a pro before undergoing surgeries on both hips over the past year. The Phantoms could have used a little more from Isaac Ratcliffe, veteran captain Cal O'Reilly, Linus Sandin and others as this game progressed.
The key to Allison coming back up to the Flyers is this: staying healthy for awhile. He has to put in even two straight healthy weeks this season without one (often freakinsh) injury or another forcing him out of the lineup again. The dilemma with the player is balancing the pros of his all-out hustling and physically involved style of play with the cons of his tendency to get injured and miss significant stretches of time.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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