Game 32 Preview: Flyers @ Kings
Interim head coach Mike Yeo's Philadelphia Flyers (13-12-6) are in LA on New Year's Day to take on Todd McLellan's Los Angeles Kings (15-12-5). Game time at Crypto.com Arena (formerly Staples Center) is 10:30 p.m. ET (NBSCP, 97.5 The Fanatic).
The Flyers bring a seven-game point streak (5-0-2) into this game. However, the team was over-reliant on goaltenders Martin Jones and the debuting Felix Sandström to pull out a 3-2 overtime win in Seattle on Wednesday and claim one point from a 3-2 overtime loss in San Jose the next night. Sandström's 43 saves set a new Flyers franchise record for most saves by a goaltender in his first NHL game. Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee scored 5-on-5 goals in regulation to provide just enough goal support for the team to come away with a point.
The Kings are playing the third game of a seven-game homestand. On Thursday, the Kings earned a 2-1 (2-1) shootout win in five rounds against the Vancouver Canucks. Brendan Lemieux scored the lone LA goal in regulation before Adrian Kempe and Viktor Arvidsson converted shootout attempts. Jonathan Quick faced only 17 shots in regulation and overtime, stopping 16. The veteran goalie then denied four of five shooters (all but Bo Horvat, who also scored a power play goal in regulation) in the skills competition.
Martin Jones will be in net for the Flyers against the Kings. Jonathan Quick will start for LA. Projected lineups will be posted later today. Thursday's game-opening lineup was as follows:
FLYERS
25 James van Riemsdyk - 28 Claude Giroux - 89 Cam Atkinson
71 Max Willman - 13 Kevin Hayes - 86 Joel Farabee
23 Oskar Lindblom - 48 Morgan Frost - 11 Travis Konecny
59 Jackson Cates - 38 Patrick Brown - 17 Zack McEwen
9 Ivan Provorov - 61 Justin Braun
6 Travis Sanheim - 70 Rasmus Ristolainen
3 Keith Yandle - 8 Kevin Connauton
35 Martin Jones
[32 Felix Sandström]
KINGS (based on Friday's practice, per LAKingsInsider.com)
19 Alex Iafallo – 11 Anze Kopitar – 9 Adrian Kempe
12 Trevor Moore – 24 Phillip Danault – 33 Viktor Arvidsson
91 Carl Grundström – 39 Alex Turcotte – 89 Rasmus Kupari
48 Brendan Lemieux – 46 Blake Lizotte – 34 Arthur Kaliyev
44 Mikey Anderson – 8 Drew Doughty
86 Christian Wolanin – 3 Matt Roy
7 Tobias Björnfot – 50 Sean Durzi
32 Jonathan Quick
[40 Cal Petersen]
For an in-depth game preview, see today's
Five Things on the Flyers official website.
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Preview: Phantoms vs. Bridgeport Islanders
Looking to build on a six-game point streak (5-0-1), Ian Laperriere's Lehigh Valley Phantoms (8-11-6) are home on Saturday night to host Brent Thompson's Bridgeport Islanders (10-16-4). Game time at the PPL Center is 6:05 p.m. ET. The game will be streamed on AHLTV (subscription required).
The Phantoms enter this game coming off an epic comeback victory in Utica on Thursday. Lehigh Valley trailed the game, 3-0, after the first period and 5-1 by the midway point of regulation before storming back to capture a 6-5 overtime victory.
Logan Day (1st goal of the season), Isaac Ratcliffe (4th), Hayden Hodgson (5th), and Garret Wilson (7th) scored for Lehigh Valley before Hodgson's second goal of the game in the final minute of regulation knotted the score at 5-5 and forced OT. In overtime, Cal O'Reilly won the game with 1:01 remaining in the 3-on-3 sudden death frame. In net, veteran Pat Nagle settled in after a rough start to close the door for the final 37 minutes of regulation and OT to earn the win.
With the Phantoms -- like most AHL teams -- depleted by NHL active roster and Taxi Squad recalls as well as various injuries, Laperriere's lineup is a juggling act. Rugged veteran winger Wilson leads the Phantoms' active roster with 15 points (7g, 8a) in 24 games. He's followed by O'Reilly (4g, 10a), young defenseman Egor Zamula (2g, 11a in 23 games including two assists in the Utica game) and veteran defensman Adam Clendening (3g, 9a in 23 games). Hodgson has chipped in 11 points (6g, 5a) and has cut down significantly of late on taking down penalties.
Isaac Ratcliffe and Maksim Sushko each have a modest four goals and four assists apiece but both have had recent production upticks. Three of Ratcliffe's four goals have come over the past 10 games while Susko has three goals and five points in his last six games.
With Felix Sandström on NHL recall and Samuel Ersson once again sidelined by injury (plus Reading Royals goalie Kirill Ustimenko on the Flyers' taxi squad during the current road trip), the 34-year-old Nagle has temporarily become the Phantoms' primary starting goalie. In seven games to date, Nagle has posted a 5-0-2 record, 2.54 GAA, and .900 save percentage. Garett Metcalf backed up Nagle last game.
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