FLYERS-PREDATORS GAME PREVIEW (8:15 A.M. EST)
Winners of 10 of their last 11 home games, the Philadelphia Flyers (24-19-4) return to the Wells Fargo Center tonight to take on the Nashville Predators (20-21-7). Game time is 7:00 p.m. EST. The match will be televised locally on CSN Philly.
This is the second and final meeting of the season between the teams.
On Nov. 30, the Flyers rode a 34-save performance by Steve Mason to a 3-2 shootout win in Nashville. Vincent Lecavalier was the lone shooter for either side to score in the shootout. Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier (game-tying goal with 6:57 left in the third period) tallied in regulation for the Flyers. Mike Fisher and Colin Wilson scored for the Predators. The Flyers went 5-for-5 on the penalty kill in this game, including three in the second period.
After tonight's game, the Flyers will host the New York Islanders on Saturday. The game will be the front end of a home-and-home set.
FLYERS OUTLOOK
The Flyers are coming off a 4-3 win in Buffalo on Tuesday night. Philly played a listless first period and had to battle back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits over the course of the game. The Flyers notched a pair of power play goals in the game, which proved key to the comeback against the team with the worst record in the NHL.
Scott Hartnell led the way with a goal and two assists. Lecavalier scored the game-winner in the final half-minute of regulation. The Flyers also got goals from Jakub Voracek and Brayden Schenn.
Mason was not at his best in goal, nor was the team defense in front of him particularly tight. Nevertheless, the Flyers held the Sabres' low-watt offense to 19 shots for the game.
Philly's three-goal outburst in the final five minutes of regulation marked the eighth time this season the club has trailed at some point in the third period and has come back to win. The franchise record is nine.
The team held an optional skate yesterday, in which only a few players participated. Hartnell, who briefly left Tuesday's game after blocking a shot that struck him in the ankle, is officially a gameday decision for today.
On the injury front, Zac Rinaldo (high ankle sprain) is out for about six weeks.
PREDATORS OUTLOOK
Barry Trotz's Predators have slogged through January with a 2-3-3 record to date. However, Nashville is coming off a 4-2 home win on Tuesday against the Calgary Flames; the team with the third-worst record in the NHL.
In Tuesday's game, Shea Weber notched his 11th goal of the season, blasting home a laser beam from the point to open the scoring. The game entered the third period tied at 1-1 before the Predators pulled away on goals by Ryan Ellis, Craig Smith and Viktor Stalberg. The Flames later shaved one goal off the three-goal deficit but got no closer. Carter Hutton made 22 saves for the win. David Legwand had three assists.
Weber has racked up 18 points (four goals, 14 assists) over the last 19 games. He leads all NHL defensemen in goals and is in the top 10 for overall scoring at his position. The big blueliner, who did not play when the Flyers visited Nashville back in late Nov., will play his first game tonight against Philadelphia since the team signed him to a 14-year, $110 million offer sheet as a restricted free agent in the summer of 2012. The Predators matched the offer to retain their franchise player.
Mike Fisher has also been hot as of late for Nashville, compiling 11 points (five goals, six assists) over the last nine games. Meanwhile, Smith recently took over the team goal-scoring lead for the season (14). He has eight goals and 12 points over the last 14 games.
The Flyers will face several important challenges tonight when dealing with Nashville. Although Philly has turned into the NHL's best comeback team over the last eight weeks and has already managed a third period comeback against the Preds in the first meeting of the season, that is really not the way to go against this team.
For the season, the Predators sport an impressive 17-2-4 record when scoring first, and are 14-1-1 when leading after the first period (14-0-2 when leading at the second intermission).
On the flip side, Nashville has the worst winning percentage in the NHL when yielding the first goal of the game. The Preds have gone on to lose 22 of 25 games (3-19-3 record) when giving up the first goal. That includes the shootout loss to Philly earlier this season. Flyers captain Giroux scored the first goal in that game, although the Predators scored each of the game's next two goals and took a lead in the third period.
Another challenge: the Flyers' penalty killing has been outstanding lately, killing off 30 of its last 31 manpower disadvantages over the last nine games. Tonight, Philly will meet up with a team that has been on a tear on the power play and relies heavily on generating its goals while on the man advantage. Thirteen of Nashville’s last 42 goals have come on the power play, and the team's power play has risen to seventh (20.6 percent efficiency) in the NHL.
For the season, the Preds are 16-4-2 in games where they score at least one power-play goal. Additionally, Nashville is the only team in the NHL that has not yielded a single shorthanded goal this season. The club brings a streak off 66 consecutive games without allowing a shorthanded goal -- including late-game shorthanded empty netters -- into tonight's tilt.
Lastly, the Flyers come into tonight's game ranked in the bottom third of the league in faceoff percentage. They could have tough time in the circle tonight against Nashville. The Predators rank atop on the NHL in faceoff winning percentage (54.2 percent) this season.
With All-Star caliber goaltender Pekka Rinne still sidelined after hip surgery, the Predators made a trade with Edmonton yesterday to acquire Devan Dubnyk. Matt Hendricks went the other way in the deal. Dubnyk's availabilit for tonight is unclear as of this writing.
KEY STAT COMPARISONS (NHL OVERALL RANKING)
Non-shootout goals per game: Flyers 2.60 (16th), Predators 2.35 (25th)
Non-shootout goals against per game: Flyers 2.74 (17th), Predators 2.88 (21st)
Even strength Goals For/Against Ratio: Flyers 0.89 (22nd), Predators 0.72 (27th)
Power play efficiency: Flyers 18.5% (16th), Predators 20.6% (7th)
Penalty killing efficiency: Flyers 85.0% (7th), Predators 82.2% (14th)
Faceoff percentage: Flyers 49.0% (21st), Predators 54.6% (1st)
PROJECTED LINEUPS (Subject to change)
FLYERS
12 Michael Raffl - 28 Claude Giroux - 92 Jakub Voracek
19 Scott Hartnell - 10 Brayden Schenn - 17 Wayne Simmonds
24 Matt Read - 14 Sean Couturier - 40 Vincent Lecavalier
9 Steve Downie- 76 Chris VandeVelde - 18 Adam Hall
44 Kimmo Timonen - 5 Braydon Coburn
8 Nicklas Grossmann - 32 Mark Streit
41 Andrej Meszaros - 22 Luke Schenn
35 Steve Mason
[29 Ray Emery]
Potential Scratches: Jay Rosehill (healthy), Hal Gill (healthy), Erik Gustafsson (healthy), Zac Rinaldo (high ankle sprain), Chris Pronger (LTIR, post-concussion syndrome).
PREDATORS
57 Gabriel Bourque - 11 David Legwand - 15 Craig Smith
27 Patric Hörnqvist - 12 Mike Fisher - 33 Colin Wilson
24 Eric Nystrom - 7 Matt Cullen - 13 Nick Spaling
16 Rich Clune - 28 Paul Gaustad - 25 Viktor Stalberg
59 Roman Josi - 6 Shea Weber
4 Ryan Ellis - 8 Kevin Klein
42 Mattias Ekholm - 3 Seth Jones
30 Carter Hutton (or 40 Devan Dubnyk)
[39 Marek Mazanec or Hutton]
Potential Scratches: Devan Dubnyk (acquired yesterday) or Marek Mazanec (healthy), Pekka Rinne (IR, hip surgery), Victor Bartley (healthy).
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