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Flyers Gameday: 1/28/14 vs. Detroit

January 28, 2014, 9:47 AM ET [809 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
FLYERS VS. RED WINGS GAME PREVIEW (9:00 A.M. EST)

Looking to end a four-game losing skid before heading out on a California road trip, the Philadelphia Flyers (25-22-6) are at home to take on the Detroit Red Wings (23-18-11). Game time is 7:00 PM EST. The match will be televised locally on CSN Philadelphia.

This is the third and final meeting of the season between the teams, and the lone game in Philadelphia. The clubs split the two games in Detroit.

On Oct. 12, the Red Wings rode three power play goals to a 5-2 win. On Dec. 4, the Flyers trailed after two periods but exploded for four goals en route to a 6-3 victory. Sean Couturier led the way with a regular season career high four-point game (two goals, two assists), while Matt Read had a goal and two assists to trigger the comeback.


FLYERS OUTLOOK

The Flyers have a 5-6-2 record thus far in January. The club has lost four in a row (0-3-1), including each of the last three in regulation. Philly has allowed three or more regulation goals in 10 games (3-5-2 record), including each of the last nine matches.

The Flyers are coming off a 6-1 blowout loss at the hands of the Boston Bruins on Saturday. The defending Eastern Conference champions dominated all three periods, but on the scoreboard and in terms of territorial advantage (despite relatively close shot on goal totals). Claude Giroux scored a third period power play to goal to avoid getting shut out.

The Flyers have not only been hemorrhaging goals of late, they've also been giving up way too many shots. Over the last five games, goaltenders Steve Mason and Ray Emery have been bombarded with an average of 35 shots per game.

Philly held a brisk practice on Sunday morning prior to the annual Flyers Wives Carnival. The team took an off day yesterday. Scott Hartnell (foot) did not practice on Sunday but was expected to play tonight as of this writing.

On the Flyers' injury front, Zac Rinaldo (high ankle sprain) is slated to remain out of the lineup until after the Olympic break. He has resumed skating with the team, wearing a non-contact jersey.

RED WINGS OUTLOOK

The Red Wings are 5-4-2 this month. However, the team is 2-0-1 over its last three games and the club's wins in January include a pair of wins over the Los Angeles Kings and a 5-4 win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks.

In their most recent game, Detroit settled for one point in a disappointing 5-4 shootout loss to the Florida Panthers. The Red Wings held a 4-2 lead with less than six minutes remaining in the third period but Florida came back to tie the game on a shorthanded goal by Brad Boyes.

Tomas Tatar, who notched a pair of goals the last time the Red Wings played the Flyers, had a goal and an assist in the Florida game. Jonas Gustavsson stopped 33 of 37 shots in regulation and overtime.

The Red Wings have been decimated by injuries. Key forwards Pavel Datsyuk (lower body) and Henrik Zetterberg (back) remain unavailable, as does Stephen Weiss (sports hernia). However, goaltender Jimmy Howard (knee) and checking forward Joakim Andersson (lower body) are expected to be ready for tonight. Veteran power forward Todd Bertuzzi has been a recent healthy scratch but is available.

KEY STAT COMPARISONS (NHL OVERALL RANKING)

Non-shootout goals per game: Flyers 2.62 (17th), Red Wings 2.54 (20th)
Non-shootout goals against per game: Flyers 2.89 (22nd), Red Wings 2.62 (14th)
Even strength Goals For/Against Ratio: Flyers 0.86 (24th), Red Wings 1.03 (12th)
Power play efficiency: Flyers 18.8% (14th), Red Wings 16.6% (22nd)
Penalty killing efficiency: Flyers 83.3% (10th), Red Wings 84.3% (7th)
Faceoff percentage: Flyers 49.0% (20th), Red Wings 50.8% (15th)


PROJECTED LINEUPS (Subject to change)

FLYERS

19 Scott Hartnell - 28 Claude Giroux - 93 Jakub Voracek
40 Vincent Lecavalier - 10 Brayden Schenn - 17 Wayne Simmonds
9 Steve Downie - 14 Sean Couturier - 24 Matt Read
12 Michael Raffl - 76 Chris VandeVelde - 18 Adam Hall

44 Kimmo Timonen - 5 Braydon Coburn
8 Nicklas Grossmann - 32 Mark Streit
26 Erik Gustafsson - 22 Luke Schenn

35 Steve Mason
[29 Ray Emery]

Potential Scratches: Jay Rosehill (healthy), Andrej Meszaros (healthy), Hal Gill (healthy), Zac Rinaldo (high ankle sprain), Chris Pronger (LTIR, post-concussion syndrome).

RED WINGS (will be updated; likely to be different than below)

14 Gustav Nyquist - 93 Johan Franzén - 8 Justin Abdelkader
71 Danny Cleary - 43 Darren Helm - 11 Daniel Alfredsson
26 Tomas Jurco - 18 Joakim Andersson - 21 Tomas Tatar
20 Drew Miller - 15 Riley Sheahan - 17 Patrick Eaves

55 Niklas Kronwall - 52 Jonathan Ericsson
27 Kyle Quincey - 65 Dan DeKeyser
2 Brendan Smith - 23 Brian Lashoff

35 Jimmy Howard
[50 Jonas Gustavsson]

Scratches: Todd Bertuzzi (recent healthy scratch), Pavel Datsyuk (lower body, did not make trip), Henrik Zetterberg (back, did not make trip), Luke Glendening (healthy), Cory Emmerton (finger), Jakub Kindl (healthy), Stephen Weiss (sports hernia).

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