FLYERS @ DUCKS GAME PREVIEW (11:00 A.M. EST)
Kicking off a perilous three-game road trip through California, the Philadelphia Flyers (26-22-6) will take on the hosting Anaheim Ducks (39-11-5) on Thursday night. Game time is 10:00 PM EST. The match will be televised locally on CSN Philadelphia.
This is the second and final meeting of the season between the clubs. It is the lone game in Anaheim.
On Oct. 29, the Ducks beat the Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center, 3-2. Philly actually dominated the first period -- perhaps the best 20 minutes of hockey the Flyers have played in any game this season -- and built a 2-0 advantage.
Anaheim took over from the second period onward, outshooting the Flyers by a 27-13 margin over the final 40 minutes. Only the stellar goaltending of Steve Mason (34 saves) helped the Flyers nurse the 2-0 lead until late in the middle frame and carry a 2-1 lead into the third period.
The Flyers were unable to protect their narrow lead in the third period. A pair of goals by Kyle Palmieri tied and then put the Ducks ahead to stay. Jonas Hiller (28 saves) earned the win in goal.
After tonight's game, the Flyers head to Los Angeles. On Saturday, the Flyers have a 4 p.m. EST (1 p.m. PST) showdown with the Kings.
FLYERS OUTLOOK
The Flyers have a 6-6-2 record thus far in January. On Tuesday, the team blanked the Detroit Red Wings by a 5-0 mark. Philly snapped a four-game losing streak (0-3-1) and a stretch of allowing three or more regulation goals in nine straight games.
Scott Hartnell notched a pair of goals in the Flyers' last game. Philly also got tallies from Adam Hall, Claude Giroux (power play) and Sean Couturier. Mason played his best game of the month in recording a 34-save shutout.
Over the team's previous four games, the Flyers had scored a modest eight goals. Against Detroit, Philly broke out of the mini-slump with four even-strength goals after a power play tally in the opening period. It was the even-strength goals that had been lacking. Heading into tonight's tilt, the Flyers are 11-for-48 (22.9 percent) on the man advantage over the last 13 matches.
On the Flyers' injury front, Zac Rinaldo (high ankle sprain) was upgraded to day-to-day status earlier in the week. He could return to the lineup tonight after initially being projected to be out until the Olympic break.
DUCKS OUTLOOK
Anaheim enters tonight's game with the best overall record and the best home record (21-2-2) in the NHL. Bruce Boudreau's team has posted a 10-3-0 record in the month of January and has scored four or more goals in six games and tallied three or more in eight.
However, the Ducks enter tonight's game with a 2-2-0 mark over their last four games. On Tuesday, Anaheim dropped a 4-2 home decision to the Minnesota Wild for just their second regulation home loss of the season. Dustin Penner and Mathieu Perrault (power play) scored in a losing cause for the Ducks.
The Anaheim lineup is stacked with dangerous players from top-to-bottom and can with either by playing smash-mouth hockey or with speed and finesse. Playmaking wizard Ryan Getzlaf leads the team with 36 assists and 61 points. His linemate, feared power forward Corey Perry, paced the squad with 28 goals.
Tonight's game marks the final time future Hall of Famer Teemu Selänne will play against the Flyers (barring a Stanley Cup Finals meeting between the teams) before he retires as an active player. As a player who has spent his entire career with Western Conference teams, tonight's game is just the 23rd Selänne has played against Philly -- not all that many considering he entered the NHL in 1992-93.
However, in the games he has played against Philly, the Finnish Flash has terrorized the Flyers. Selänne has racked up 17 goals (eight on the power play) and 30 points in the 23 games. For the 2013-14 season as a whole, Selänne has seven goals and 19 points in 43 games. He did not record a point in the earlier season meeting with the Flyers.
On the injury front, defenseman Sheldon Souray (wrist surgery) and goaltender Viktor Fasth (lower-body) remain on injured reserve.
KEY STAT COMPARISONS (NHL OVERALL RANKING)
Non-shootout goals per game: Flyers 2.67 (17th), Ducks 3.31 (3rd)
Non-shootout goals against per game: Flyers 2.83 (18th), Ducks 2.36 (6th)
Even strength Goals For/Against Ratio: Flyers 0.90 (22nd), Ducks 1.47 (2nd)
Power play efficiency: Flyers 19.1% (14th), Ducks 19.0% (15th)
Penalty killing efficiency: Flyers 83.6% (9th), Ducks 82.6% (12th)
Faceoff percentage: Flyers 49.0% (21st), Ducks 49.1% (20th)
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 - 18 Adam Hall - 36 Zac Rinaldo
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), Chris Pronger (LTIR, post-concussion syndrome).
DUCKS
17 Dustin Penner - 15 Ryan Getzlaf - 10 Corey Perry
39 Matt Beleskey - 13 Nick Bonino - 33 Jakob Silfverberg
7 Andrew Cogliano - 11 Saku Koivu - 21 Kyle Palmieri
62 Patrick Maroon - 22 Mathieu Perreault - 8 Teemu Selänne
4 Cam Fowler - 6 Ben Lovejoy
5 Luca Sbisa - 23 Francois Beauchemin
55 Bryan Allen - 47 Hampus Lindholm
1 Jonas Hiller
[30 Frederik Andersen]
Scratches: Sheldon Souray (IR, wrist surgery), Viktor Fasth (IR, lower body), Mark Fistric (healthy), Tim Jackman (healthy), Daniel Winnik (healthy).
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