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Flyers Gameday: 2/6/14 vs. Colorado

February 6, 2014, 5:53 AM ET [820 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
FLYERS VS. AVALANCHE GAME PREVIEW (4:45 A.M. EST)

Returning home from a California road trip that saw them win two of three games, the Philadelphia Flyers (28-23-6) will take on the Colorado Avalanche (36-15-6). Game time is 7:00 PM EST. The match will be televised locally on CSN Philadelphia.

This is the second and final meeting of the season between the clubs, and the lone game at the Wells Fargo Center.

The Flyers sustained a 2-1 regulation loss at the Pepsi Center on Jan. 2; the only loss of Philadelphia's 5-1-0 post-Christmas road trip. Goals by Ryan O'Reilly and Jamie McGinn built a 2-0 lead for Colorado by the mid-way point of regulation. Wayne Simmonds cut the deficit in half with 26-plus minutes remaining in the game. The Flyers were unable to solve Semyon Varlamov (29 saves) again. Steve Mason made 29 saves for the Flyers.

After tonight's game, the Flyers have one game remaining before the Olympic break. The Calgary Flames will be in town for a Saturday afternoon tilt.

FLYERS OUTLOOK

Philadelphia has won three of its last four games. The Flyers returned to Philadelphia after putting forth one of their best 60-minute efforts of the season, downing the San Jose Sharks by a 5-2 count on Monday night. The win marked Philly's franchise-record setting 10th third period comeback win of the season.

An early first-period power play goal by Mark Streit staked the Flyers to a 1-0 lead but a pair of goals by Matt Nieto -- one power play and one even strength -- pushed San Jose ahead. Despite playing generally well in the first period and dominating the middle stanza, the Flyers still trailed, 2-1, at the second intermission.

The floodgates opened in the third period, as rapid-fire goals by Matt Read, Michael Raffl and Claude Giroux put the Flyers ahead by a 4-2 count and chased starter Antti Niemi from the San Jose net. The barrage continued with an additional insurance goal by Jakub Voracek.

Mason, who recorded a 35-save shutout in Los Angeles on Saturday afternoon, was not tested much in San Jose. The Flyers' teamwide commitment to defense and puck support limited San Jose to 22 shots. The Sharks entered the game as the highest-shooting team in the NHL before the Flyers turned the tables with a 28-22 shot advantage on Monday.

Streit's power play goal against the Sharks continued the Flyers' strong run of success on the man advantage. Over the last 16 games, Philly has gone 14-for-56 (25 percent) on the power play.

The lone downside to the team's upward trend on the power play has been a continued problem with allowing opposition shorthanded goals. The Flyers have yielded nine such tallies this season; tied for the most in the league.

On the injury front, Kimmo Timonen (badly bruised left foot) is questionable for tonight's game. He sat out the games in Los Angeles and San Jose after struggling through last Thursday's match in Anaheim. The initial injury happened when blocking a shot in the second period of the Flyers' shutout win over Detroit prior to starting their road trip.

AVALANCHE OUTLOOK

Tonight's game is Colorado's third in four nights. The team played on back-to-back nights in Newark and Manhattan earlier this week, nipping the Devils by a 2-1 score and then getting blown out, 5-1, by the Rangers. The loss in New York snapped a four-game winning streak for Patrick Roy's club.

Despite the loss to the Rangers, the Avalanche remain one of the NHL's top road teams this season. Roy's squad boasts a 17-8-2 record away from the Pepsi Center; the fifth-best road record of any team in the NHL this season.

Although some have questioned the depth of the Avalanche blueline, the club has plenty of two-way talent up front and has received excellent goaltending for the majority of the season. The club also has plenty of offensive talent assembled, and the Avs rank 7th in goals scored.

Avalanche team captain Gabriel Landeskog has been the team's hottest offensive player in recent weeks. He brings a seven-game point streak into tonight's tilt. Over the last 21 games, the talented and gritty Swede has racked up eight goals, 22 points and 48 shots on goal. He is a plus-seven at even strength during that span.

Tonight's game marks the return of former Flyers forward Max Talbot to Philadelphia. The player, who became a fan favorite during two-plus seasons with the club, was traded to Colorado on Halloween in exchange for Steve Downie.

On the Colorado injury front, veteran winger Alex Tanguay is questionable for tonight with a knee injury. Veteran defenseman Cory Sarich (back) is on injured reserve, along with forward David Van Der Gulik.

KEY STAT COMPARISONS (NHL OVERALL RANKING)

Non-shootout goals per game: Flyers 2.70 (16th), Avalanche 2.95 (6th)
Non-shootout goals against per game: Flyers 2.81 (19th), Avalanche 2.59 (13th)
Even strength Goals For/Against Ratio: Flyers 0.93 (20th), Avalanche 1.12 (7th)
Power play efficiency: Flyers 19.8% (8th), Avalanche 19.6% (10th)
Penalty killing efficiency: Flyers 83.8% (6th), Avalanche 82.2% (14th)
Faceoff percentage: Flyers 48.8% (22nd), Avalanche 49.7% (17th)


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

8 Nicklas Grossmann - 5 Braydon Coburn
26 Erik Gustafsson - 22 Luke Schenn
41 Andrej Meszaros - 32 Mark Streit

35 Steve Mason
[29 Ray Emery]

Potential Scratches: Kimmo Timonen (questionable, bruised foot), Andrej Meszaros (healthy scratch if Timonen plays), Jay Rosehill (healthy), Hal Gill (healthy), Chris Pronger (LTIR, post-concussion syndrome).

AVALANCHE

92 Gabriel Landeskog - 26 Paul Stastny - 15 P.A. Parenteau
90 Jamie McGinn - 9 Matt Duchene - 11 Ryan O'Reilly
25 Max Talbot - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 7 John Mitchell
58 Patrick Bordeleau - 24 Marc-Andre Cliche -55 Cody McLeod

8 Jan Hejda - 6 Erik Johnson
2 Nick Holden - 4 Tyson Barrie
61 Andre Benoit - 5 Nate Guenin

1 Semyon Varlamov
[35 Jean-Sabastien Giguere]

Potential Scratches: Alex Tanguay (questionable, sprained knee), Ryan Wilson (healthy), Cory Sarich (IR, back), David Van Der Gulik (IR).

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