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Flyers Gameday: 3/22/14 vs. St. Louis

March 22, 2014, 5:46 AM ET [1217 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
FLYERS VS. BLUES GAME PREVIEW (5:45 A.M. EST)

Taking aim at their fifth straight win, the Philadelphia Flyers (37-25-7) will host the Western Conference leading St. Louis Blues (47-15-7) on Saturday afternoon. Game time at the Wells Fargo Center is 1:00 p.m. EST. The match will be televised locally on CSN Philly.

This is the first of two meetings of the season between the inter-Conference clubs. It is the lone game in Philadelphia. The teams will rematch in St. Louis on April 1.

The Flyers will spend the remainder of the month of March at or near home. Save for a March 26 road game at Madison Square Garden, the rest of the schedule for the month consists of home games. Up next on the slate will be a home game against the Los Angeles Kings.

FLYERS OUTLOOK

The Flyers are 7-2-1 after the Olympic break and 12-3-1 over their last 16 games. They currently sit in second place in the Metropolitan Division, one point ahead of the New York Rangers with two games in hand. Philadelphia holds a three-point advantage on the Columbus Blue Jackets with one game in hand.

Coming off a weekend home-and-home sweep of the archrival Pittsburgh Penguin and a rousing 3-2 home overtime victory against the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks, the Flyers had a more uneven effort in a 4-2 win over the Dallas Stars on Thursday night.

Two goals from Wayne Simmonds and stellar goaltending from Steve Mason were the big difference makers against the Stars. The Flyers jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a Mark Streit goal off a faceoff and a Simmonds power play rebound goal. Dallas cut the deficit in half in the second period on a power play goal by Jamie Benn. In the third period, Simmonds and Benn traded off even-strength goals spaced just 30 seconds apart. Finally, with 3:12 remaining in regulation, Michael Raffl scored on a 2-on-1 rush to seal the victory.

The Flyers went 1-for-2 on the power play against Dallas and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill. They were 2-for-3 on the penalty kill. Benn's second period goal, scored on the back end of an initial 5-on-3 power play, ended a run of 20 straight successful penalty kills.

Offense has generally not been a problem for the Flyers since their early-season struggles. Through the first 15 games of the season, the Flyers scored just 22 goals (1.47 per game). Since that time, Philly has tallied 177 goals in 54 games (3.28 per game).

No player in the NHL has been hotter offensively than Giroux has over the last several months. He has 35 points (13 goals and 22 assists) in the 28 games played since January 4, which was the first game after the last time he was held pointless in back-to-back games.

In the first five games after the Olympic break, the Flyers yielded 21 goals. However, they have allowed just nine in the last five games. Mason is the likely starter in goal again.

BLUES OUTLOOK

Ken Hitchcock's Blues have racked up wins in machine-like fashion this season. Although the club is coming off a 4-0 loss to Chicago on Wednesday, the Blues have been otherwise unstoppable in the month of March. The club brings an 8-1-1 mark for the month into today.

The acquisition of goaltender Ryan Miller and agitating forward Steve Ott near the trade deadline made an already formidable St. Louis team that much more dangerous. The Blues have never won a Stanley Cup since coming into the NHL along with the Flyers and four other teams in 1967. This season, hopes are high to break that spell.

What makes the Blues so dangerous? Depth, two-way play and, now, strong goaltending. There is good reason why they rank in the top five or at least the top 10 in most major team statistical categories across the NHL.

Individually, the Blues do not have a single player in the NHL's top 30 in scoring. Nevertheless, the team is third in the NHL with 3.16 goals per game, excluding shootouts. They have seven players with double-digit goals, led by 30 from Alexander Steen. Olympian T.J. Oshie leads the squad in overall scoring with 54 points (17 goals, 37 assists).

The Blues have also gotten 36 goals from their defense corps; the Flyers (30) have also done pretty well in that regard this season. Alex Pietrangelo (eight goals, 47 points, +21, 25:19 TOI) leads the way offensively, but Kevin Shattenkirk (nine goals, six PPG, 40 points) and Jay Bouwmeester (four goals, 30 assists, 34 points, +27, 24:14 TOI) also contribute significantly to the attack. The defense can lead or join the rush at any time and can catch opponents napping by pinching in from the point with support up high in the zone.

Defensively, the Blues are the third-stingiest team in the NHL. As is typical of a Hitchcock-coached club, St. Louis does not give opponents much time or space. Everybody backchecks (or they don't play) and the team keeps turnovers to a minimum. It is often difficult for opposing teams to get a sustained forecheck going against the Blues, and they also don't yield much off the line rush.

Overall, the Blues are sort of a hybrid between the Chicago Blackhawks and New Jersey Devils. They are a little more physical than the Hawks and have just a tad less pure team speed but there is a lot of depth and ability to turn defense into offense. Like New Jersey, the Blues can wear other teams down on the forecheck and it requires a lot of patience to generate offense because they don't give up much skating room. On the flip side, the Blues are a much better scoring team than the goal-challenged Devils.

Miller has already been announced as today's starting goalie for the Blues. Combined between Buffalo and St. Louis, the former Vezina Trophy winner has posted a .923 save percentage this season in 49 games.

Rising young star Vladimir Tarasenko (21 goals, 43 points, +20 in 64 games) is sidelined after undergoing hand surgery. Former Edmonton Oilers first-round pick Magnus Pääjärvi is dealing with an upper-body injury but could return to the lineup over the weekend. His status for this game is questionable.

KEY STAT COMPARISONS (NHL OVERALL RANKING)

Non-shootout goals per game: Flyers 2.84 (9th), Blues 3.16 (3rd)
Non-shootout goals against per game: Flyers 2.78 (18th), Blues 2.22 (3rd)
Even strength Goals For/Against Ratio: Flyers 0.97 (16th), Blues 1.40 (4th)
Power play efficiency: Flyers 19.9% (10th), Blues 20.6% (7th)
Penalty killing efficiency: Flyers 84.4% (8th), Blues 85.6% (4th)
Faceoff percentage: Flyers 49.9% (16th), Blues 51.0% (12th)

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
47 Andrew MacDonald - 22 Luke Schenn

35 Steve Mason
[29 Ray Emery]

Potential Scratches: Erik Gustafsson (healthy), Jay Rosehill (healthy), Hal Gill (healthy), Chris Pronger (LTIR, post-concussion syndrome).

BLUES

74 T.J. Oshie - 20 Alex Steen - 42 David Backes
21 Patrik Berglund - 12 Derek Roy - 29 Steve Ott
9 Jaden Schwartz - 17 Vladimir Sobotka - 26 Dmitrij Jaskin
10 Brenden Morrow - 40 Maxim Lapierre - 75 Ryan Reaves

27 Alex Pietrangelo - 19 Jay Bouwmeester
22 Kevin Shattenkirk - 5 Barret Jackman
13 Carlo Colaiacovo - 46 Roman Polak

39 Ryan Miller
[1 Brian Elliot]

Potential Scratches: Magnus Pääjärvi (upper body, questionable), Ian Cole (healthy), Chris Porter (healthy), Jordan Leopold (high ankle sprain), Vladimir Tarasenko (right hand surgery).


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