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Flyers Gameday: 3/3/15 vs. CGY

March 3, 2015, 10:05 AM ET [1048 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
PREVIEW: FLYERS VS. FLAMES

In the second game of a three-game homestand, Craig Berube's Philadelphia Flyers (27-25-11)
play host to Bob Hartley's Calgary Flames (33-25-4). Game time at the Wells Fargo Center is 7:00 p.m. EST. The game will be televised locally on CSN Philadelphia.

This is the first of the two meetings between the inter-Conference teams this season. The clubs will rematch in Calgary on March 19.

The Flyers last played on Saturday, hosting the New York Rangers in a nationally televised game. They will host the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night. The Flames are in the fourth game of a seven-game road trip. Calgary last played on Friday night in Long Island. The game in Philadelphia is the first portion of a three-in-four stretch. The Flames play in Boston on Thursday and Detroit on Friday.


Flyers outlook

The Flyers have gained at least one point in 13 of their last 16 games (9-3-4). The team opens play on Thursday looking to narrow the gap in the Eastern Conference wildcard chase to four points against idle Boston. The Bruins currently hold one game in hand over the Flyers and hold the tiebreaker advantage.

On Saturday, the Flyers earned a 4-2 home win over the arch-rival Rangers. The Flyers finished the month of February with a 5-3-3 record (4-1-3 at home) and avoided a season series sweep at the hands of the Blueshirts.

Michael Del Zotto scored an early third period shorthanded goal from the left circle to put the Flyers ahead to stay. The Flyers also got goals from Matt Read, Michael Raffl and Wayne Simmonds (empty net). Sean Couturier chipped in a pair of assists. Steve Mason earned the win in net, stopping 34 of 36 shots, including 16 saves in the third period.

In the wee hours of Monday morning, the Flyers traded long-tenured (eight years) defenseman Braydon Coburn to the Tampa Bay Lightning. In return, the Flyers received NHL roster defenseman Radko Gudas and the Tampa's first-round and third-round picks in the 2015 NHL Draft. Gudas, who underwent season-ending knee surgery in January, will spend the remainder of the 2014-15 campaign on the Flyers' injured reserve list.

Nicklas Grossmann sustained an upper-body injury while blocking a shot early in the second period of Saturday's game. He is officially day-to-day but is not expected to play on Tuesday.

Vincent Lecavalier and Luke Schenn re-entered the Flyers' lineup in Saturday's game after three-game stints as healthy scratches. Zac Rinaldo was a healthy scratch against the Rangers.

Flames outlook

Calgary is currently 1-2-0 on its road trip. The Flames enter play barely clinging to the automatic playoff spot that comes with finishing third in the Pacific Division. Currently, the Western Conference second wildcard cutoff is 73 points (Minnesota Wild). As such, finishing third in the Pacific is a make-or-break scenario for the Flames, LA Kings and San Jose Sharks.

Calgary (30 regulation/overtime wins) holds a tiebreaker advantage over the Kings (28 regulation/OT wins), who also have 70 points in 62 games. The Sharks(29 regulation/OT wins) have 70 points in 64 games.

The Flames enter this game coming off a 2-1 regulation loss to the Islanders on Friday. The Islanders hung to a 1-0 lead from the middle of the first period -- including an unsuccessful first-period penalty shot attempt for Calgary left winger Michael Ferland against Jaroslav Halak -- until the final minute of the third period. After an Islanders' empty net goal extended the lead to 2-1, Calgary center Joe Jooris broke up Halak's shutout bid in the final 21 seconds.

Tuesday's game marks a homecoming for New Jersey native Johnny Gaudreau. "Johnny Hockey" is currently third on the team in overall scoring with 44 points (15 goals, 29 assists) in 61 games. Gaudreau is a likely Calder Trophy finalist as NHL rookie of the year, but Nashville Predators forward Filip Forsberg (21 goals, 52 points) is the favorite to win.

The Flames suffered a devastating loss when top defenseman Mark Giordano was diagnosed with a torn biceps tendon. Giordano underwent surgery on March 2 and is done for the season. He will need four to five months to recover.

Also unavailable for Calgary: Paul Byron (IR, lower body), Ladislav Smid (IR, upper body) and Matt Stajan (personal leave, birth of a child). The Flames claimed veteran defenseman David Schlemko off waivers from the Dallas Stars on Sunday.

Key team stat comparisons (NHL overall ranking)

Non-shootout goals per game: Flyers 2.62 (T-21st), Flames 2.77 (15th)
Non-shootout goals against per game: Flyers 2.79 (23rd), Flames 2.56 (12th)
Even strength Goals For/Against Ratio: Flyers 0.97 (T-21st), Flames 1.03 (17th)
Power play efficiency: Flyers 23.3% (3rd), Flames 17.7% (19th)
Penalty killing efficiency: Flyers 76.3% (28th), Flames 80.4% (T-19th)
Faceoff percentage: Flyers 51.4% (T-9th), Flames 47.9% (25th)


Projected lineups (Subject to change, will be updated)

FLYERS

12 Michael Raffl - 28 Claude Giroux - 17 Wayne Simmonds
24 Matt Read - 14 Sean Couturier - 93 Jakub Voracek
25 Ryan White - 10 Brayden Schenn - 18 R.J. Umberger
76 Chris VandeVelde - 78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 40 Vincent Lecavalier

55 Nick Schultz - 32 Mark Streit
15 Michael Del Zotto - 22 Luke Schenn
26 Carlo Colaiacovo - 47 Andrew MacDonald

35 Steve Mason
[29 Ray Emery]

Scratches: Zac Rinaldo (healthy), Nicklas Grossmann (doubtful. upper body), Radko Gudas (IR, knee surgery).

FLAMES

21 Mason Raymond - 23 Sean Monahan - 24 Jiri Hudler
13 Johnny Gaudreau - 86 Josh Jooris - 8 Joe Colborne
17 Lance Bouma - 11 Mikael Backlund - 19 David Jones
25 Brandon Bollig - 60 Markus Granlund - 57 Emile Poirier

29 Deryk Engelland - 7 T.J. Brodie
4 Kris Russell - 6 Dennis Wideman
33 Raphael Diaz - 28 Corey Potter

31 Karri Rämö
[1 Jonas Hiller]

Scratches: Michael Ferland (healthy), David Schlemko (healthy, travel issues), Drew Shore (healthy), Mark Giordano (IR, biceps surgery), Paul Byron (IR, lower body), Ladislav Smid (IR, upper body), Matt Stajan (personal leave).
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