Wanna blog? Start your own hockey blog with My HockeyBuzz. Register for free today!
 

Flyers Gameday: 11/11/16 @ TOR

November 11, 2016, 9:33 AM ET [352 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Preview: Flyers @ Maple Leafs

Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (6-6-2) start a back-to-back weekend set of games with a road tilt on Friday night against Mike Babcock's Toronto Maple Leafs (5-5-3). Game time at the Air Canada Centre is 7 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on CSN Philadelphia.

This is the first of three meetings between the teams this season, and the first of two in Toronto. The teams will rematch on January 26 at the Wells Fargo Center and March 9 at the Air Canada Centre. Last season, the Flyers went 1-1-1 against the Leafs.

In honor of the upcoming Hockey Hall of Fame induction of Eric Lindros, the Flyers will wear number 88 jerseys during the pregame warmup. On Sunday, Lindros will captain one of the teams in the Legends Classic game at the Air Canada Centre, where he will reunite the Legion of Doom line with John LeClair and Mikael Renberg; the trio will also be together for the Flyers 50th Anniversary Alumni Game on January 14. On Monday, Lindros and the late Pat Quinn will be among the inductees enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Flyers Outlook

In a staccato perfomance that was ragged at times on both sides but picked up as the game moved along, the host Flyers never trailed the Detroit Red Wings at any point but had to settle for one point on Tuesday after a 65-minute 2-2 tie. The Red Wings claimed the skills competition bonus point, one goal to zero. Philadelphia is now 2-1 in shootouts this season.

Flyers captain Claude Giroux blasted home a first-period power play goal to establish and early 1-0 lead but was denied on third period and overtime breakaways by Howard before being stuffed in the shootout. Later, Sean Couturier capped off a lengthy cycling and forechecking shift in the third period with a go-ahead goal on a tap-in from the crease after the Flyers had a couple of cracks in close.

Making his first start in the last five games, Steve Mason provided a much-needed lift in goal for the Flyers, turning back 33 of 35 shots during the hockey game and the first two shots he faced in the skills competition.

Before last season, Mason had enjoyed success against Toronto in his Flyers career. The best performance was a scintillating 30-save home shutout on January 31, 2015 in a game in which the Flyers were severely outplayed and Mason had to make a 1-0 lead stand up the rest of the night.

On Feb. 20, 2016 Mason severely but temporarily cramped up in the third period of a wild 6-5 win in Toronto in which Michal Neuvirth ended up being the goalie of record. After removing himself from the game until the sensation subsided, he was denied re-entry into the game by Hakstol. Michal Neuvirth then received each of the next five starts, during which time the Flyers went 3-2-0.

On April 7, the Flyers rallied back from deficits of 2-0 and 3-1 to force OT on a tying goal by Wayne Simmonds in the the final minute of the third period. In overtime, an Andrew MacDonald tripping penalty resulted in a heavily contested game-winning power play goal by Jake Gardiner on a play in which Mason had seemingly been intefered with in identical fashion to how the Flyers had a would-be game winning regulation goal disallowed in a game in Detroit (a game the Flyers subsequently won but from which Detroit got a point). The Gardiner goal stood, however.

Ultimately, of course, the Flyers got into the 2016 playoffs, anyway, as did Detroit.

Entering Friday's tilt, Jakub Voracek (six goals, nine assists) and Giroux (four goals, 11 assists) are tied for the Flyers' scoring lead through the first 14 games. Simmonds (six goals, six assists) and defenseman Mark Streit (three goals, seven assists) have already hit double-digit points, with the defensively struggling Shayne Gostisbehere (three goals, six assists), rookie forward Travis Konecny (three goals, six assists) and Brayden Schenn (two goals, seven assists in 11 games) all on the cusp of double digits.

The Flyers had a few too many turnovers in Tuesday's game. Over the previous few games, they had been gradually cleaning up some of the defensive breakdowns that had been plaguing them in the early going of the season. Most notably, the level of backchecking support and five-man-unit play started trending the right way after a hideous start. On Tuesday, the Flyers' defensive play took a step backward but the goaltending, which had been so-so, took a step forward.

The Flyers held an optional practice on Wedesday and a full practice on Thursday. Scott Laughton was activated from long-term injured reserve and assigned to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. In a cap-related pair of on-paper moves, the Flyers assigned Roman Lyubimov to the Phantoms on Wednesday and recalled him on Thursday. Boyd Gordon remains on LTIR, and MacDonald is still out of the lineup as well.

Based on Thursday's practice combinations, the Flyers spare forward for Friday's game appears to be checking left winger Chris VandeVelde; a healthy scratch only once last season and not at all this season.


Maple Leafs Outlook

The Maple Leafs started their November schedule with wins against Edmonton, Buffalo and Vancouver but ran into the business end of a buzzsaw on Tuesday night at the Air Canada Center. The LA Kings, buoyed by a four-goal second period, shredded the Leafs to the tune of 7-0. After starting goalie Frederik Andersen yielded the first four Los Angeles goals on 26 shots, Jhonas Enroth relieved him for the remainder of the game.

Friday's game will be the Flyers' first-ever look at highly touted rookie Auston Matthews. After debuting in the NHL with a four-goal game on opening night, he has scored twice since then and added five assists for 11 points in 13 games. William Nylander leads the team in scoring with 12 points (four goals, eight assists) while ex-Flyer James van Riemsdyk (four goals, six assists) and dynamic young forward Mitch Marner (four goals, six assists) are already in double digits for points as well.

The game is also the Flyers' first look at defenseman Nikita Zaitsev; a player whom they scouted heavily in Russia in recent years and, at various times, were heavily rumored by the Russian sports media to be pursuing for a contract.

Following this game, the Maple Leafs are on the road on Saturday to take on the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins.

Projected Lineups (subject to change, will be updated)

FLYERS

10 Brayden Schenn- 28 Claude Giroux - 17 Wayne Simmonds
11 Travis Konecny - 14 Sean Couturier - 92 Jakub Voracek
76 Chris VandeVelde - 25 Nick Cousins - 22 Dale Weise
24 Matt Read - 76 P-E Bellemare - 13 Roman Lyubimov

15 Michael Del Zotto - 3 Radko Gudas
55 Nick Schultz - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
9 Ivan Provorov - 32 Mark Streit

35 Steve Mason
[30 Michal Neuvirth]

Scratches: Brandon Manning (healthy), Michael Raffl (healthy), Andrew MacDonald (lower body), Boyd Gordon (LTIR, upper body).

MAPLE LEAFS

11 Zach Hyman - 34 Auston Matthews - 29 William Nylander
25 James van Riemsdyk - 42 Tyler Bozak - 16 Mitch Marner
47 Leo Komarov - 43 Nazem Kadri - 12 Connor Brown
15 Matt Martin - 18 Ben Smith - 26 Nikita Soshnikov

44 Morgan Rielly - 22 Nikita Zaitsev
52 Martin Marincin - 8 Connor Carrick
51 Jake Gardiner - 46 Roman Polak

31 Frederik Andersen
[35 Jhonas Enroth]

Scratches: Peter Holland (healthy), Seth Griffith (healthy), Frank Corrado (healthy), Matt Hunwick (IR, lower body), Joffrey Lupul (LTIR).
Join the Discussion: » 352 Comments » Post New Comment
More from Bill Meltzer
» Wrap: Flyers Lose 6-5 OT Game to Rangers
» Flyers Gameday: 3/26/24 @ NYR
» Quick Hits: Flyers-FLA Wrap, Flyers Daily, Phantoms, Bigger than Hockey
» Flyers Gameday: 3/24/2024 vs. FLA; Phantoms Update
» Wrap: Flyers Pass Huge Test, Beat Boston