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Flyers Gameday: 11/18/17 vs. CGY; Phantoms, CHL, NCAA, Euro Prospect Update

November 18, 2017, 7:55 AM ET [218 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
UPDATE 10:30 AM

Jordan Weal is out at least for this game, due to an upper-body injury. He took a heavy hit, possibly an elbow, from Dustin Byfuglien in Thursday's game in Winnipeg but it is unclear if that was the cause of his injury. Weal also missed two games in October with an upper-body injury.

With Weal out, Jori Lehterä will likely be back in the Flyers' lineup.

Andrew MacDonald is not quite ready to play. He remains on IR for the time being. Mark Alt will get the start on right defense on a pairing with Travis Sanheim.

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GAME 20 PREVIEW: FLYERS VS. FLAMES

Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (8-8-3) return home on Saturday for a matinee against Glen Gulutzan's Calgary Flames (10-8-0). Game time at the Wells Fargo Center is 1:00 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on NBCSP.

This is the first of two meetings between the teams this season. The clubs will rematch in Calgary on Dec. 4. Last season, the teams split their two games with the home side winning each. On Nov. 27, 2016 in Philadelphia, the Flyers skated to a 5-3 victory. The Flames claimed a 3-1 win in Calgary on Feb. 17, 2017.


FLYERS OUTLOOK

The Flyers, who bring a 4-3-2 home record into this game, are coming off a 3-2 shootout loss in Winnipeg on Thursday.

After 158:36 minutes of scoring futility, the Flyers' goalless streak finally ended at 2:27 of the first period and they went to build an early 2-0 lead they were unable to build upon or protect late in the game.

Jakub Voracek (5th goal of the season, 18th assist) and Sean Couturier (power play tally for his 11th goal, 10th assist) had multi-point nights to break themselves and the teams out of a two-game goalless stretch. Claude Giroux (12th assist) and Wayne Simmonds (6th assist) picked up a point of the piece.

Although Simmonds went without a goal for his 11th straight game, he had his best game in weeks. If can pick up where he left off in this game, he is likely to start scoring again soon. That was one of the bright spots apart from the top line.

Brian Elliott continued a run of excellent starts as he stopped 31 of 33 shots in regulation and overtime. Unfortunately, the shootout did not go well. Last season with Calgary, he stopped 10 of 12 skills competition attempts. On Thursday, he was beaten on three of four attempts.

After a nine-game injury absence, Nolan Patrick returned to the lineup on Thursday against the Jets. Largely due to all the special teams play in the game, he skated a modest 7:58 of ice time over 12 shifts.

Veteran defenseman Andrew MacDonald (lower-body injury) began skating this week while rehabbing a knee injury incurred while blocking a shot against the Edmonton Oilers on Oct. 21. He is close to being ready to return. If MacDonald is activated from the injured reserve list for Saturday's game, the Flyers would reassign Mark Alt to the Phantoms. If MacDonald isn't quite ready yet, Alt will be in the Flyers' starting lineup against Calgary.

The Flyers are awaiting word on a potentially lengthy (5 or more games) suspension for defenseman Radko Gudas stemming from a slashing incident in the Winnipeg game. Gudas waived his right to an in-person hearing in New York. The hearing will take place by phone on Sunday. Gudas is nevertheless ineligible to play against Calgary. When the suspension ruling is issued, Saturday's missed game will be applied toward serving his banishment.

Through 19 games, Voracek (five goals, 18 assists, 23 points) leads the team in scoring, followed by linemates Couturier (11 goals, 10 assists, 21 points, +14) and Giroux (nine goals, 13 assists, 22 points).

Goalless with three assists over his last 11 games, Wayne Simmonds has scored six goals among his 12 points. Three of his goals came on opening night. The alternate captain shares the team power play goal lead with three along with Valtteri Filppula (six goals, three assists, nine points overall). Travis Konecny is sitting on seven points (two goals, five assists) games.

In 13 games to date, Brian Elliott has posted a 6-5-2 record, 2.53 GAA and .912 save percentage. Michal Neuvirth has made six appearances to date, going 2-3-1 with a 2.17 GAA, .928 SV% and one shutout.

The Flyers have gone 12-for-66 (18.2 percent, 18th overall) on the power play, while yielding three opposing shorthanded goals. The club is 54-for-67 (80.6 pct, 17th overall) on the penalty kill with one shorthanded goal by Scott Laughton. However, the Flyers have successfully killed 14 of their last 15 disadvantages.

Overall, the Flyers have scored 52 goals and yielded 49. In five-on-five play, the team has scored 31 goals while yielding an NHL-lowest 25.

FLAMES OUTLOOK

Calgary enters this game with a 4-3-0 away record. The team is the second game of a six-game road trip. They have had two nights off since being on the wrong end of an 8-2 blowout loss in Detroit on Wednesday night.

Micheal Ferland (power play, 8th) had a goal and assist in a losing cause for the Flames. The other goal came via Johnny Gaudreau (8th). Eddie Läck stopped just 10 of 15 shots before giving way to Jon Gillies (nine saves on 12 shots).

A line brawl broke out late in the game. Nineteen-year-old agitator Matthew Tkachuk for his role in provoking Red Wings forward Luke Witkowski. Tkachuk tapped Witkowski in the calf with his stick as Witkowski was leaving after a fight with Calgary's Brett Kulak. Tkachuk, who was assessed a spearing major and game misconduct, received a one-game suspension from the NHL. Witkowski got an NHL Rulebook mandated automatic 10 games for leaving the bench to return to the ice and confront Tkachuk.

Prior to the ugly loss in Detroit, the Flames had a seven-game homestand during which they went 5-2-0. The stretch was highlighted by a 6-3 win over the Red Wings (Nov. 9) and 7-4 victory against the St. Louis Blues on Monday of this week.

"Johnny Hockey" leads the Flames in scoring and is third in the NHL with 26 points (eight goals, 18 assists). He is followed by Sean Monahan (eight goals, eight assists, 16 points) and the suspended Tkachuk (four goals, nine assists, 13 points). On the blueline, T.J. Brodie leads the defense corps offensively with 12 points (two goals, 10 assists). Forwards Ferland (eight goals, three assists, 11 points), and Mikael Backlund (four goals, seven assists, 11 points) round out of the group of six players with double-digit points.

Living legend Jaromir Jagr has appeared in nine games since signing with the Flames. To date, he has five points (one goal, four assists). If he retires at the end of this season, Saturday's game could be ex-Flyer Jagr's final appearance in Philadelphia.

Veteran goalie Mike Smith has been day-to-day with an upper-body injury and missed Wednesday's game after leaving the previous match against St. Louis after the first period. However, he practiced on Friday and appears likely to get the start against the Flyers on Saturday afternoon. Gillies has been reassigned by Calgary to the American Hockey League’s Stockton Heat.

The Flames enter this game 11-for-63 (17.5 pct, tied for 18th) on the power play with three opposition shorthanded goals allowed. On the PK, Calgary brings up the rear in the 31-team NHL with a 70.8 percent success rate (46-for-65). Veteran defenseman Mark Giordano and veteran forward Michael Frolik have scored shorthanded goals. Overall, Calgary has scored 51 goals while giving up 58. At five-on-five, the club has scored 32 and yielded 30.

PROJECTED LINEUPS

Flyers

28 Claude Giroux - 14 Sean Couturier - 93 Jakub Voracek
22 Dale Weise - 19 Nolan Patrick - 17 Wayne Simmonds
12 Michael Raffl - 51 Valtteri Filppula - 11 Travis Konecny
20 Taylor Leier - 21 Scott Laughton - 15 Jori Lehterä

9 Ivan Provorov - 8 Robert Hägg
23 Brandon Manning - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
6 Travis Sanheim - 39 Mark Alt

37 Brian Elliott
[30 Michal Neuvirth]

Scratches: Matt Read (healthy), Jordan Weal (day-to-day, upper body), Andrew MacDonald (IR, lower body), Radko Gudas (NHL suspension hearing on Sunday).

FLAMES

13 Johnny Gaudreau - 23 Sean Monahan - 79 Micheal Ferland
10 Kris Versteeg - 11 Mikael Backlund - 67 Michael Frolik
93 Sam Bennett - 77 Mark Jankowski - 68 Jaromir Jagr
18 Matt Stajan - 20 Curtis Lazar - 36 Troy Brouwer​

5 Mark Giordano - 27 Dougie Hamilton
7 T.J. Brodie - 24 Travis Hamonic
61 Brett Kulak - 26 Michael Stone​

41 Mike Smith
[31 Eddie Läck]

Scratches: Matthew Tkachuk (NHL suspension; one game), Freddie Hamilton (healthy), Matt Bartkowski (healthy).

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PHANTOMS WIN IN LAVAL, 5-2

Coming off back-to-back regulation losses for the first time this season, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms bounced back on Friday night with an impressive 5-2 road win over the Laval Rocket.

Rookie center Mike Vecchione, who has four goals in the last two games, tallied even strength and power play goals for Lehigh Valley. Veteran Phil Varone also tallied both at five-on-five and during a late-game power play goal. Rookie center Mikhail "Misha" Vorobyev scored a first-period power play goal that knotted the game at 1-1 after Laval got on the board first. The goal was Vorobyev's second of the season.

The defense pairing of Samuel Morin and Philippe Myers, who struggled at times in their respective first game back from injury on Wednesday in Belleville, appeared to be in synch. Myers posted an assist and, apart from taking a pair of tripping penalties, played a strong game without the puck. Myers was named the game's second star. Morin had two-thirds of a Gordie Howe Hat Trick with a primary assist on a Vecchione rebound goal and, later, a third period heavyweight bout with Michael McCarron (whom he also fought a few years ago in the Memorial Cup tourney).

With Alex Lyon struggling in most of his recent games (apart from an excellent outing last Wednesday morning in Bridgeport), the Phantoms gave the starting nod in Laval to former Montreal Canadiens goalie Dustin Tokarski. He responded with a strong outing against the high-scoring Rocket, stopping 28 of 30 shots. For the most part, the team in front of him played a strong two-way game as well. Tokarski markedly outplayed Laval counterpart Zach Fucale (31 saves on 36 shots), who let in two goals that appeared quite stoppable.

Danick Martel was held off the scoresheet but easily could have had a point or two in this game. He's goalless in his last three games but had 10 shots on goal in Belleville on Wednesday. Late in the third period in Laval, after Daniel Carr bowled over Tokarski after a whistle, feisty little Martel was the fastest to rush in and confront the Laval player.

Oskar Lindblom, who ratted off a stretch of three goals and eight points in five games but now has just one point (an assist) in his last six, did not get on the scoresheet, either. He had one shot on goal.

Promising young defenseman Mark Friedman, who is still looking for his first professional regular season goal and is mired at minus-12 at even strength, had an encouraging game on Friday. He also made a perfect stretch pass to Varone on the sequence that led to the Phantoms' fourth goal.

The Phantoms now have a four night schedule hiatus. Next Wednesday, they will begin a busy stretch of three games in four nights with a road tilt against the Atlantic Division leading Wilkes Barre/ Scranton Penguins.

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CHL/NCAA/EURO PROSPECTS: FRIDAY HIGHLIGHTS

* OHL: Anthony Salinitri notched a hat trick(goals 8, 9, 10 overall) in Sarnia's 6-3 win over Windsor. Salintri has six goals and 8 points in the last four games).




* OHL: Kitchener's Connor Bunnaman and Guelph's Isaac Ratcliffe tallied one goal apiece for their respective teams as the Rangers downed the Storm, 7-5. Bunnaman's goal was his seventh in the last eight games and 12th overall. Ratcliffe, who has nine goals overall, scored for the fourth time in Guelph's last four games.

* OHL: Morgan Frost was unable to get on the scoresheet on this night but had four shots on goal and set up a pair of prime scoring chances in the Soo Greyhounds' 2-0 shutout win over Sudbury. Frost has 28 points (11G, 17A) and is +21 through the season's first 22 games.

* OHL: Matthew Strome scored a late third-period goal in Hamilton's 3-2 loss to Kingston. The tally was his ninth of the season and extended his point streak to six straight games: four goals, seven assists and 11 points in that span. For the season, Strome now has 18 points in 19 games.

* NCAA: Michigan absorbed a 7-3 loss to Wisconsin but top line center Cooper Marody tallied a pair of assists, three shots on goal and was even in plus-minus. Marody, a junior, has now posted seven straight multi-point games for the Wolverines. He has 18 points (three goals, 15 assists) through the first 11 games. Teammate Brandon Warren was pointless with two shots on goal and finished minus-three on the night. He has three goals and four points for the season to date.

* NCAA: Western Michigan earned a 4-1 home win against Omaha. Wade Allison picked up one assist, two shots on goal and was plus-two. For the season, the sophomore power forward has six goals and 15 points through 12 games.

* SHL: Eighteen-year-old Olle Lycksell converted a wide-open, point blank chance off a turnover for his first career SHL goal. Linköping thrashed defending SHL champion HV71 by a 6-1 count. Lycksell had three shots on goal in 10:03 of ice time.

* MHL: Starting for the 10th straight game, Kirill Ustimenko turned back 28 of 29 shots to backstop his powerhouse MHK Dinamo St. Petersburg team to a 5-1 victory. By far the most dominant netminder in the Russian Junior League, the 18-year-old Ustimenko raised his season record to 18-3-3, lowered his goals against average to a 1.71 GAA raised his save percentage to .923 through his first 24 outings. He has also posted four shutouts this season.
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