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Flyers Gameday: 11/27/15 vs. NSH |
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PREVIEW: FLYERS VS. PREDATORS
Playing their annual Black Friday home game, Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (7-10-5) host Peter Laviolette's Nashville Predators (12-6-3). Game time at the Wells Fargo Center is 3:00 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on CSN Philadelphia.
This is the first of two meetings betwen the inter-conference clubs. The teams will rematch in Nashville on Feb. 4. Last season, the teams split two games, with both clubs winning on home ice. The Flyers' win came via shootout.
The Flyers last played on Wednesday, visiting the New York Islanders in Brooklyn. This game is the middle segment of a three-in-four gauntlet that will end with a Saturday matinee against the New York Rangers in Madison Square Garden. The Predators are in the same scheduling situation, having played in Buffalo on Wednesday and facing a return trip home after this match to host the Sabres on Saturday.
Flyers Outlook
The Flyers have only won three of their last 15 games overall (3-8-4). The Flyers continue to rank as the lowest-scoring team in the NHL, averaging a mere 1.73 goals per game. The Flyers drag an unwanted streak in this game of not having scored a single even strength goal in their last 257 minutes, 58 seconds of game play.
On Wednesday, the Flyers played a strong first period on Wednesday night in Brooklyn only to yield a last-minute goal from which they never recovered. The Islanders prevailed, 3-1.
A shorthanded goal by Casey Cizikas at the 19:02 mark of the opening period erased an early Flyers' 1-0 lead. New York went ahead to stay at 5:12 of the second period on a seeing-eye goal shot by Kyle Okposo from a short-side angle. New York dominated the rest of the way, enjoying a 27-10 advantage over the final 40 minutes and 15-4 in the third period. Frans Nielsen added a controversial empty-net goal with 1:09 left in the third period.
Claude Giroux finished the night an assist short of a Gordie Howe hat trick; one-timing a power play goal at 3:59 of the first period and fighting Islanders defenseman Nick Leddy on the shift after the Okposo goal. The fight happened partially in retaliation for Leddy boarding Michael Raffl late in the first period and partially as an attempt to stir some emotion in his own team.
The Flyers' captain led -- Giroux doesn't fight often, but that was the perfect time and the right player -- but no one followed apart from Wayne Simmonds fighting Matt Martin seven minutes later. The hoped-for spark on the ice never materialized.
Steve Mason gave the Flyers a chance to win the game, stopping 33 of 35 shots. Islanders counterpart Jaroslav Halak stopped 17 of 18 shots to earn the victory.
The Flyers held a Thanksgiving Day practice at the Skate Zone in Voorhees, NJ. With the club struggling mightily to score goals, there may be line changes on Friday, possibly including the re-insertion of defenseman Evgeny Medvedev into the lineup. The Russian blueliner has only appeared in one game in the month of November.
Giroux leads the Flyers in goals (eight) and points (17 in 22 games), and shares the team lead with Brayden Schenn with three power play goals. Jakub Voracek paces the team in assists (11) among his 12 points. Schenn has six goals and eight points, while Wayne Simmonds has three goals and nine points.
On Thursday, the Flyers returned left winger Taylor Leier to the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms and recalled center Nick Cousins.
Philly has an extensive injury list. Sam Gagner (laceration near his left eye) is expected to miss about one week from the Nov. 23 game against Carolina. The Flyers also remain without Ryan White (suspected right shoulder injury) for a two-to-four-week period dating back to him getting injured in the third period of the Nov. 14 game in Carolina. White has since skated on his own numerous times but is not yet cleared for contact.
Forward R.J. Umberger (foot) remains on the injured reserve list but skated on Thanksgiving Day for the first time since going down in the Nov. 7 game in Winipeg. Defenseman Mark Streit is on long-term injured reserve for surgery to repair a displaced pubic plate. Streit is expected to miss approximately six weeks from Nov. 17.
Predators Outlook
The Predators have had their share of scoring problems of late, getting shut out in three consecutive games on their five-game road trip by scores of 4-0 (Columbus), 4-0 (Minnesota) and 3-0 (New York Rangers). The streak finally ended in Buffalo on Wednesday as Mike Fisher, Craig Smith and Cody Hodgson scored en route to a 3-2 regulation win over the Sabres. Backup goal Carter Hutton stopped 30 of 32 shots en route to earning the win.
The Black Friday game in Philadelphia concludes the Predators' road trip. Overall, the team is 5-5-1 on the road.
Despite the recent offensive slump, the Predators have seven players with double-digit points, four of whom are defensemen: James Neal (nine goals, three power play goals, 15 points), Roman Josi (four goals, nine assists, 13 points), Filip Forsberg (two goals, nine assists, 11 points), Shea Weber (six goals, five PPG, four assists, 10 points), Ryan Ellis (two goals, eight points, plus-six) and Seth Jones (one goal, nine assists, 10 points).
Number one goalie Pekka Rinne is likely to return to the net for Nashville against the Flyers. In 18 games to date, Rinne is 10-5-3. with a 2.31 goals against average and .910 save percentage.
Paul Gaustad is unavailable due to an upper body injury sustained in the Buffalo game. The team has recalled forward Colton Sissons from the AHL. The club has also placed Miikka Salomäki on the injured reserve list.
Key team stat comparisons (NHL overall ranking)
Non-shootout goals per game: Flyers 1.73 (30th), Predators 2.57 (16th)
Non-shootout goals against per game: Flyers 2.82 (22nd), Predators 2.48 (9th)
5-on-5 Goals For/Against Ratio: Flyers 23/33, Predators 37/31
Power play efficiency: Flyers 15.9% (23rd), Predators 17.6% (21st)
Penalty killing efficiency: Flyers 79.8% (17th), Predators 80.3% (15th)
Shots per game: Flyers 30.0 (13th), Predators 30.5 (9th)
Shots against per game: Flyers 33.1 (29th), Predators 27.2 (3rd)
Faceoff percentage: Flyers 50.3% (14th), Predators 48.7% (23rd)
Projected lineups (based on last game, will be updated)
Flyers
12 Michael Raffl - 28 Claude Giroux - 10 Brayden Schenn
24 Matt Read - 14 Sean Couturier - 17 Wayne Simmonds
76 Chris VandeVelde - 78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 93 Jakub Voracek
21 Scott Laughton - 52 Nick Cousins - 36 Colin McDonald
15 Michael Del Zotto - 3 Radko Gudas
55 Nick Schultz - 22 Luke Schenn
82 Evgeny Medvedev - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
30 Michal Neuvirth
[35 Steve Mason]
Scratches: Brandon Manning (healthy), Vincent Lecavalier (healthy), R.J. Umberger (foot), Mark Streit (LTIR, displaced pubic plate), Ryan White (IR, suspected shoulder injury), Sam Gagner (lacerations near left eye).
Predators
9 Filip Forsberg - 63 Mike Ribeiro - 18 James Neal
33 Colin Wilson - 12 Mike Fisher - 15 Craig Smith
57 Gabriel Bourque - 19 Calle Järnkrok - 11 Cody Hodgson
24 Eric Nystrom - 84 Colton Sissons - 51 Austin Watson
59 Roman Josi - 6 Shea Weber
5 Barret Jackman - 3 Seth Jones
14 Mattias Ekholm - 4 Ryan Ellis
35 Pekka Rinne
[30 Carter Hutton]
Scratches: Victor Bartley (healthy), Anthony Bitetto (healthy), Paul Gaustad (upper body), Miikka Salomäki (IR).
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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