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Flyers Gameday: 11/27/16 vs. CGY |
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PREVIEW: FLYERS vs. FLAMES
Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (9-10-3) will host Glen Gulutzan's Calgary Flames (10-12-1) at the Wells Fargo Center on Sunday night. Game time is 7:30 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on CSN Philadelphia.
This is the first of two meetings between the inter-conference clubs this season. They will rematch at the Saddledome on February 15. Last season, the Flyers dropped a 2-1 overtime decision in Calgary and then won a 5-3 decision at home on Jim Watson's Flyers Hall of Fame induction night.
Flyers Outlook
The Flyers are coming off a 3-2 regulation loss to the New York Rangers on Black Friday, which dropped Philadelphia back below the .500 mark on the season. Costly turnovers and blown coverages dug Philly a 3-0 hole despite a territorial advantage. A third period comeback bid produced goals by Chris VandeVelde and Shayne Gostisbehere but Philly could not find an equalizer.
Defenseman Michael Del Zotto, a healthy scratch in the last three games, will re-enter the lineup on Sunday. Brandon Manning, who may have been concussed on a hit by Brandon Pirri on Friday but who has also been a too-frequent culprit in recent defensive breakdowns, is out. Additionally, Roman Lyubimov will rejoin the lineup and Scott Laughton will be scratched.
In goal, Anthony Stolarz, the Flyers' second-round pick in the 2012 NHL Draft, will make his NHL debut in his seventh recall stint to the big club. He has dressed as a backup 26 times across his various stints with the Flyers.
Entering Sunday's game, Flyers team captain Claude Giroux has only two points in the last seven games and has gone eight games without a goal. Jakub Voracek is pointless in the last six games and pointless in seven of the last eight but is coming off a very strong game against the Rangers. Wayne Simmonds, who leads the club with 10 goals, has taken over the team overall scoring lead with 19 points.
Flames Outlook
The Flames have dropped seven of their last 10 games overall but bring back-to-back wins into Sunday's tilt. The team is coming off a 2-1 road victory in Boston on Black Friday. Sam Bennett and Alex Chiasson tallied for the Flames, while Chad Johnson turned back 35 of 36 Boston shots.
Entering Sunday's game, Mikael Backlund leads Calgary in scoring with 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in 23 games, followed by Bennett (fix goals, six assists). Star forward Johnny Gaudreau is on injured reserve with a broken finger. Calgary, which has scored 50 goals on the season to date, is ranked 21st in the NHL offensively. In goal, Johnson (7-3-0, 1.98 GAA, .929 SV%, two shutouts) has outplayed Brian Elliott (3-9-0, 3.43 GAA, .882 SV%).
Ex-Flyers forward Kris Versteeg is officially day-to-day with an upper-body injury but is expected to be available to play in this game.
Projected Lineups (subject to change, will be updated)
FLYERS (will be updated)
12 Michael Raffl - 28 Claude Giroux - 17 Wayne Simmonds
11 Travis Konecny - 25 Nick Cousins - 93 Jakub Voracek
24 Matt Read - 78 P-E Bellemare - 22 Dale Weise
76 Chris VandeVelde - 10 Brayden Schenn - 13 Roman Lyubimov
9 Ivan Provorov - 3 Radko Gudas
15 Michael Del Zotto - 32 Mark Streit
47 Andrew MacDonald - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
41 Anthony Stolarz
[35 Steve Mason]
Scratches: Nick Schultz (healthy), Scott Laughton (healthy), Brandon Manning, Sean Couturier (lower body, suspected left MCL), Boyd Gordon (LTIR, upper body), Michal Neuvirth (IR, lower body).
FLAMES
19 Matthew Tkachuk - 11 Mikael Backlund - 67 Michal Frolik
10 Kris Versteeg - 23 Sean Monahan - 36 Troy Brouwer
93 Sam Bennett - 18 Matt Stajan - 39 Alex Chiasson
79 Micheal Ferland - 25 Freddie Hamilton - 64 Garnet Hathaway
5 Mark Giordano - 27 Dougie Hamilton
7 T.J. Brodie - 6 Dennis Wideman
61Brett Kulak - 29 Deryk Engelland
31 Chad Johnson
[1 Brian Elliott]
Scratches; Jyrki Jokipakka (healthy), Mark Jankowski (healthy), Hunter Shinkaruk (healthy), Johnny Gaudreau (IR, broken finger), Lance Bouma (IR, shoulder), Ladislav Smid (IR, neck).
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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