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GAME 45 PREVIEW: FLYERS VS. MAPLE LEAFS
Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (20-16-8) return to action on Thursday night as they host Mike Babcock's Toronto Maple Leafs (25-17-4) at the Wells Fargo Center. Prior to the game, the Flyers will retire Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Eric Lindros' famous No. 88 jersey.
The ceremony will begin at 7 p.m. ET. The game is slated to start at 8:08 p.m. ET. Both the jersey retirement ceremony and the game will be be televised on NBCSNP.
This is the third and final meeting of the season between the teams, and the second and final game in Philadelphia.
On Oct. 27 at the Air Canada Centre, the Flyers skated to a 4-2 win over the Maple Leafs. Brandon Manning, Jakub Voracek, Valtteri Filppula and Claude Giroux tallied for the Flyers. Brian Elliott was sharp in stopping 26 of 28 shots. Nazem Kadri scored twice for Toronto. Frederik Andersen suffered his first career loss against the Flyers, having trouble on glove-side opportunities as he stopped 26 of 30 shots.
Putting forth one of their more complete 60-minute efforts of the season, the Philadelphia Flyers stuck with the program to score three unanswered third period goals and defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-2, at the Wells Fargo Center on Dec. 12. Despite outplaying Toronto for most of the opening 40 minutes, the Flyers trailed 2-1 entering the third period.
Giroux (one goal, one assist), Travis Konecny, Sean Couturier (one goal, one assist) and Scott Laughton (empty net) got the goals for Philadelphia. Brian Elliott gave up a bad goal on the first Toronto tally but settled down. With the Flyers trailing 2-1 and then tied at 2-2, he came up with three vital saves among the 20 overall saves he made in earning the win.
Patrick Marleau and ex-Flyer James van Riemsdyk (power play) scored for Toronto. Andersen stopped 35 of 38 shots overall.
FLYERS OUTLOOK
The Flyers are 1-1-0 since their bye week. The team followed an impressive 5-3 road win over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night in Newark with a sloppy 5-1 blowout loss to the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.
Philly grabbed a quick 1-0 lead on a Jordan Weal deflection goal and generally played well for the first 10 minutes or so of the game before the bottom dropped out and the team drowned in a sea of errors of commission and omission. New York led 3-1 by the end of the first period on an even strength breakaway goal, a power play deflection tally and a shorthanded breakaway. The deficit grew to 5-1 by the end of the second period, and the third period was academic.
Elliott played the first 40 minutes of the game, stopping just 10 of 15 shots. Neuvirth mopped up with eight saves in 20 minutes of relief work. Neuvirth will the get the start against Toronto after Elliott started 18 of the team's previous 19 games. For the season, Neuvirth has made nine starts and two relief appearances, posting a 3-5-1 record, 2.39 GAA, .923 save percentage and one shutout.
The Flyers started Wednesday's practice at the Skate Zone in Voorhees with the same line combinations and defense pairs that appeared in Tuesday's game in New York. There was a lot of mixing and matching as practice continued, however.
Entering Thursday's game, Giroux (14 goals, 54 points) is in a five-way tie for second in the NHL's Art Ross Trophy race. Voracek's 45 assists top the NHL, with Giroux's 40 assists ranking second. Couturier's 25 goals rank fifth in the Rocket Richard Trophy race. Shayne Gostisbehere's 32 points rank sixth among NHL defensemen and his nine goals are tied for second.
The Flyers are 7-2-0 in the team's last nine games on home ice. The run started with the Flyers' Dec. 12 victory over Toronto, which started a 4-1-0 homestand. The team subsequently went 3-1-0 on its next homestand, leading up to the bye week.
For the season, the Flyers have scored 2.93 goals per game (14th in the NHL) and have a team 2.89 GAA (18th). At five-on-five, the Flyers have scored 79 goals (tied for 21st) and yielded 68 (4th fewest).
On the power play, the Flyers rank 8th at 21.4 percent (33-for-154) with seven shorthanded goals yielded (tied for fourth most). On the penalty kill, the Flyers rank 29th (102-for-137, 74.5 percent). Laughton's shorthanded goal in the home opener against Washington still stands as the lone shorthander for the Flyers to date this season.
MAPLE LEAFS OUTLOOK
The Maple Leafs are locked in a third-place holding pattern in the Atlantic Division; an automatic playoff spot if the season ended today. The club is nine points ahead of the fourth-place Detroit Red Wings and in no imminent danger of slipping out of playoff position. Toronto is four points behind the Boston Bruins, who also hold three games in hand, for home ice in the first round. The Maple Leafs are 11 points behind front-runner Tampa Bay with two more games played than the Bolts.
Over their last 10 games, the Leafs have gone 4-3-3 but are 0-1-2 in the last three and 2-2-2 for the month of January to date with both wins coming via shootout. The club, now exiting a six-game homestand, brings a road record of 12-10-2 into this game in Philadelphia.
On Tuesday, the Maple Leafs wrapped up the homestand with a 2-1 overtime loss to the St. Louis Blues. After two-plus scoreless periods, Connor Brown put Toronto ahead 1-0 with a shorthanded marker at 10:10 of the third period. The Leafs held the lead until the final minute but couldn't close it out. Alexander Steen scored at 19:03 and then defenseman Vince Dunn won the game for the Blues at 1:43 of overtime. Andersen stopped 40 of 42 shots as his team had to settle for one point.
Depite missing 10 games this season including the last game against the Flyers in Philly, Auston Matthews leads Toronto in scoring with 19 goals and 33 points in 36 games. He is followed by William Nylander (nine goals, 32 points in 46 games), defenseman Morgan Rielly (five goals, 31 points, 12 power play points, minus-two), Mitch Marner (five goals, 31 points) and van Riemsdyk (19 goals, 29 points). Marleau has 15 goals (two on the power play) among his 24 points, and Kadri has 14 goals (four on the power play) among his own 24 points.
The Leafs are one of the few NHL teams that has not had an in-game goalie change yet this season. Andersen has started 38 games (22-13-3, 2.67 GAA, .922 SV%, three shutouts) while backup Curtis McIlhinney (3-4-0, 2.78 GAA, .916 SV%, one shutout) has gotten the other seven starts.
To date, the Maple Leafs average 3.11 goals per game (8th in the NHL) and have a team 2.87 GAA (17th). At five-on-five, the team has tallied 99 times (3rd) and given up 91(25th).
On the power play, Toronto ranks tied for 10th in the NHL at 20.9 percent efficiency (27-for-129) with three opposing shorthanded goals. The Maple Leafs rank fifth on the penalty kill at 84.0 percent success (121-for-144) with three shorthanded goals scored.
PROJECTED LINEUPS (Subject to change, will be updated)
FLYERS
28 Claude Giroux - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny
12 Michael Raffl - 51 Valtteri Filppula - 93 Jakub Voracek
40 Jordan Weal - 19 Nolan Patrick - 17 Wayne Simmonds
15 Jori Lehterä - 21 Scott Laughton - 56 Tyrell Goulbourne
9 Ivan Provorov - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
47 Andrew MacDonald -3 Robert Hägg
23 Brandon Manning - 3 Radko Gudas
Prior to the start of Thursday's game, the Flyers will retire Hockey Hall of Fame center Eric Lindros' number 88 jersey in a special ceremony.
A dominant but injury-plagued combination of elite skill and freight train brute force, Lindros is the Flyers' all-time points-per-game leader. A two-time Hart Trophy finalist, he was one of just two players (along with Bob Clarke) to win the NHL's most valuable player award. He is also second in franchise history in playoff points-per-game average.
On hand for the ceremony will be Eric's wife, Kina, their three children (Carl Pierre and twins Ryan Paul and Sophie Rose) as well as Eric's brother, former NHL player Brett, their sister, Robin, and their parents, Carl and Bonnie. Likely representing the Flyers are team president Paul Holmgren and Lindros' former Flyers teammate, general manager Ron Hextall.
Lindros, along with former Legion of Doom linemates John LeClair and Mikael Renberg, both of whom will also be on hand for his jersey retirement ceremony, will remain in town over the weekend. On Saturday, the Legion of Doom will play for the Flyers Alumni Team at the AHL's Outdoor Classic Alumni Game at Hersheypark Stadium in Hershey, PA.
One of only two Flyers to win the Hart Trophy and a two-time finalist for the award, Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Eric Lindros is the clear-cut choice as the Flyers' top player in the last quarter century. As time has passed and the injuries and controversies that surrounded his career and made him a polarizing figure have faded, his frequent brilliance on the ice and unique hockey attributes are more easily viewed through objective eyes.
When he was healthy, Lindros was everything he was hyped to be long before he ever put skate to ice in the NHL. A hockey prodigy born Feb. 28, 1973, Lindros drew comparisons as a teenager to the likes of Gordie Howe, Mark Messier and Mario Lemieux. Although plagued by injuries during his career, the 6-foot-4, 235-pound Lindros combined brute force and skillful finesse to make for an often-unstoppable force when healthy.
Eric Lindros is the Flyers' franchise all-time points-per-game leader (1.36 points per game). In just 468 regular season games with the team, he racked up 659 points (290 goals, 369 assists) and 946 penalty minutes. In 50 playoff games, "Big E" posted 57 points (24 goals, 33 assists).
Where does Lindros' production as a Flyer rank in comparison to the productivity of the sport's all-time greats? He stands near the top.
Counting only the Philadelphia years of Lindros' career and not his declining post-Philly years, only Wayne Gretzky (1.92 points per game), Mario Lemieux (1.88), Mike Bossy (1.497) and Bobby Orr (1.393) produced points at a more prolific pace than Lindros in the history of the NHL. Through the 2016-17 season, the still-active Sidney Crosby has averaged 1.31 points per game (1,027 in 782 games).
Winner of the Hart Trophy and Lester Pearson Award (now called the Ted Lindsay Award) in 1994-95, a finalist for the Hart the next season, Lindros played in six NHL All-Star Games during his years in Philadelphia. He captained the 1994-95 Flyers team that came within two wins of the Stanley Cup Final and the 1996-97 squad that won the Eastern Conference Championship in route to the reaching the Stanley Cup Final. During his time with the Flyers, Lindros also represented Team Canada at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and captained the Canadian entry at the 1998 Olympics.
Drafted by the Quebec Nordiques with the first overall pick of the 1991 NHL Draft, Lindros declined to play for the team. A fierce bidding war ensued, with numerous NHL teams offering massive returns to the Nordiques for the rights to the highly touted teenagers. For the next year, the Nordiques declined all offers, as the prices escalated higher and higher.
Finally, in one of the biggest blockbuster deals in NHL history, the Nordiques verbally agreed to a June 20, 1992 trade with the Flyers that sent Lindros' rights to Philadelphia in exchange for NHL roster center Mike Ricci, goaltender Ron Hextall, defensemen Steve Duchesne and Kerry Huffman, Swedish prospect Peter Forsberg (the Flyers' 1991 first-round pick), $15 million (USD) in cash, the earlier of the Flyers' two first-round picks in the 1992 NHL Draft and the Flyers first-round picks in the 1993 (Jocelyn Thibault) and 1994 drafts (Nolan Baumgartner).
After verbally agreeing and shaking hands with the Flyers on the deal, the Nordiques turned around and decided instead to trade Lindros' rights to the Rangers. Although not revealed publically, the New York trade offer included forward Alexei Kovalev, goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck and future star forwards Doug Weight and Tony Amonte along with similar cash compensation and draft pick assets.
With the disputed trade held up by the NHL, the Flyers selected Ryan Sittler with the seventh overall pick of the 1992 NHL Draft. On June 30, 1992, following emotionally charged arbitration hearings in Toronto, arbitrator Larry Bertuzzi ruled that the Flyers had made an enforceable trade and the Rangers deal was nullified. To complete the trade with Philadelphia, the Nordiques accepted enforcer prospect Chris Simon (whom the Flyers had drafted in the second round of the 1990 Draft) and an additional draft choice in lieu of the pick already used by the Flyers on Sittler.
The Lindros trade to Philadelphia would go on to become one of the most debated deals in NHL annals. The reality: both sides benefited.
Forsberg went on to have a Hall of Fame career of his own and the deal was a boon to the Nordiques (later Colorado Avalanche) in assembling an eventual two-time Stanley Cup champion and perennial contender. In the meantime, Lindros's talent came as advertised, and he became a franchise player on Flyers teams that were built into perennial contenders in their own right and he enjoyed his own Hall of Fame career.
Early in his Flyers career, Lindros anchored a highly successful line with Mark Recchi and Brent Fedyk, known as the Crazy Eights line because Lindros wore uniform number 88, Recchi wore number 8, and Fedyk wore number 18. Later, beginning in the lockout shortened 1995-96 season, Lindros centered a trio known as the Legion of Doom line.
Along with left winger LeClair, the most successful version of the line was the original unit featuring Renberg at right wing from 1994-95 through 1996-97. Over its history, players such as Dan Quinn and Hall of Fame forward Dale Hawerchuk substituted for Renberg when he was injured. Additionally, players such as Dainius Zubrus, Trent Klatt, Mike Maneluk and, most notably, Keith Jones (1998-99 and 1999-2000 seasons) later occupied the right wing spot.
The latter portion of Lindros' Flyers career was overshadowed by concussions and other health issues and various controversies that resulted in escalated friction with Flyers' management. On August 20, 2001, the Flyers traded Lindros to the New York Rangers for defenseman Kim Johnsson, forwards Jan Hlavac and Pavel Brendl and a 2003 third-round pick (Stefan Ruzicka).
Lindros subsequently played for the Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs and Dallas Stars. Continued injuries, especially additional concussions, prematurely curtailed his effectiveness. He retired in 2007, concluding a 760-game NHL career (372 goals, 493 assists, 865 points, 1,398 penalty minutes).
In retirement, Lindros reconciled with the Flyers and both sides embraced his place in franchise history. He played with the Flyers Alumni against the Rangers Alumni at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on December 31, 2011, receiving a massive standing ovation as he was introduced. Along with LeClair, Lindros was inducted into the Flyers Hall of Fame in November 2014. He was later selected for induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame's Class of 2016.
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PHANTOMS UPDATE
On Saturday, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms will oppose the Hershey Bears in the 2017-18 AHL Outdoor Classic. The Phantoms are coming off a 4-1 road loss to the Atlantic Division-leading Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins on Wednesday night after sweeping a home-and-home set with the Bears last weekend.
Against the Pens, rookie defenseman Philippe Myers' first period power play goal from the point was the lone goal for the Phantoms. Lehigh Valley has been riddled with forward-corps injuries and have been struggling recently for goal production.
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