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Flyers Gameday: 1/2/14 @ Colorado

January 2, 2014, 6:27 AM ET [756 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
FLYERS-AVALANCE GAME PREVIEW (9:45 A.M. EST)

Hitting the statistical midpoint of the regular season in their first game of the 2014 calendar year and fourth road match in six nights, the Philadelphia Flyers (20-16-4) are in Denver to take on Patrick Roy's Colorado Avalanche (24-11-4). Game time is 9:00 p.m. EST. The match will be televised locally on CSN Philly.

This is the first of two meetings between the teams this season, and the lone game in the Mile High City. The teams will rematch in Philadelphia on Thu. Feb 6.

It has been a long time since the Flyers last won a road game against the Avalanche. The Flyers are winless in Denver in their last five tries (0-3-2), dating back to Dec. 27, 2002. Overall, the Flyers are 4-4-4 against the Avalanche in the last 12 meetings.

Tonight's game is the first for Max Talbot and Steve Downie against their respective former teams since the Flyers and Avalanche traded the players in a one-for-one swap on Oct. 31.

After tonight's game, the Flyers will head to Arizona for the fifth tilt of its six-game road trip. On Saturday night, the team is back in action to take on the Phoenix Coyotes in an 8 p.m. EST game.

FLYERS OUTLOOK

Coming off a 4-1 win in Calgary on New Year's Eve, the Flyers bring a four-game winning streak into tonight's game. They have collected at least one point in nine of their last 10 games (7-1-2). The Flyers are already assured of no worse than a .500 road trip after victories in Edmonton, Vancouver and Calgary. Now they want more.

In the win against the Flames, the Flyers got goals from Mark Streit, Brayden Schenn, Scott Hartnell and Braydon Coburn (shorthanded empty netter). On a night where Claude Giroux saw a nine-game point streak come to an end, Schenn had a three-point game with a pair of assists on top of his goal. Wayne Simmonds also had two assists. Ray Emery stopped 23 of 24 shots to earn the win.

The team has tallied three or more regulation goals in eight straight matches. A big part of the reason, apart from the recent torrid offensive streaks of Giroux, Voracek and Simmonds, has been that the Flyers have been getting regular offensive contributions from the blueline of late. Collectively, the Flyers defense corps has chipped in with 11 goals in the last 12 games.

Mark Streit (four goals and seven points in the last eight games) has been the blueline's primary offensive contributor of late and has collected a goal apiece in back-to-back games. This, of course, is the role the veteran offensive defenseman was brought in to play.

In goal, Steve Mason (16-9-4, 2.38 GAA, .922 save percentage) is likely to get the call for his first start of the new calendar year. He is coming off a spectacular performance in his last game. On Dec. 30 in Vancouver, Mason made 41 saves on 44 shots in regulation and overtime, and then went 3-for-3 in the shootout with two actual saves and a flubbed puck. One of the regulation goals was actually a blocker save that pinballed off nearby Flyers defensemen Luke Schenn and went into the net.

Giroux will look to start a new point streak after his career-best nine gamer (six goals, 11 assists, 17 points) ended in Calgary. Jakub Voracek is pointless in each of the last two games after his own nine-game point streak. Wayne Simmonds' five-game point streak also came to an end in Vancouver but he bounced back for a multi-point night in Calgary.

On the Flyers injury front, Matt Read had to leave the game in Calgary after suffering an upper body injury but is expected to play tonight. defenseman Erik Gustafsson remains out of the lineup with a left knee sprain.

AVALANCHE OUTLOOK

For the first five weeks of the 2013-14 NHL regular season, the Avs were the hottest team in the NHL. They roared out of the gates with a 12-1-0 record, matching the best start in franchise history. Since that time, the Avalanche have gone 12-10-4, slipping to third place in the extremely tough Central Division.

On home ice this season, the Avs are 11-6-2. The Flyers bring a 9-9-4 road record to date into tonight's game.

Over their last 10 games, Colorado has posted a 4-4-2 mark. The club is coming off a 5-3 home win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on New Year's Eve. Power play goals by Ryan O'Reilly, Gabriel Landeskog and rookie Nathan MacKinnon led the way, while Jan Hejda and Jamie McGinn each tallied at even strength. Semyon Varlamov stopped 35 of 38 shots.

Avalanche leading scorer Matt Duchene notched a pair of assists in the Columbus game. For the season, he has 36 points (16 goals, 20 assists) in as many games. Teammate Paul Stastny (11 goals, 25 points) was named yesterday to the U.S. Olympic team.

On the injury front, Colorado is without a pair of veteran forwards: P.A. Parenteau is out for up to six weeks with a knee injury, while Alex Tanguay is also on injured reserve with knee and hip issues.

KEY STAT COMPARISONS (NHL OVERALL RANKING)

Goals per game: Flyers 2.55 (18th), Avalanche 2.87 (8th)
Goals against per game: Flyers 2.70 (16th), Avalanche 2.49 (11th)
Even strength Goals For/Against Ratio: Flyers 0.93 (20th), Avalanche 1.18 (7th)
Power play efficiency: Flyers 18.0% (16th), Avalanche 18.3% (14th)
Penalty killing efficiency: Flyers 83.3% (10th), Avalanche 80.7% (19th)
Faceoff percentage: Flyers 49.0% (20th), Avalanche 48.9% (21st)

PROJECTED LINEUPS (Subject to change)

FLYERS

12 Michael Raffl - 28 Claude Giroux - 92 Jakub Voracek
19 Scott Hartnell - 10 Brayden Schenn - 17 Wayne Simmonds
24 Matt Read - 14 Sean Couturier - 40 Vincent Lecavalier
36 Zac Rinaldo - 18 Adam Hall - 9 Steve Downie

44 Kimmo Timonen - 5 Braydon Coburn
8 Nicklas Grossmann - 32 Mark Streit
41 Andrej Meszaros - 22 Luke Schenn

35 Steve Mason
[29 Ray Emery]

Potential Scratches: Jay Rosehill (healthy), Chris VandeVelde (healthy), Hal Gill (healthy), Erik Gustafsson (sprained knee), Chris Pronger (LTIR, post-concussion syndrome).

AVALANCHE

92 Gabriel Landeskog - 26 Paul Stastny - 11 Ryan O'Reilly
25 Max Talbot - 9 Matt Duchene - 90 Jamie McGinn
55 Cody McLeod - 7 John Mitchell - 29 Nathan Mackinnon
42 Brad Malone - 24 Marc-Andre Cliche - 58 Patrick Bordeleau

8 Jan Hejda - 6 Erik Johnson
16 Cory Sarich - 61 Andre Benoit
4 Tyson Barrie - 44 Ryan Wilson

1 Semyon Varlamov
[34 Jean-Sabastien Giguere]

Potential Scratches: P.A. Parenteau (IR, MCL tear), Alex Tanguay (IR, knee and hip issues), Nate Guenin (healthy), Nick Holden (healthy).

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