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Flyers Gameday: 12/17/15 vs. Canucks |
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UPDATE 11 AM ET
Steve Mason will get the start in goal for the Flyers.
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PREVIEW: FLYERS VS. CANUCKS
Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (13-12-6) are home on Thursday night to take on Willie Desjardins' Vancouver Canucks (11-13-8). Game time at the Wells Fargo Center is 7:00 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on CSN Philadelphia.
This is the second and final meeting of the season between the two teams. On Nov. 2 in Vancouver, the Flyers dropped their fourth straight game (0-3-1) and fell to 0-2-0 in the second game of a five-game road trip -- and the start of a four-game swing through western Canada -- with a 4-1 loss in Vancouver.
The Flyers last played on Tuesday, hosting the Carolina Hurricanes. On Saturday, the Flyers are on the road to play the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Canucks are in the third match of a six-game road trip, the second game of a three-in four set and the first game of a road back-to-back set. On Tuesday, the Canucks visited the Chicago Blackhawks. On Friday, the Canucks conclude the road trip with a game against the Detroit Red Wings.
Flyers Outlook
The Flyers have taken at least one point in 11 of the last 15 games (8-4-3). Although still ranked 29th in the NHL in scoring (2.10 goals per game) Philly has scored three or more goals in seven of the last nine games.
On Tuesday night, the Flyers overcame deficits of 1-0 and 2-1 in a three-goal outburst in the second period. They went on to down Carolina in overtime, 4-3, on a goal by defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere. Jakub Voracek collected a goal and two assists. Sean Couturier and Gostisbehere had a goal and an assist apiece, while Brayden Schenn tallied once.
Claude Giroux leads the Flyers with 11 goals, 17 assists and 28 points in 31 games. He is followed by Voracek (two goals, 17 assists, 19 points) Wayne Simmonds (seven goals, nine assists, 16 points, 65 penalty minutes) and Brayden Schenn (seven goals, eight assists, 15 points). In 15 games since his recall from the AHL, offensive-minded rookie defenseman Gostisbehere has contributed six goals (four on the power play, three in overtime), five assists and 11 points. Couturier rounds out the top six with four goals, six assists and 10 points in 25 games played.
Michal Neuvirth has started each of the last three games for the Flyers after coming in to relieve Steve Mason early in the second period of the Dec. 8 game in Philadelphia against the New York Islanders. Neuvirth is likely to get another start. He leads the NHL in save percentage (.937) and has posted an 8-4-2 record and 2.06 goals against average to date.
Sam Gagner (concussion, laceration) is ready to come off the injured reserve list and rejoin the lineup when Hakstol chooses to play him. Luke Schenn sustained a left foot or ankle injury in the Dec. 5 game; he is officially out for approximately two weeks from that date. 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.
Canucks Outlook
The Canucks are 2-4-1 thus far in the month of December. The team opened its current road trip with back-to-back ugly losses against the Chicago Blackhawks (4-0) and Minnesota Wild (6-2). Overall, Vancouver is 6-7-5 on the road this season.
In Tuesday's loss to the Wild, the Canucks fell into a 2-0 deficit in the first period, got into some penalty trouble in the second period and found themselves submerged underneath a four-goal outburst (two on the power play) by the Wild in the second period. Jannik Hansen and Daniel Sedin scored in a losing cause for the Canucks. Ryan Miller went the first 40 minutes in goal, stopping 30 of 36 shots. Jacob Markström played the third period, stopping five shots in mop-up duty.
With the Canucks playing back-to-back games, Markström is believed to be the likely starter in Philadelphia on Thursday. For the season, the Swedish netminder is 1-2-2 in seven appearances with a 2.87 goals against average and .906 save percentage.
Daniel Sedin leads the Canucks with 14 goals (five on the power play), 20 assists and 34 points through 32 games. He's followed by twin brother Henrik Sedin (nine goals, team-high 22 assists, 31 points), Hansen (nine goals, eight assists, 17 points), defenseman Alexander Edler (six goals, 11 assists, 16 points) and Radim Vrbata (nine goals, six assists 15 points). Rookie center Jared McCann has six goals and nine points in 30 games but is pointless in the last nine games and has just one point (an assist) over the last 13 games.
Veteran defenseman Dan Hamuis (IR, facial injuries) is unavailable after being hit in the face by a Dan Boyle slapshot in the Canucks' Dec. 9 game against the Rangers. Forward Brandon Sutter (IR, sports hernia surgery) is also out injured. Rookie winger Jake Virtanen is on loan to Hockey Canada to play for the national team at the World Junior Championships.
Key team stat comparisons (NHL overall ranking)
Non-shootout goals per game: Flyers 2.10 (29th), Canucks 2.50 (21st)
Non-shootout goals against per game: Flyers 2.71 (21st), Canucks 2.84 (23rd)
5-on-5 Goals For/Against Ratio: Flyers 40/49, Canucks 49/53
Power play efficiency: Flyers 16.9% (25th), Canucks 18.4% (17th)
Penalty killing efficiency: Flyers 80.0% (T-18th), Canucks 77.9% (24th)
Shots per game: Flyers 30.4 (T-8th), Canucks 29.2 (18th)
Shots against per game: Flyers 32.4 (29th), Canucks 30.3 (T-20th)
Faceoff percentage: Flyers 49.2% (23rd), Canucks 46.4% (30th)
Projected lineups (subject to change, will be updated)
Flyers
12 Michael Raffl - 28 Claude Giroux - 10 Brayden Schenn
93 Jakub Voracek - 14 Sean Couturier - 17 Wayne Simmonds
76 Chris VandeVelde - 78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 25 Ryan White
24 Matt Read - 21 Scott Laughton - 20 R.J. Umberger
15 Michael Del Zotto - 3 Radko Gudas
55 Nick Schultz - 82 Evgeny Medvedev
23 Brandon Manning - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
35 Steve Mason
[30 Michal Neuvirth]
Scratches: Vincent Lecavalier (healthy), Sam Gagner (could be activated from IR), Mark Streit (LTIR, displaced pubic plate), Luke Schenn (left foot/ankle).
Canucks
22 Daniel Sedin - 33 Henrik Sedin - 36 Jannik Hansen
20 Chris Higgins - 91 Jared McCann - 17 Radim Vrbata
47 Sven Baertschi - 53 Bo Horvat - 14 Alexandre Burrows
9 Brandon Prust - 24 Adam Cracknell - 15 Derek Dorsett
23 Alexander Edler - 8 Chris Tanev
27 Ben Hutton - 55 Alex Biega
44 Matt Bartkowski - 6 Yannick Weber
35 Jacob Markström / 30 Ryan Miller
Scratches: Ronalds Kenins (healthy), Andrey Pedan (healthy), Jake Virtanen (loan to Hockey Canada), Brandon Sutter (IR, sports hernia), Dan Hamhuis (IR, facial injuries).
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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