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Flyers Gameday: 12/22/17 @ BUF |
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GAME 35 PREVIEW: FLYERS @ SABRES
Playing the first of back-to-back games before the Christmas break, Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (15-12-7) are in New York State on Friday to take on Phil Housley's Buffalo Sabres (8-19-7). Game time is 7:00 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on NBCSNP.
This is the second of three meetings between the teams this season, and the lone game in Buffalo. The season series wraps up at the Wells Fargo Center on the afternoon of Jan. 7.
On Dec. 14 in Philadelphia, the Flyers earned a less-than-artistic 2-1 win over the Sabres.
Travis Sanheim (1st NHL goal) and Valtteri Filppula (8th) scored for the Flyers. Dale Weise (2nd assist), Jordan Weal (6th), Jakub Voracek (31st), Michael Raffl (4th) chipped in helpers on a night when the top line did not produce a goal.
Brian Elliott started out the night as a goat. He fumbled a puck behind the net that resulted in a tap-in goal into a vacant cage and then nearly had a repeat that was only prevented by a desperation skate save by rookie Flyers center Nolan Patrick.
Thereafter, Elliott was a hero. Although he only saw 20 shots overall, he had to make several crucial saves -- including three very tough ones on the dangerous Evander Kane -- that proved to vital to the win. If Elliott had not made every one of those crucial stops, there might have been a very different outcome than the team in front of him bouncing back to restore order.
Ryan O'Reilly (8th goal of the season) and Zemgus Girgensons (3rd assist) tallied a point apiece on the early goal that ultimately stood as the lone tally by the goal-starved Sabres. Robin Lehner stopped 25 of 27 Flyers shots in a losing cause.
FLYERS OUTLOOK
The Flyers went 4-1-0 on their just-completed homestand and have won seven of their last eight games after an 0-5-5 winless streak. The club, which will be in Columbus on Saturday for the final game before the leaguewide Christmas break, is playing the penultimate game of a stretch of seven games in 12 nights and three in four. The Flyers have a 7-5-3 road record.
On Wednesday night, the Flyers parlayed a dominant third period into a 4-3 home win over the Detroit Red Wings. Weise (4th goal of the season), Wayne Simmonds (power play, 11th), Robert Hägg (1st NHL goal) and Sean Couturier (game-winner, new career-high 16th goal) scored for the Flyers. Claude Giroux (24th, 25th and 26th assists), Voracek (34th assist), Radko Gudas (3rd assist), Nolan Patrick (5th assist), Shayne Gostisbehere (20th assist) and Simmonds (10th assist) recorded assists. Elliott stopped 26 of 28 shots to earn the win in goal.
On the injury front, Michal Neuvirth (lower body injury) has practiced this week and is close to being -- but apparently not quite yet -- ready to be activated from the injured reserve list. Veteran defenseman Brandon Manning (right hand injury) is skating and handling pucks again but not ready to return to full practice with the team.
Entering Wednesday's game, the Flyers have scored 96 goals and also yielded 95. At five-on-five, Philly has scored just 61 goals (tied for 21st in the NHL) but their 51 goals against still ranks atop the NHL.
On the power play, the Flyers rank in a tie for 15th at 20.0 percent (23-for-115) with four shorthanded goals yielded.
The Flyers have played a much more disciplined brand of hockey of late. A Jordan Weal double minor in Wednesday's game along with a Giroux minor ended a stretch of eight straight games in which the Flyers had to kill two or fewer penalties. After a 1-for-3 night on the PK against Detroit, the Flyers fell to 76.1 percent (83-for-109) on the season; 29th among the 31 teams in the NHL.
SABRES OUTLOOK
Friday's game is the finale of a three-game homestand. The Sabres are 4-10-2 on home ice this season and are 0-1-1 in the first two games. Overall, the team is 1-2-3 over its last six games including the road loss in Philadelphia last week.
On Tuesday, the Sabres dropped a 3-0 decision to the Boston Bruins. Anton Khudobin recorded a 36-save shutout, while Lehner stopped 30 of 31 shots. A Jake Debrusk goal midway through the second period stood as the game's only tally before the Bruins added a pair of late-game empty net goals by Tim Schaller and David Backes to ice the win.
The Sabres are lowest-scoring team in the NHL entering Friday's game, averaging an anemic 2.12 goals per game with 72 goals scored. The club's 3.32 GAA (113 yielded) ranks 28th.
At 5-on-5, Buffalo has scored an NHL-low 47 goals. Jake McCabe's two goals are the only ones scored to date by the Sabres' blueline corps, and no Buffalo defenseman has reached double-digit points (Rasmus Ristolainen has nine) to date. The team has yielded 69 goals at 5-on-5.
On the power play, the Sabres are 30th in the NHL at 12.7 percent (13-for-102) and have given up an NHL-worst eight opposing shorthanded goals. The Buffalo penalty kill is 85-for-103 (82.5 percent; ranked 9th), and has scored four shorthanded goals.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
Flyers
28 Claude Giroux - 14 Sean Couturier - 17 Wayne Simmonds
12 Michael Raffl - 51 Valtteri Filppula - 93 Jakub Voracek
40 Jordan Weal - 19 Nolan Patrick - 22 Dale Weise
15 Jori Lehterä - 21 Scott Laughton - 11 Travis Konecny
9 Ivan Provorov - 47 Andrew MacDonald
53 Shayne Gostisbehere - 8 Robert Hägg
6 Travis Sanheim - 3 Radko Gudas
37 Brian Elliott
[49 Alex Lyon]
Scratches: Taylor Leier (upper body), Mark Alt (healthy), Brandon Manning (IR, right hand), Michal Neuvirth (IR, lower body).
Sabres
9 Evander Kane - 15 Jack Eichel - 23 Sam Reinhart
28 Zemgus Girgensons - 90 Ryan O'Reilly - 21 Kyle Okposo
67 Benoit Pouliot - 10 Jacob Josefson - 29 Jason Pominville
22 Johan Larsson - 71 Evan Rodrigues -20 Scott Wilson
6 Marco Scandella - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
19 Jake McCabe - 47 Zach Bogosian
4 Josh Gorges - 93 Viktor Antipin
40 Robin Lehner
[31 Chad Johnson]
Scratches: 82 Nathan Beaulieu (questionable, illness), 17 Jordan Nolan (healthy), 41 Justin Falk (healthy), 27 Taylor Fedun (IR, lower body injury).
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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