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Flyers Gameday: 2/10/18 @ ARI

February 10, 2018, 5:35 AM ET [537 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
GAME 55 PREVIEW: FLYERS @ COYOTES

Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (26-19-9) are in Glendale on Saturday night to take on Rick Tocchet's Arizona Coyotes (13-32-9) at Gila River Arena. Game time is 8 p.m. ET. The game will be locally televised on NBCSNP.

This is the second and final meeting of the season between the inter-conference teams and the lone game in Arizona. Although the Coyotes have the worst record in the NHL, it is a team that often seems to give the Flyers' problems. Philly is 0-1-2 in its last three games against Arizona.

On Oct. 30, 2017, the Coyotes brought an 0-10-1 record on the season into the Wells Fargo Center. A desperate comeback push by the Flyers in the final minute of the third period netted two goals and stole a point in the standings but the home team ultimately fell in overtime, 4-3.

Veteran defenseman Alex Gologoski (1st goal of the season) netted the game-winner at 4:45 of overtime on a 3-on-2 counterattack off a Travis Sanheim turnover. Arizona built a 3-0 lead on goals by Jordan Martinook (1st), Christian Dvorak (1st) and Brendan Perlini (power play, 2nd) before the Flyers pushed back against a team that entered the game having been outscored by a 19-7 margin in third periods.

Sean Couturier scored a pair of goals (power play and the game-tier on 6-on-5, 8th and 9th of the season) for the Flyers, sandwiched around a Jordan Weal (2nd) goal at 6-on-5 to cut the deficit to 3-2 with 56.9 seconds left. Ivan Provorov (28:07 of ice time, five hits, one block) assisted on all three Flyers goals and made two vital and difficult keeps at the offensive blueline in the sequence that led to the tying goal.

The comeback marked only the second occasion in franchise history that the Flyers have scored two goals in the final minute of regulation to tie a game. The one previous time was on February 3, 1980 when the Flyers were trailing Boston 3-1 and received goals from Reggie Leach at 19:11 and Rick MacLeish at 19:44 to tie the game, which ended in a 3-3 tie.

FLYERS OUTLOOK

The Flyers have won back-to-back games and are 6-3-1 in their last 10 overall. The club has improved significantly on the road this season, and brings a 12-10-4 road record into this game.

Philly hasn't played much hockey lately but they've done a lot of traveling.

The team played in Raleigh on Tuesday, earning an important 2-1 win in overtime to halt a four-game winless spell (0-3-1) and jump two spots in the Metro Division and Eastern Conference playoff races. On Thursday, the Flyers hosted and defeated the Montreal Canadiens at the Wells Fargo Center, 5-3. The Flyers did not practice on Friday, traveling to Arizona.

After Saturday's game, the Flyers head to Las Vegas to play their first-ever game against the Golden Knights. The club will then travel back to Philadelphia and get whatever rest they can before hosting the New Jersey Devils at the Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday.

In Thursday's win over Montreal, the Flyers put forth a somewhat uneven performance after a generally solid, but scoreless first period, but stepped up in enough key situations to skate off with a 5-3 victory.

Travis Konecny (12th and 13th goals of the season), Giroux (power play, 16th), Jakub Voracek (power play, 11th) and Ivan Provorov (empty net, 10th) scored for the Flyers. Giroux (44th and 45th assists of the season), Sean Couturier (25th and 26th assists), Shayne Gostisbehere (28th, 29th and 30th assists), Wayne Simmonds (16th assist) and goalie Brian Ellliott (1st assist of the season, seventh of his NHL career) picked up helpers. Elliott was strong in net overall, making some key momentum saves. He finished with 25 saves on 28 shots overall.

Entering Saturday's game, the Flyers sit in the higher wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference with 61 points (and 26 wins, all in regulation/OT) in 54 games. An ideal scenario for the Flyers would see them defeat the Coyotes by any means and the Columbus Blue Jackets defeat the visiting New Jersey Devils in regulation. That would elevate the Flyers into third place in the Metropolitan Division and within one point (with a game in hand) of the idle Pittsburgh Penguins.

Voracek leads all NHL players with his 52 assists this season and is tied for fifth in the Art Ross Trophy race with 63 points overall. Giroux is 10th in the Art Ross race with 61 points (16 goals, 45 assists). With Travis Konecny on a scoring tear of late, Couturier's been picking up assists but goals have been a bit hard to come by of late and he's dropped eighth in the Rocket Richard Trophy race with his 27 goals (six on the power play).

Second-year pro Provorov's long-distance empty netter against Montreal gave him his first double-digit goal campaign in the NHL. He and Gostisbehere (10 goals) became the ninth pair of Flyers defensemen to score double-digit goals in the same season but the first since Eric Desjardins and Dan McGillis did it in 2000-01. Overall, Gostisbehere's 40 points rank him 5th in scoring among NHL defensemen this season.

For the season, the Flyers have scored 2.91 goals per game (tied for 15th in the NHL) and have a team 2.85 GAA (15th). At five-on-five, the Flyers have scored 94 goals (T-22nd) and yielded 85 (4th fewest in the league).

On the power play, the Flyers rank tied for 11th at 21.1 percent (39-for-185) but have yielded nine shorthanded goals yielded (tied with the Islanders for the most in the NHL). On the penalty kill, the Flyers rank 29th (123-for-166, 74.1 percent). The Flyers have scored two shorthanded goals; one apiece for Scott Laughton and Wayne Simmonds.

COYOTES OUTLOOK

In the time since getting off the schneid for the season with their OT win in Philadelphia, Tocchet's team has gone 12-22-8. The club brings a 6-16-3 home record into Saturday's tilt and is 3-4-3 overall in its last 10 games.

The Coyotes enter this game coming off a win, however. A goal by ex-Flyer forward Nick Cousins (9th of the season, second goal of the game) in the final minute forced overtime and dynamic young forward Clayton Keller (15th goal) tallied in overtime to edge out the host Minnesota Wild, 4-3, on Thursday night.

Keep this in mind: When a team is in the basement of the league, every win is considered an upset. With Arizona having already defeated them once this season among their 13 victims this season and having also lost a game to Eastern Conference cellar-dweller Buffalo, the Flyers must stay away from the "trap game" script -- turnovers, lax coverage, perhaps a soft goal, special teams letdowns, letting one or more bad periods happen and then scrambling late in the game -- that they've ended up following a few too many times in recent seasons.

Entering Saturday's game, Keller's 37 points lead the team. He's followed by veteran Derek Stepan (10 goals, 34 points), Christian Dvorak (eight goals, 26 points) and highly skilled defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson (eight goals, 25 points, minus-41).

The Coyotes have a significant contingent of ex-Flyers in addition to Cousins (12 points) and head coach Tocchet. Also plying their trade in Arizona are the likes of Luke Schenn (51 games, zero goals, five assists, minus-10, 24 PIM) and Zac Rinaldo (three goals, four points, 37 PIM in 37 games played). In addition, promising young defenseman Jakub Chychrun (nine points in 24 games played) is the son of former Flyers defenseman Jeff Chychrun.

For the season, the Coyotes have scored an average 2.31 goals per game (30th in the NHL, ahead only of Buffalo) and have a team 3.43 GAA (30th, ahead only of the Islanders). At 5-on-5, the team has scored 81 goals (30th) and given up 125 (30th).

On the power play, the Coyotes clock in at 16.8 percent (27-for-161, 25th) and have yielded seven opposition shorthanders. On the PK, Arizona comes in at 79.6 percent (109-for-137, 18th) with two shorthanded goals; both by Stepan.

PROJECTED LINEUPS

FLYERS

28 Claude Giroux - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny
93 Jakub Voracek - 19 Nolan Patrick - 17 Wayne Simmonds
40 Jordan Weal - 21 Scott Laughton - 12 Michael Raffl
22 Dale Weise - 51 Valtteri Filppula - 15 Jori Lehterä

9 Ivan Provorov - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
47 Andrew MacDonald -3 Robert Hägg
23 Brandon Manning - 3 Radko Gudas

37 Brian Elliott
[30 Michal Neuvirth]

Scratches: 20 Taylor Leier (healthy), 39 Mark Alt (healthy).

COYOTES

11 Brendan Perlini - 21 Derek Stepan - 9 Clayton Keller
14 Richard Panik - 18 Christian Dvorak - 45 Josh Archibald
34 Zac Rinaldo - 16 Max Domi - 8 Tobias Rieder
48 Jordan Martinook - 15 Brad Richardson - 25 Nick Cousins​

23 Oliver Ekman-Larsson - 33 Alex Goligoski
6 Jakub Chychrun -4 Niklas Hjalmarsson
44 Kevin Connauton - 55 Jason Demers​

32 Antti Raanta
[31 Scott Wedgewood]

Scratches 2 Luke Schenn (healthy), 13 Freddie Hamilton (healthy), 36 Christian Fischer (lower body injury, questionable for Saturday).

************

PHANTOMS DEFEAT HERSHEY, AWAIT AMERKS

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms continued their season-long dominance over the arch-rival Hershey Bears with a 5-1 win at the PPL Center on Friday night. A four-goal outburst by the Phantoms in the second period turned the game into a blowout.

A goal by Nicolas Aube-Kubel (14th of the season) in the waning seconds of the first period sent the Phantoms to intermission with a 1-0 lead. Lehigh Valley broke the game open in the second period with a power play point blast by Travis Sanheim (two-point game, 1st goal since being sent back to the Phantoms by the Flyers) and a pair of Corban Knight goals (8th and 9th of the season) sandwiched around Chris Conner's 12th goal of the season. Cole Bardeau collected his 9th and 10th assists of the season.

Alex Lyon flirted with a shutout for 51-plus minutes before Dustin Gazley got Hershey on the board in the third period. He finished with 30 saves on 31 shots in an overall strong performance.

Rookie left winger Oskar Lindblom, an AHL All-Star Game selection, has been in an offensive funk of late. At one point in Friday's game, he had an open net staring at him and passed up the chance on what turned into a non-scoring play. Over his last 13 games, the Swede has just one goal and three assists. While he's continued to play quite well without the puck and get his nose dirty along the walls, he's been rather streaky all season in terms of bottom-line production with a host of different linemates.

The Phantoms, riddled with injuries for much of the season, are finally a reasonably healthy team. Two significant players remain sidelined: defenseman Samuel Morin and forward Danick Martel. Otherwise, the lineup is finally intact.

In his second pro season, there is a night-and-day difference in the play of Aube-Kubel. Apart from his jump in points (which has come without the benefit of being part of the power play personnel) from 18 in 71 games to 32 points in 49 games, the 21-year-old has picked up on the game-to-game consistency of his overall performance.

The Phantoms (29-14-6) return to action on Saturday. The team will host the Rochester Americans (25-12-11) in a 7:05 p.m. game at the PPL Center. For those who can't make it to the game in Allentown but have the Service Electric channel on their cable system, the game will be televised tonight. With the Flyers' not starting until 8:00 p.m., it's a chance to catch at least the first period of the Phantoms vs. Amerks game.
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