GAME 60 PREVIEW: FLYERS VS. CANADIENS
Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (30-19-10) are home on Tuesday night to take on Claude Julien's Montreal Canadiens (22-29-7) on Hockey is for Everyone Night at the Wells Fargo Center. Game time is 7:00 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on NBCSNP.
This is the second of three meetings this season between the teams and the second and final game in Philadelphia. The clubs will rematch on Feb. 26 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
On. Feb 8 in Philly, the Flyers skated to a 5-3 win.
Travis Konecny scored twice for the Flyers, while Claude Giroux (power play), Jakub Voracek (power play) and Ivan Provorov (empty net) scored for the Flyers. Shayne Gostisbehere collected three assists, Giroux had two assists. Sean Couturier, Wayne Simmonds, and since-injured goalie Brian Ellliott (1st assist of the season, seventh of his NHL career) picked up one helper apeice. Elliott stopped 25 of 28 shots.
Arttturi Lehkonen (shorthanded, 9th goal of the season), Logan Shaw (4th) and Brendan Gallagher (power play, 19th) scored for Montreal. Byron Froese (8th assist of the season), Jonathan Drouin (20th assist) and Alex Galchenyuk (20th assist) posted an assist apiece. Carey Price took the loss in goal. He stopped 23 of 27 shots.
Philly put the majority of its shot attempts on net in this game, getting just eight shots blocked and missing the net on seven others. By contrast, Philly blocked 16 Habs attempts, and Montreal missed the net 14 times. The Flyers gave up their ninth opposing shorthanded goal of the season but went 2-for-4 on their power plays. The Flyers were 2-for-3 on the penalty kill.
FLYERS OUTLOOK
The Flyers have been
surging into the stretch drive. Philly is 6-0-1 in its last seven games and 6-2-2 over the last 10. The club brings a 14-9-6 home record into Tueday's tilt.
The Flyers enter this game coming off a 7-4 road win over the New York Rangers on Sunday afternoon. A wild first period saw the teams trade off three goals apiece and engage in three fights. Philly re-took the lead early in the second period only for the Rangers to tie it again. The Flyers then took a 5-4 lead into the third period and pulled away in the final stanza.
Andrew MacDonald (4th goal of the season), Scott Laughton (10th), Brandon Manning (5th), Nolan Patrick (6th), Konecny (15th), Giroux (20th) and Jori Lehterä (1st as a Flyer) scored. Valtteri Filppula (15th and 16th assists of the season), Lehterä (4th assist), Provorov (18th assist), Giroux (48th and 49th assists), Konecny (18th and 19th assists), Simmonds (17th assist), Manning (7th assist), Couturier (30th assist), Dale Weise (4th assist) collected assists.
Injury-prone goaltender Michal Neuvirth went down again, hurting himself on a 2-on-1 goal scored by the Rangers. He finished the first period (11 saves on 14 shots) but then gave way to rookie Alex Lyon (25 saves on 26 shots) for the final 40 minutes. Lyon, who came up big several times in the third period before the Flyers got two insurance markers, earned his first win in the NHL.
On Monday, the Flyers made a series of roster moves. The team traded two conditional draft picks to the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for goaltender Petr Mrazek. Flyers general manager announced that Neuvirth will be out for weeks, joining Elliott (core muscle surgery) on the sidelines. Additionally, the team has activated Anthony Stolarz (knee surgery in Sept.) from his season-long injured non-roster designation and assigned him to the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms, although he is not ready to play at this point.
Lastly, the team has recalled left winger Oskar Lindblom from the Phantoms. An AHL All-Star game selection as a rookie this season, two-way forward Lindblom is riding a three-game goal streak in the AHL and notched 16 goals and 34 points overall in 54 games. When he skates his first shift for the Flyers, he will become the first Swedish forward to play in a regular season match for the team since Peter Forsberg's final game as a Flyer (Feb. 12, 2007).
Hextall said the team "may have another injury" to a forward but would know more on Tuesday. The skater lines posted in the projected lineups are the combinations that finished Sunday's game in New York. Lines will be updated after the morning skate. The Flyers did not practice on Monday.
For the season, the Flyers have scored 3.00 goals per game (11th in the NHL) and have a team 2.83 GAA (tied for 13th). At five-on-five, the Flyers have scored 109 goals (19th) and yielded 97 (5th fewest in the league).
On the power play, the Flyers rank 8th at 21.4 percent (42-for-196) but have yielded nine shorthanded goals yielded (tied for 2nd most in the NHL). On the penalty kill, the Flyers rank tied for 28th (129-for-172, 75.0 percent). The Flyers have scored two shorthanded goals; one apiece for Scott Laughton and Wayne Simmonds.
CANADIENS OUTLOOK
Out of the playoff race and looking to sell prior to next week's trade deadline, the Canadiens are 2-7-1 in their last 10 games and have lost three straight games in regulation. The team brings a road record of 8-19-1 into Monday's match.
On Sunday, the Canadiens were on the wrong end of a 6-3 road score against the Vegas Golden Knights. Charles Hudon (8th), Nikita Scherbak (1st), and Jonathan Drouin (power play, 9th) scored in a losing cause. Journeyman veteran goalie Antti Niemi got the start in goal but lasted just 9:51, getting pulled after yielding three goals on six shots. Carey Price entered the game and stopped 25 of 28 shots.
Price, although undeniably one of the top goalies in the NHL, has had as rough of a season as the injury-riddled and underachieving team in front of him. He is 0-9-0 in his last nine road decisions. Overall for the season, he is 15-22-5 with a 2.98 GAA, .904 save percentage and one shutout.
Niemi, playing for his third NHL team this season and fourth in the last two, is 2-2-2 for Montreal with a 2.84 GAA and .915 save percentage. Until Sunday's short outing, his stay with the Habs had been going better than his brief time with the Pittsburgh Penguins (0-3-0, 7.49 GAA, .797 SV%) and Florida Panthers (0-1-0, 5.11 GAA, .872 SV%).
The Canadiens have been decimated by injuries this season, most notably to defenseman Shea Weber. The hard-shooting and physically intimidating Weber remains on the injured reserve list. On the flip side, forward Phillip Danault (lower body injury) is likely to be activated from IR to play against the Flyers. Forward Andrew Shaw (post-concussion symptoms) also could be ready to play, either on Tuesday or shortly thereafter.
Max Pacioretty leads the Canadiens in scoring with 35 points (16 goals, 19 assists) this season. He is followed by Brendan Gallagher (21 goals, 34 points), Paul Byron (13 goals, 10 assists) and Danault (seven goals, 23 points).
The Habs enter the game averaging 2.53 goals per game (29th) and with a team 3.14 GAA (24th). At 5-on-5, the Canadiens have scored 91 goals (30th) and allowed 116 (18th).
Montreal clocks in at 21.5 percent efficiency on the power play (38-for-177, 7th) with four shorthanded goals allowed. The Habs' penalty kill enters at 82.3 percent (140-for-181, 26th) with six shorthanded goals scored.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
FLYERS
28 Claude Giroux - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny
40 Jordan Weal - 19 Nolan Patrick - 93 Jakub Voracek
54 Oskar Lindblom - 21 Scott Laughton - 12 Michael Raffl
15 Jori Lehterä - 51 Valtteri Filppula - 22 Dale Weise
9 Ivan Provorov - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
47 Andrew MacDonald -3 Robert Hägg
23 Brandon Manning - 3 Radko Gudas
49 Alex Lyon
[34 Petr Mrazek]
Scratches:20 Taylor Leier (healthy), 39 Mark Alt (healthy), 37 Brian Elliott (IR, core muscle surgery), 30 Michal Neuvirth (lower body, out 4-6 weeks from Feb. 18), 17 Wayne Simmonds (upper-body, out 2-3 weeks from Feb. 18).
CANADIENS
67 Max Pacioretty - 92 Jonathan Drouin - 62 Artturi Lehkonen
41 Paul Byron - 14 Tomas Plekanec - 11 Brendan Gallagher
27 Alex Galchenyuk - 24 Phillip Danault - 54 Charles Hudon
20 Nicolas Deslauriers - 49 Logan Shaw - 43 Daniel Carr
22 Karl Alzner - 26 Jeff Petry
45 Joe Morrow - 8 Jordie Benn
53 Victor Mete - 21 David Schlemko
31 Carey Price
[37 Antti Niemi]
Scratches: 25 Jacob de la Rose (healthy), 28 Jakub Jerabek (healthy), 42 Byron Froese (healthy), 65 Andrew Shaw (IR, concussion, may be activated), 6 Shea Weber (IR, foot), 83 Ales Hemsky (IR, concussion).
*************
FLYERS TRADE PICK(S) TO DETROIT FOR MRAZEK
On Monday evening, the Flyers announced that they had traded two conditional draft picks to the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for 26-year-old goaltender Petr Mrazek. The deal's conditions are predicated on how much success the Flyers have as a team the rest of this season and the playoffs, how much impact Mrazek has on that level of success, and whether the Flyers bring back the impending restricted free agent beyond his expiring contract.
"When you look at your list, you put together a list of the available guys, he was the available guy that really intrigued us. We know how capable he is, and his experience in the National Hockey League, playing in a high-pressure market in Detroit there went into our decision. We felt like we had to get a guy that has a proven track record," Flyers general manager Ron Hextall said in a late-night conference call.
The minimum return to Detroit is a 2018 fourth-round pick. The fourth-rounder will be upgraded to a 2018 third-round pick if the Flyers make the playoffs and Mrazek wins five or more games for the team over the remainder of the regular season.
The 2018 third-round pick could then instead become a 2018 second-round pick if the Flyers reach at least the Eastern Conference Final in the playoffs and Mrazek wins at least six playoff games. It takes eight playoff wins for a team to get to the conference final, so Mrazek would have to be Philly's primary starter in the postseason to potentially fulfill this condition.
Separate from the conditions for the 2018 pick -- and more straightforward -- is the condition on Detroit additionally receiving a 2019 third-round pick. If the Flyers re-sign Mrazek over the summer (which would likely mean that Neuvirth is traded elsewhere), Detroit gets the added pick to complete the compensation for Mrazek. If the Flyers elect not to bring back Mrazek on a new contract, the Wings will not receive the additional pick.
In return for the Flyers potentially parting with two draft picks for a player they were eager to trade, the Red Wings agreed to retain half of Mrazek's remaining prorated cap hit for the rest of this season. Mrazek is receiving $4 million this season, so both teams will take on a prorated $2 million cap hit.
"When I look at this deal, I think it’s a fair and reasonable deal for both sides. If Petr performs, we pay more, Detroit gets more. If he doesn’t, they still get paid and it costs us a certain amount, but it’s not like we overpaid. If we do have success and we pay, then that’s good. It’s good for Detroit, good for us. I like the makeup of this deal, I think it’s a fair deal, and I think both teams got what they wanted," Hextall said.
Although Detroit knew full well that the Flyers were in dire straights with their goaltending situation, the Flyers also knew that the Red Wings were unlikely to give the arbitration-eligible Mrazek a qualifying offer this summer as a restricted free agent and, instead, would have turned him loose as unrestricted free agent. Last summer, the Red Wings exposed Mrazek to the expansion draft, hoping the Vegas Golden Knights would take him off their hands. Then they tried extensively, but in vain, to trade him.
With Mrazek, it has never been a question of talent. Two seasons ago in particular, he was excellent for Detroit (27-16-6, 2.33 GAA, .921 SV%, four shutots). He has been extremely inconsistent since then, however, with more downs than ups. The 6-foot-2 goalie, somewhat like Czech countryman Neuvirth, is quite gifted athletically but not always dependable from game-to-game, period-to-period and especially in terms of battling through adversity.
When Mrazek gets on a roll, however, he can steal games for his team. A couple years ago, he looked like a rising star. From the 2016 World Cup of Hockey onward -- again, a bit like Neuvirth -- not much has gone as he'd hoped. Last season, Mrazek was 18-21-9 with a 3.04 GAA and .901 save percentage. This season, he was 8-7-3 with a 2.89 GAA and .910 save percentage. He had one shutout last season but three to date this campaign.
Allegedly, coachability issues and a high-maintenance presence in the locker room contributed to the Red Wings souring on Mrazek amid his roller coaster performances. Craving a chance to become an undisputed number one goalie, Marzek supposedly chafed last season over splitting playing time with Jimmy Howard but has been more of a solid citizen this season.
Rumor does not equal reality and quirky goalies are hardly unusual in hockey. When the puck gets stopped and the team is winning, there are no issues. If things don't work out with Mrazek, the Flyers' investment in him is hardly excessive. That's especially true in light of being down two goalies.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
Join the Discussion:
»