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Flyers Gameday: 3/28/16 vs. WPG |
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PREVIEW: FLYERS VS. JETS
Returning home from a four-game road trip, Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (36-25-13) open a three-game homestand on Monday against Paul Maurice's Winnipeg Jets (31-38-6). Game time at the Wells Fargo Center is 7:00 p.m. EDT. The game will be televised on CSN Philadelphia.
This is the second and final meeting of the season between the teams, and the lone game in Philadelphia. On Nov. 17, the Flyers stopped a six-game winless drought with their lone victory of an otherwise awful road trip through western Canada: a 3-0 shutout of the host Jets.
The Flyers received power play goals in the first period from Brayden Schenn and the mid-third period by Wayne Simmonds. Matt Read added an unassisted empty net goal with 1:35 left in the game. Philadelphia went 2-for-5 on the power play and 5-5 on the penalty kill.
Michael Neuvirth prevailed in a battle of Czech netminders, turning back all 28 shots he faced to outduel Winnipeg's Ondrej Pavelec (20 saves on 22 shots). Neuvirth set a new Flyers franchise record as he became the first Flyers goaltender to record three shutouts within his first seven starts of a season.
The Flyers enter this game coming off a frustrating 2-1 road loss to the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday night. The Jets a had a two-game winning spell snapped on Saturday as they were unable to protect a third period lead and fell 3-2 in regulation to the host Buffalo Sabres. Monday's game marks the conclusion of a two-match road trip.
After this game, the Flyers host a Wednesday Night Rivalry game against the Washington Capitals on Wednesday, while the Jets return to Winnipeg to play the Ottawa Senators.
Flyers Outlook
The Flyers missed a golden opportunity on Saturday to take a little stronger hold on the final wildcard playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and to hold serve on the teams they are chasing for higher playoff seeds.
As it is, the Flyers are tied in points (85) with the Detroit Red Wings and have a regulation/overtime wins tiebreaker disadvantage (35-34) if they finish in a points tie. Philadelphia currently holds down the eighth playoff spot only by virtue of holding one game in hand. Detroit host Buffalo on Monday.
The Flyers are 10-3-2 over their last 15 games. For the season, the team has a 19-10-7 home record compared to a 17-15-6 road mark.
On Saturday, Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith stopped 34 of 35 shots. The Coyotes got a second period power play goal by Shane Doan and a controversial goal by Michael Stone with 0.5 seconds left in the period after Steve Mason had his masked knocked ajar by Arizona's Max Domi. The goal was challenged by the Flyers but the call was upheld.
Mason saw just 17 shots for the game, stopping 15. Sean Couturier scored a power play goal in the final minute to shave the deficit to one goal but the Flyers could not find an equalizer. Shayne Gostisbehere and Matt Read got assists.
The Flyers went 1-for-5 on the power play and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill. A bad penalty by Ryan White, a clean attack zone entry for Arizona and a coverage miscue by Nick Schultz added up to Doan's goal that broke a scoreless deadlock.
Both team's captains -- Claude Giroux for the Flyers and Doan for Arizona -- had their heads hammered into the boards in the third period and left the game. Both Giroux and Doan were OK after the game.
Mason has appeared in 47 games this season, posting a 19-17-9 record, 2.54 goals against average, .918 save percentage and four shutouts (five regulation shutouts). Neuvirth, who is for the rest of the regular season with torn meniscus in his left knee, appeared in 31 games, posting a 17-8-4 record, 2.28 GAA, .925 save percentage and three shutouts.
Second year pro Anthony Stolarz has had several NHL recalls but has yet to appear in an NHL regular season game. Stolarz had an outstanding first half of the AHL season -- especially the first two months -- and earned a selection to the AHL All-Star Game. in 40 games this season with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, Stolarz has posted a 19-14-6 record, 2.57 GAA and .917 SV%.
Thus far, the team has done a remarkably good job of playing around the absence of top-pairing defenseman Michael Del Zotto. The player, who suffered torn ligaments in his left wrist on February 13, is out for the rest of the season.
Shayne Gostisbehere has set two franchise records and an NHL record this season: most goals by a Flyers rookie defenseman (16 to date), and longest consecutive-game point streak (15 games) by a Flyers rookie or any rookie defenseman in NHL history. Gostisbehere needs eight points to match Behn Wilson's franchise rookie defenseman season record of 49 points (set over 80 games in 1978-79).
Team captain Giroux leads the Flyers with 21 goals, 41 assists and 62 points in 71 games. He is followed on the Flyers' scoring leader list by Brayden Schenn (24 goals, 28 assists, 52 points), Wayne Simmonds (25 goals, 26 assists, 51 points, 139 penalty minutes) and Jakub Voracek (10 goals, 40 assists, 50 points in 63 games). Among Gostisbehere's 16 goals, seven have come on the power play, and four in overtime and he has scored five game-winners overall to go along with 25 assists and 41 points in 56 games. Sean Couturier rounds out the top six with 10 goals, 25 assists and 35 points in 56 games.
Jets Outlook
From a practical standpoint, Winnipeg has been out of the playoff race for some time but Saturday's loss to the Sabres made it official mathematically. The club is 4-5-1 in its last 10 games, and brings a 14-20-3 road record into this game compared to a 17-18-3 home mark.
On Saturday, the Jets unsuccessfully tried to make early first-period goals by Nikolaj Ehlers and Andrew Copp stand up for nearly the next 55 minutes. The team held a 2-1 lead in the third period before early stanza goals by Sam Reinhart and Jack Eichel put the Sabres ahead to stay. Michael Hutchinson stopped 26 of 29 shots in a losing cause. The Jets mustered just 19 shots on Chad Johnson.
As is the case with most teams that are long-since out of the playoff race, the Jets bring a lengthy injury list into this game: Bryan Little (vertebrae compression fracture), Tyler Myers (knee and hip surgery), Tobias Enström (right knee surgery), Mathieu Perreault (concussion symptoms), Anthony Peluso (shoulder), and Grant Clitsome (IR, back).
The Jets dealt longtime team captain Andrew Ladd to the Chicago Blackhawks prior to the trade deadline. Blake Wheeler and Mark Stuart remain as alternate captains.
Wheeler leads the Jets with 67 points (19 goals, 48 assists) in 75 games. Among available players, he is followed by Mark Scheifele (24 goals, 26 assists, 50 points in 64 games), defenseman Dustin Byfuglien (17 goals, 28 assists, 45 points, 101 penalty minutes), Drew Stafford (20 goals, 15 assists, 35 points) and Ehlers (14 goals, 18 assists, 32 points.
The Jets goaltending has been a three-headed monster this season, with Ondrej Pavelec, Hutchinson and rookie Connor Hellebuyck (now back with the AHL's Manitoba Moose) each appearing in 26-28 games to date.
In 28 games (26 starts), Pavelec has posted a 2.76 goals against average, .907 save percentage and one shutout. Hutchinson has played in 28 games (23 starts) with an 8-14-3 record, 2.95 GAA and .905 save percentage.
Befitting of a team that is buried out of the playoff chase, the Jets rank in the bottom one-third of the NHL in goals scored, team goals against average, special teams and faceoffs. That includes the NHL's bottom-ranked power play (a dismal 14.3 percent success ratio) and 25th-ranked penalty kill (78.5 percent).
Key team stat comparisons (NHL overall ranking)
Non-shootout goals per game: Flyers 2.58 (T-19th), Jets 2.53 (23rd)
Non-shootout goals against per game: Flyers 2.56 (14th), Jets 2.89 (25th)
5-on-5 Goals For/Against Ratio: Flyers 123/116, Jets 128/132
Power play efficiency: Flyers 18.1% (17th), Jets 14.3% (30th)
Penalty killing efficiency: Flyers 80.8% (T-17th), Jets 78.5% (25th)
Shots per game: Flyers 30.7 (T-6th), Jets 29.7 (T-17th)
Shots against per game: Flyers 31.1 (T-24th), Jets 29.8 (T-15th)
Faceoff percentage: Flyers 50.4% (T-8th), Jets 47.% (T-28th)
Projected lineups (subject to change, will be updated)
Flyers
10 Brayden Schenn - 28 Claude Giroux - 17 Wayne Simmonds
12 Michael Raffl - 14 Sean Couturier - 93 Jakub Voracek
89 Sam Gagner - 52 Nick Cousins - 24 Matt Read
76 Chris VandeVelde - 78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 25 Ryan White
47 Andrew MacDonald - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
55 Nick Schultz - 32 Mark Streit
23 Brandon Manning - 3 Radko Gudas
35 Steve Mason
[65 Anthony Stolarz]
Scratches: Evgeny Medvedev (healthy), R.J. Umberger (healthy), Scott Laughton (healthy), Jordan Weal (healthy), Michael Del Zotto (IR, wrist), Michal Neuvirth (suspected left knee injury).
Jets
27 Nikolaj Ehlers - 55 Mark Scheifele - 26 Blake Wheeler
40 Joel Armia - 6 Alexander Burmistrov - 12 Drew Stafford
22 Chris Thorburn - 17 Adam Lowry - 15 Matt Halischuk
19 Nicolas Petan - 9 Andrew Copp - 56 Marko Dano
7 Ben Chiarot - 33 Dustin Byfuglien
5 Mark Stuart - 8 Jacob Trouba
71 Julian Melchiori - 4 Paul Postma
31 Ondrej Pavelec / 34 Michael Hutchinson
Scratches: Brendan Kichton (healthy), JC Lipon (healthy), Bryan Little (vertebrae compression fracture), Tyler Myers (knee and hip surgery), Tobias Enström (right knee surgery), Mathieu Perreault (concussion symptoms), Anthony Peluso (shoulder), and Grant Clitsome (IR, back).
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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