GAME 9 PREVIEW: FLYERS VS. DUCKS
In the final match of a five-game homestand, Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (5-3-0) host Randy Carlyle's Anaheim Ducks (3-3-1) on Tuesday night. Game time at the Wells Fargo Center is 7:00 p.m. EDT. The game will be televised on NBCSP.
This is the second and final meeting of the season series between the teams, and the lone game in Philadelphia. On Oct. 7 in Anaheim, the Flyers earned a 3-2 overtime win against a Ducks team that was missing seven regulars from the lineup.
Wayne Simmonds notched the game-winner at the 44-second mark of an overtime in which Anaheim never had a single second of puck possession time. The winning score was set up by Sean Couturier, who earlier tallied an even strength goal in the second period. Ivan Provorov opened the scoring in the first period, a split second after a Flyers power play expired. Brian Elliott got the win in goal, stopping 21 of 23 shots.
Antoine Vermette scored a four-on-four goal in the first period that knotted the game at 1-1. Cam Fowler scored an unassisted shorthanded goal that tied the score at 2-2 early in the third period. John Gibson made 34 saves in a losing cause.
FLYERS OUTLOOK
Although it is only the difference of one game, finishing the five-game homestand with a 4-1-0 record would send the Flyers off to their two-game trip to Ontario (Ottawa and Toronto) with a much more positive vibe than a 3-2 homestand following a 2-2 road trip to start the season.
The Flyers enter this game coming off a gritty 2-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers. Claude Giroux (power play goal) and Wayne Simmonds (game-winning goal at 17:45 of the third period) scored the goals, while Shayne Gostisbehere continued his all-around excellent start to the season and Sean Couturier's line did a masterful job in their shifts against Connor McDavid's line. Elliott stopped 23 of 24 shots to earn his fourth win of the season.
The Flyers lost Andrew MacDonald for four-to-six weeks as a result of a lower-body injury he sustained (reportedly a bone bruise) blocking a Milan Lucic shot on a crucial third-period penalty kill. The Flyers shuffled all three defense pairs at practice on Monday, with Robert Hà¤gg moving up to take MacDonald's spot on Ivan Provorov's right side, Radko Gudas being placed with Gostisbehere, and Travis Sanheim shifting from left defense to right defense along with Brandon Manning.
According to Flyers general manager Ron Hextall, the team does not plan to call up a seventh defenseman for Tuesday's game. They will decide about a potential callup before leaving for Ottawa, but Hextall said they won't recall a player (such as Samuel Morin) just to sit out as a healthy scratch.
Both Jordan Weal (upper body) and Taylor Leier (upper body) are ready to play on Tuesday, according to Hextall. Jori Lehterठwill remain in the lineup,skating on third line left wing after filling in for Weal on the Valtteri Filppula line in the last two games. It appears that Dale Weise will be a healthy scratch after starting in each of the first eight games.
Hextall was non-committal on whether Matt Read would remain with the team for the upcoming road trip, presuming Weal and Leier are fine to play.
To date, the Flyers have scored eight power play goals on 33 opportunities (24.2 percent, 8th in the NHL) and yielded one opposing shorthanded goal (to Fowler in the game in Anaheim). On the penalty kill, Philly is 24-for-30 (80.0 percent, tied for 18th in the NHL) with Scott Laughton (Oct. 14 vs. Washington) having scored the team's lone shorthanded goal to date. At 5-on-5, the Flyers have scored 16 times and yielded nine goals.
Ducks Outlook
The Ducks are still a banged-up team but appear likely to get two key players back in the lineup: defenseman Hampus Lindholm (shoulder) and center Ryan Getzlaf (lower body). However, Anaheim is now without Fowler (knee injury) and remain without Ryan Kesler (hip surgery), Sami Vatanen (shoulder labrum), and Patrick Eaves (illness).
Eaves, the son of former Flyers assistant coach and Hershey Bears head coach Mike Eaves, was hospitalized after diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome; an autoimmune disorder that attacks the body's peripheral nervous system. He was admitted to the intensive care unit of Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, CA, over the weekend. He has since stabilized and he was moved out of ICU, where he is said to be resting comfortably. Eaves is expected to make a full recovery.
The Ducks have been off for three nights since a wide-open home 6-2 win of the Montreal Canadiens on Friday night. A three goal outburst in the first period built a big lead that shrank to 3-2 by the second intermission before Anaheim surged again to pull away in the final stanza.
Derek Grant scored twice for his 1st and 2nd goals of the season for Anaheim. Dennis Rasmussen (1st), Vermette (2nd), Brandon Montour (2nd), and Chris Wagner (2nd) tallied for the Ducks. Anaheim generated 45 shots on goal, while John Gibson turned aside 49 of 51 Habs shots.
Defenseman Josh Manson has been under the weather in recent days with the flu. He missed the team's last practice but is expected to play on Tuesday.
Gibson is likely to get the start in goal for the Ducks. In four career games against the Flyers to date, ghe has a 3-0-1 record in four career games against the Flyers with a 2.48 goals-against average and .928 save percentage.
Tuesday's game marks the start of a four-game road trip for the Ducks. After this game and a travel day to Florida, the Ducks face a three-in-four gauntlet of games against the Florida Panthers (Thursday), Tampa Bay Lightning (Saturday) and Carolina Hurricanes (Sunday).
To date, the Ducks have scored just a single power play goal on 25 opportunities (4.0 percent, tied for the bottom rank in the NHL). On the penalty kill, Anaheim is 29-for-35 (82.8 percent, 12th in the NHL) with three shorthanded goals (tied for the league high) to date. At 5-on-5, the Ducks have scored 12 times and yielded 10 goals.
PROJECTED LINEUPS (Note: will be updated)
Flyers
28 Claude Giroux - 14 Sean Couturier - 93 Jakub Voracek 40 Jordan Weal - 51 Valtteri Filppula - 17 Wayne Simmonds 15 Jori Lehterठ- 19 Nolan Patrick - 11 Travis Konecny 22 Dale Weise - 21 Scott Laughton - 12 Michael Raffl
9 Ivan Provorov - 8 Robert Hà¤gg 53 Shayne Gostisbehere - 3 Radko Gudas 23 Brandon Manning - 6 Travis Sanheim
37 Brian Elliott [30 Michal Neuvirth]
Scratches: Andrew MacDonald (IR, lower body), Taylor Leier (upper body), Matt Read (healthy).
Ducks (speculative line changes)
67 Rickard Rakell - 15 Ryan Getzlaf - 10 Corey Perry 7 Andrew Cogliano - 50 Antoine Vermette - 33 Jakob Silfverberg 37 Nick Ritchie - 38 Derek Grant - 25 Ondrej Kase 21 Chris Wagner - 83 Kalle Kossila - 48 Logan Shaw
47 Hampus Lindholm - 42 Josh Manson 23 Francois Beauchemin - 26 Brandon Montour 75 Jaycob Megna - 3 - Kevin Bieksa
36 John Gibson [1 Reto Berra]
Scratches: Jared Boll (healthy), Dennis Rasmussen (healthy), Korbinian Holzer (healthy), Cam Fowler (IR, knee), Ryan Kesler (IR, hip surgery), Sami Vatanen (IR, shoulder labrum), Patrick Eaves (IR, illness), Ryan Miller (IR, wrist).
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FLYERS ALUMNI AHA FUNDRAISING GAME IN BUCKS COUNTY ON OCT. 27
The Flyers Alumni team is back in action on Friday, at the Revolution Ice Gardens in Warwick, PA. The Alumni will be taking on the AHA coaches at 7 p.m. as part of the fourth annual Athletes Helping Athletes Hockey Showcase.
Pre-purchase tickets by Oct. 26 for $10. Tickets purchased on the day of the event cost $15. For ticket requests, email event organizer Eric Tye at coach.erictye@gmail.com.
After the game, the Alumni will have a separate meet-and-greet event at Big Head's Richboro Pub (1034 2nd St. Pike). Admission to the meet-and-greet is $25. The registration deadline is today (Oct. 24).
The Athletes Helping Athletes program is one that provides access to sports and support for special needs student athletes and raises funds in the local community for special needs organizations.
For more information about the event and the cause the Alumni are supporting, see the 4th Annual AHA Hockey Showcase Facebook page, visit the AHA Hockey Showcase website and/or check out the Twitter feed (@AHAHockeyShow).