Game 39 Preview: Flyers vs.Coyotes
On 1990s Night for their Throwback Thursday series, John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (14-17-7) are set to host Andre Tourigny's Arizona Coyotes (13-18-5) at the Wells Fargo Center. Game time is 7:00 p.m. ET.
Coming off a 4-1 win against the Anaheim Ducks on Monday in the finale of a three-game California road trip, the Flyers bring a three-game winning streak into this match. The last time the Flyers won four games in a row was in late January of 2021: two seasons ago.
The Coyotes, who have won three of their last five games and are 4-5-1 in their last 10 matches, are coming off a 5-3 road loss in Sunrise to the Florida Panthers on Tuesday. A hat trick by the Panthers' Matthew Tkachuk (two even-strength goals, one power play) and two 5-on-5 goals by Eric Staal proved to be the Coyotes' undoing. In a losing cause, Jakob Chychrun (PPG, 5th), Keller (14th), and Nick Bjugstad (10th) scored for the Coyotes. Clayton Keller, who also assisted on the Chychrun goal, recorded his eighth multi-point game of the season to date. Karel Vejmelka stopped 32 of 37 shots he faced.
Carter Hart will get the start in goal against Arizona, per Tortorella. Other than that, the only lineup personnel change will be for Nick Seeler to draw back in and Justin Braun to exit the lineup. Defense pairings will revert to the ones featured in the Los Angeles game on Dec. 31.
For an in-depth game preview, see today's Five Things on PhiladelphiaFlyers.com.
Projected Lineups (subject to change)
FLYERS
86 Joel Farabee - 49 Noah Cates - 11 Travis Konecny 25 James van Riemsdyk - 48 Morgan Frost - 74 Owen Tippett 13 Kevin Hayes - 21 Scott Laughton - 57 Wade Allison 44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 38 Patrick Brown - 17 Zack MacEwen
9 Ivan Provorov - 45 Cam York 6 Travis Sanheim - 77 Tony DeAngelo 24 Nick Seeler - 55 Rasmus Ristoainen
79 Carter Hart [33 Samuel Ersson]
COYOTES
9 Clayton Keller - 72 Travis Boyd - 8 Nick Schmaltz 22 Jack McBain - 17 Nick Bjugstad - 67 Lawson Crouse 12 Nick Ritchie - 29 Barrett Hayton - 36 Christian Fischer 3 John Brown - 26 Laurent Dauphin - 53 Michael Carcone
6 Jakob Chychrun - 14 Shayne Gostisbehere 4 Juuso Và¤limà¤ki - 90 J.J. Moser 2 Patrik Nemeth - 51 Troy Stecher
70 Karel Vejmelka 39 Connor Ingram
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WJC: Team USA to play for Bronze
Team USA got off to a 2-0 lead over Team Canada and took a 2-1 lead to the first intermission but ended up going down to a 6-2 defeat in the medal-round semifinal on Wednesday at the 2022-23 World Junior Championships.
A disastrous second period for Team USA, a pair of would-be USA goals (potentially tying the game at 3-3 in the second period and drawing back with 4-3 early in the third) that were taken off the board upon two coach's challenges by Canada for goalie interference, and a stellar goaltending performance from Team Canada's Thomas Milic was ultimately the difference. The U.S. side had the better of the territorial play in the first and third periods, but they were prone to turnovers and lost coverages.
Flyers 2022 first-round pick had six shots on goal in the semifinal game and a couple of bonafide scoring chances but it ended up being a frustrating night for him. As with other players on the American side, he turned over a puck in a dangerous area in the first period and had a couple of defensive miscues in his 16:23 of ice time. For the tourney to date, he has eight points (two goals against Germany, six assists in the tourney overall) in six games despite not getting on the score sheet against Canada.
Team USA will play Sweden for the bronze medal on Thursday afternoon. Canada will face off in the evening against Czechia for the gold medal.
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Throwback Thursday: '90s Night
In honor of 1990s Night at the Wells Fargo Center as part of the Flyers' series of "Throwback Thursday" games this season, I have written two articles for PhiladelphiaFlyers.com.
* 9 Days that Shaped the 1990s Flyers: Click here.
* An updated version, with video highlights added and some historical updating to the "88 Facts About Eric Lindros" article originally created for the night his No. 88 jersey was retired by the Flyers: Click here.