GAME 42: FLYERS @ HURRICANES
In the final game of a six-game road trip, Alain Vigneault's Philadelphia Flyers (22-15-5 overall, 9-13-1 away) are in Raleigh on Tuesday night to take on Rod Brind'Amour's Carolina Hurricanes (24-16-2, 12-8-0 home) on Tuesday night. Game time at PNC Arena is 7:00 p.m. ET.
The game will be televised on NBCSP. The radio broadcast will be on 97.5 The Fanatic with an online simulcast on Flyers Radio 24/7.
This is the third of four meetings between the teams this season, and the second and final game in Raleigh. The Flyers are 2-0-0 so far, although Carolina had a territorial advantage in both previous games. The season series concludes at the Wells Fargo Center on March 5.
On Nov. 5 in Philadelphia, the Flyers won by a 4-1 score.
Goaltender Carter Hart led the way for Philadelphia, making 32 saves on 33 shots. His toughest period was the first, where he was severely tested in making 14 stops Sean Couturier (power play, 4th), Travis Konecny (7th), Joel Farabee (2nd) and Claude Giroux (4th) scored for the Flyers. Matt Niskanen, who played a strong all-around game, had a pair of primary assists on shots that were either deflected home (Couturier) or rebounded to the goal scorer (Konency). Shayne Gostisbehere, Couturier, Giroux, James van Riemsdyk, Tyler Pitlick and Phil Myers collected one assist apiece.
On Nov. 21 in Raleigh, the Flyers showed resiliency in winning 5-3. Philly trailed 2-0 within the first five minutes of the game, but came back to win. (Given how things have gone on the current road trip, that's not a scenario the Flyers would be well-advised to need to replicate).
Claude Giroux had a monster game, breaking out for two goals (6th and 7th) and two assists (9th and 10th). Travis Konecny racked up three assists (13th, 14th and 15th), including one of the spectacular variety. Rookie linemate Morgan Frost scored a shorthanded goal (2nd) directly off a faceoff win by Giroux. Later, Frost nicely set up Giroux for the game-winning goal on the 20-year-old's first career NHL assist.
Frost is now back in the AHL with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Ivan Provorov (power play, 5th) made it a brand-new hockey game, tying the score at 2-2 with a first period tally from the point. Kevin Hayes, who ended a 10-game point drought with an assist in Florida on Tuesday, later sealed the win with a long-distance empty net goal (5th) in the waning seconds of the third period.
Goaltender Brian Elliott, struck in the back with a puck after getting spun around in a collision around the net (the net came off its moorings) early in the first period, was not sharp for much of the first two periods. He gave up a five-hole bleeder and a well-outside-the-dot perimeter power play goal as the Canes grabbed a 2-0 lead. Still fighting the puck a bit in the second period, Elliott gave out some preventable rebounds but battled for saves as Philly took a 3-2 lead to intermission.
In the third period, Elliott was locked in despite giving up a tying (3-3) goal for which he was not to blame. Once the Flyers forged ahead again, he came up with no fewer than three 10-bell saves to preserve the lead. He finished with 33 saves on 36 shots.
FLYERS OUTLOOK
The Flyers are a team in dire need of something to feel good about. Even with the club having taken a four-game winning streak into the Christmas break, the team is 5-7-0 overall in its last 12 games and 2-7-0 on the road in that span.
"Ugly" is not a strong enough descriptor for the current road trip, in which the team has gone 1-4-0 entering the final game. In each of the last three games, the Flyers have given up three or four goals in the first period alone.
The penalty kill, so strong until the Christmas break, has sprung a leak. The power play has been extremely inconsistent from game-to-game. The goaltending has had more downs than ups on the trip. The bottom six in the forward lineup has struggled mightily and the top six has had a few games where they were unable to deliver momentum shifts at critical times of comeback bids. The blueline has also struggled at some key junctures.
The Flyers have had two nights off since a 6-2 loss in Arizona. On Sunday, the team got some desperately needed rest after arriving in Raleigh, On Monday, the team was able to have a full-length practice in Raleigh; one that was not scuttled due to the quick turnarounds in their game schedule or which needed to be abbreviated in length due to a same-day flight. That had not happened since before Christmas.
Monday's practice saw Vigneault make changes on all four forward lines (see projected lineups below). The team also announced that it had suffered its first significant blueline injury of the season. Justin Braun suffered a groin injury in the Arizona game, and did not practice on Monday. He will likely be out until after the All-Star break. As such, both Phil Myers and Robert Hà¤gg will be in the lineup simultaneously; something which has rarely been the case this season. Both started when Matt Niskanen missed a single game with the flu.
Elliott, who owns the lone win of the current road trip but otherwise hasn't fared much better of late than Hart, will get the start in this game. Hart is the likely starter when the Flyers return home on Wednesday to play the Washington Capitals in a nationally televised game.
At the Christmas break, the Flyers were one point out of third place in the Metro Division and had a seemingly comfortable cushion above the wildcard playoff cutoff line. But things change in a hurry in the NHL when you string a bunch of regulation losses together. On Jan. 7, the Flyers enter the game in Raleigh below the playoff cutoff line vie tiebreaker with Florida.
The last time the Flyers were in Carolina, Giroux stepped up big. The Flyers need another standout performance from him, along with the likes of Couturier, Jakub Voracek, Travis Konecny, Provorov, Niskanen and Elliott. Nights like these are the ones where your best players have to be just that.
A win to conclude the trip, followed by one or two points against Washington, would restore some much-needed confidence that the ship has been righted despite the team depth taking a series of major hits over the last month. The alternative is, well, not fun to ponder.
HURRICANES OUTLOOK
The Hurricanes aren't about to feel sorry for the Flyers' woes, although the entire hockey community has been outstanding off-the-ice in showing support for Oskar Lindblom in his fight against Ewing Sarcoma.
Carolina should be a hungry team in its own right coming into this game. Although they've leapfrogged the Flyers in the standings and sit in the upper wildcard spot, it's only a one-point advantage despite how horribly Philadelphia's road trip has gone. Moreover, the Hurricanes suffered back-to-back home regulation losses in measuring stick games.
The Canes fell, 4-3, to Washington last Friday, On Sunday, they lost, 3-1, to the Tampa Bay Lighting. The Bolts have started after Christmas to make their long-awaited surge, and now have a seven-game winning streak and points in eight of their last 10 games. (By the way, while the Flyers caught Toronto at just the right time in the season, going 2-0-1 in the season series before the Maple Leafs got hot, it's the exact opposite with the Tampa Bay season series. All three games against Tampa still loom on the Flyers' docket).
Veteran team leader Justin Williams, still unsigned by his own volition in taking off the first half of the season, reportedly has a one-year contract offer on the table from the Hurricanes. The Canes have competition, though. Another one of the former Flyer's ex-teams, Washington, is also rumored to be trying to lure Williams to sign for the rest of the season.
Note: The Flyers, who are not among the teams said to have an offer out to Williams, could also really use him for a half season if they can forge some cap space. The Flyers have had past opportunities to pursue Williams as a UFA, and he still makes his off-season home in New Jersey and used to work out in Voorhees in the offseason before NHL camp. However, they've always either elected to look elsewhere or, when there has been Flyers' interest, he's chosen other destinations.
PROJECTED STARTING LINEUPS (subject to change)
FLYERS
28 Claude Giroux - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny 25 James van Riemsdyk - 13 Kevin Hayes - 62 Nicolas Aube-Kubel 18 Tyler Pitlick - 12 Michael Raffl - 93 Jakub Voracek 21 Scott Laughton - 24 Mikhail Vorobyev - 49 Joel Farabee
9 Ivan Provorov - 15 Matt Niskanen 6 Travis Sanheim - 5 Phil Myers 53 Shayne Gostisbehere - 8 Robert Hà¤gg
37 Brian Elliott [79 Carter Hart]
Power Play 1: Giroux, Couturier, JVR, Konecny, Provorov. Power Play 2: Aube-Kubel, Hayes, Voracek, Gostisbehere, Niskanen.
Scratches: 10 Andy Andreoff (healthy), 44 Chris Stewart (healthy), 62 Justin Braun (groin). LTIR: 55 Sam Morin (torn ACL, out for season), 23 Oskar Lindblom (Ewing sarcoma, out for season), 19 Nolan Patrick (migraines).
HURRICANES
21 Nino Niederreiter - 20 Sebastian Aho - 86 Teuvo Terà¤và¤inen 37 Andrei Svechnikov- 11 Jordan Staal - 13 Warren Foegele 18 Ryan Dzingel - 56 Erik Haula - 88 Martin Necas 23 Brock McGinn - 71 Lucas Wallmark - 48 Jordan Martinook…‹
74 Jaccob Slavin - 19 Dougie Hamilton 51 Jake Gardiner - 22 Brett Pesce 4 Haydn Fleury - 6 Joel Edmundson …‹
47 James.Reimer [34 Petr Mrazek]
Power Play 1: Svechnikov, Haula, Aho , Terà¤và¤inen, Hamilton Power Play 2: Niederreiter, Dzingel, Wallmark, Gardiner, Necas …‹ Scratches: 57 Trevor van Riemsdyk (healthy)