Game 52 Preview: FLYERS vs. OILERS
Interim head coach Scott Gordon's Philadelphia Flyers (22-23-6) are home on Saturday to take on Ken Hitchcock's Edmonton Oilers (23-24-3). Game time at the Wells Fargo Center is 1:00 p.m. ET.
The game will be televised locally on NBCSP. The radio broadcast can be found on 97.5 FM The Fanatic with an online simulcast at FlyersRadio247.com.
This is the second and final meeting of the season between the inter-conference teams and the lone game in Philadelphia. On Dec. 14, the Flyers dropped a 4-1 decision in Edmonton in the penultimate game of the Dave Hakstol era.
Power play woes and a combination of failed clears, turnovers and an opportunistic opponent doomed the Flyers in their first game against Edmonton. The Oilers were playing in the second end of a road/home back-to-back and for the third time in four nights and were a tired team. The Flyers did not take advantage. Hitchcock's team played a methodical game and basically waited to capitalize on Flyers mistakes. Edmonton generated only 22 shots on goal for the game, but made them count.
Special teams were a big reason for the outcome. The Flyers looked awful in going 0-for-5 on the power play, including a failed four-minute power play with the score 1-0 in the second period and a fruitless late-game opportunity. Philly was 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.
Connor McDavid scored even strength and empty-net goals as well as one assist for a three-point game. Alex Chiasson and Adam Larsson also scored for the Oilers. Mikko Koskinen stopped 31 of 32 shots to earn the win in net.
Sean Couturier scored on a deflection goal for the lone Flyers tally. The goal was initially credited to Couturier, changed to Jakub Voracek, and then changed back again by the NHL the next day. Claude Giroux earned the lone assist. Anthony Stolarz took the loss in net, stopping 18 of 21 shots.
Flyers Outlook
The Flyers have gone 7-7-2 in the 15 games since the leaguewide Christmas break. However, after sustaining an eight-game winless streak (0-6-2), the team has won seven of its last eight games including their current six-game winning streak.
Saturday's game is the Flyers' fourth in less than six nights, and begins a five-game homestand that runs through Feb. 11. The Flyers held an optional practice at the Skate Zone on Friday. Now cleared for contact in practice, injury-rehabbing forward Corban Knight (fractured collarbone) stood in for Couturier on the second line while 13th forward Jori Lehterठ(projected healthy scratch) stood in for Giroux.
The most notable news out of Friday's session was that defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere (lower body bruise) has been upgraded from doubtful for Saturday's game to being a game-time decision. Christian Folin, who has started the last three games in Gostisbehere's absence, will remain in the lineup if "Ghost" is unable to play.
The Flyers enter this game coming off a gutty 3-2 overtime win against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Thursday.
Travis Sanheim scored the overtime-winning goal (5th) on a screened shot from the top of the left circle with on one second remaining on a 4-on-3 power play. Sanheim also got a secondary assist (12th) on a game-tying power play deflection goal by Oskar Lindblom (7th) midway through the third period.
Back in the first period, Giroux converted a breakaway opportunity with a glove-side wrister to send the game to intermission tied at 1-1. Voracek had two helpers (his 30th and 31st assists), getting primary assists on both the Giroux and Lindblom goals.
Travis Konecny, who drew an overtime tripping penalty on Brad Marchand that created the 4-on-3 power play that eventually produced the winning goal by Sanheim, also assisted on the Sanheim goal (16th) assist. Sean Couturier got the primary assist (22nd) on the winner.
Flyers rookie netminder Carter Hart had another strong game in goal for the team. He had no chance on either goal he allowed -- an unstoppable power play one-timer tally (29th) by Bruins All-Star sniper David Pastrnak (29th) in the first period and, later, a wicked deflection by Pastrnak (30th) on a Patrice Bergeron shot. Along the way, Hart stepped up big numerous times. He got lucky a time or two but was very good overall in stopping 23 of 25 shots.
On Friday, the NHL named Hart as the league's rookie of the month for January. He led the entire NHL in saves (283) and ranked third in minutes played (540:13) during January. He has won five straight games to close the month, posting a 2.38 GAA and .930 SV% including two wins over the Bruins and a victory over Winnipeg in the first game after the All-Star break. Hart became the 10th goaltender in NHL history to post a five-game winning streak prior to his 21st birthday, and the first to achieve the feat since a rookie Carey Price in 2007-08.
Oilers Outlook
While the Flyers had their bye week in front of the NHL All-Star break, the Oilers were one of the teams that their bye on the back end of the All-Star break. As such, the team has been off for eight days. The team now plays back-to-back road games in Philly and then in Montreal on Sunday before traveling back to Edmonton to host the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday.
Any time a team has such a long layoff, it typically takes between 10 minutes and a full period to get their game legs and timing back under them. Thus, the Flyers have an early-game on paper advantage. On the flip side, with Philly being in the fourth game of a four-in-six spell, the latter-game on paper "fatigue factor" edge goes to the speedy Oilers. It doesn't always work out that way, of course, but it is something worth monitoring during the game.
The Oilers and Flyers can relate to one another's seasons: Both teams have made in-season firings of their head coach (Todd McLellan, in Edmonton's case) and general manager (Peter Chiarelli), although in the opposite order. Both teams have been extremely streaky. Both teams needed the mental break of the bye week and All-Star break as much as the physical respite.
The Flyers, however, started to turn things around in the last few games heading into their break and have picked up from there. The Oilers were reeling heading into their break, and needed it as a chance to hit the reset button from the hockey perspective. The team lost three in a row and five of its last eight games (3-5-0) before the All-Star break and bye week.
Cam Talbot will get the start in goal against the Flyers. Koskinen is slated to start on Sunday at the Bell Centre against the Habs. At practice during the week, Hitchcock split up the toP trio of McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Leon Draisaitl onto three different lines.
Top-pairing defenseman Oscar Klefbom (left hand fracture) was cleared for contact earlier this week, and was a full participant in the team's final practice ahead of Saturday's game. He is traveling with the team. Officially, Klefbom is questionable to play this weekend but, at minimum, is very close to being activated from IR. That will depend on when he gets medical clearance. Hitchcock stated that, from a hockey standpoint, Klefbom appears ready to play. The projected lineup below includes the Oilers' number one defenseman. Alex Petrovic is likely to play if the Oilers hold Klefbom out for one or two additional games.
Former Flyers defenseman and former on-ice nemesis of McDavid, Brandon Manning, was acquired from Chicago by the Oilers on Dec. 29. He has played in eight games to date for the Oilers, scoring one goal with four penalty minutes.
Projected Lines (Subject to change)
FLYERS
25 James van Riemsdyk - 28 Claude Giroux - 11 Travis Konecny 23 Oskar Lindblom - 14 Sean Couturier - 93 Jakub Voracek 21 Scott Laughton - 19 Nolan Patrick -17 Wayne Simmonds 44 Phil Varone - 20 Mikhail Vorobyev - 12 Michael Raffl
9 Ivan Provorov - 6 Travis Sanheim 8 Robert Hà¤gg - 3 Radko Gudas 47 Andrew MacDonald - 26 Christian Folin or 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
79 Carter Hart [41 Anthony Stolarz]
Scratches: 15 Jori Lehterठ(healthy), 53 Shayne Gostisbehere (day-to-day, lower-body bruise) or 26 Christian Folin (healthy), 56 Mike McKenna (AHL conditioning assignment), 30 Michal Neuvirth (IR, lower body), 37 Brian Elliott (IR, lower body), 10 Corban Knight (IR, collarbone), 5 Sam Morin (ACL surgery).
OILERS
27 Milan Lucic - 97 Connor McDavid - 8 Ty Rattie 22 Tobias Rieder - 29 Leon Draisaitl - 39 Alex Chiasson 16 Jujhar Khaira - 93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - 44 Zack Kassian 12 Colby Cave - 28 Kyle Brodziak - 98 Jesse Puljujà¤rvi…‹
5 Kevin Gravel- 6 Adam Larsson 25 Darnell Nurse - 4 Kris Russell 26 Brandon Manning - 83 Matt Benning …‹
33 Cam Talbot [19 Mikko Koskinen]
Scratches: 77 Oscar Klefbom (could be activated from IR), 15 Alex Petrovic (healthy), 24 Brad Malone (healthy, recalled from AHL on Jan. 31), 2 Andrej Sekera IR, offseason Achilles tendon repair surgery).
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Phantoms Update: LV Claims 7-5 Win in Bridgeport
A whirlwind start for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms turned into a seesaw battle later as they went on to win a wild 7-5 road decision over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Friday night. The game kicked the post AHL All-Star break portion of the regular season schedule off on a winning note for the Phantoms (25-16-5) and moved them one point ahead of Bridgeport (24-17-6) into second place in the Atlantic Division. The Phantoms also hold one game in hand.
Second-year pro Mike Vecchione led the team offensively, with a career-best four-point night (three assists, empty net goal). With the Phantoms paper-thin down the middle due to injuries and NHL recalls, Vecchione's performance was much needed in an important divisional game against the team they're battling for second in the division.
Also much-needed was a two-goal performance by recent acquisition Justin Bailey. The big, speedy 23-year-old right wing has four goals and six points in six games since coming over from the Buffalo Sabres in a trade for Taylor Leier.
In his first game with the Phantoms since clearing NHL waivers and being assigned to Lehigh Valley by the Flyers, veteran right wing Dale Weise logged heavy ice time and scored a vital third period goal in addition to recording a first period assist. Afterwards, he told Inside AHL Hockey's Tony Androckitis that he had fun playing a lot of minutes.
The Phantoms blasted out of the gates to a 3-0 lead and an 11-0 shot lead before the game was 10 minutes old. The Sound Tigers roared back for three unanswered goals (and a 12-6 shot edge) of their own in the second period and eventually outshot the Phantoms for the game, 38-32. The wide open third period finale saw a combined six goals scored -- four for the Phantoms including Vecchione's empty-netter, two for Bridgeport -- and a combined 31 shots on goal (19 for Bridgeport, 12 for Lehigh Valley).
Veteran goaltender Mike McKenna went the distance for the Phantoms in a conditioning rehab assignment from the Flyers. He stopped 33 of 38 shots. With usual Phantoms starter Alex Lyon still sidelined by a groin pull, Reading Royals callup Branden Komm remained on with the Phantoms as the backup to McKenna.
On the other side, Bridgeport starter Jeremy Smith was pulled after allowing three goals on 10 shots in the first 9:54 of the first period. Relief netminder Christopher Gibson stopped 18 of 21 shots. All scoring in this game was done at even strength. The Phantoms' league-leading penalty kill went 3-for-3 but the power play went 0-for-3.
The Phantoms play another divisional road game on Saturday. They are in Chocolate Town to take on the Hershey Bears (21-20-3). The Phantoms dominated the early portion of the season series but the Bears have given Lehigh Valley trouble in more recent meetings.
🚨🎰Jackpot🎰🚨
— LehighValleyPhantoms (@LVPhantoms) February 2, 2019
The #LVPhantoms scored 7 goals in last night’s victory over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. pic.twitter.com/zZqbmvFIfH