Game 81 Preview: Flyers @ Jets
In their final road game of the 2021-22 season, interim head coach Mike Yeo's Philadelphia Flyers (25-44-11) are in Manitoba on Wednesday to take on interim head coach Dave Lowry's Winnipeg Jets (36-32-11). Game time at the Canada Life Centre is 8:00 p.m. EDT (NBCSP, 97.5 The Fanatic).
This is the second and final meeting of the season between the teams and the lone game in Winnipeg. At the Wells Fargo Center on Feb. 1, the Flyers skated to a 3-1 victory. The game was tied at 1-1 entering the latter stages of the third period before James van Riemsdyk tallied what proved to be the game-winning goal at 15:51. Carter Hart stopped 32 of 33 shots to earn the win in goal.
The Flyers enter this game coming off a 3-1 road loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday. The Flyers killed off five penalties successfully but it took them out of any sort of 5-on-5 rhythm (Philly had four power plays of their own, going 0-for-4).
Three Flyers turnovers proved costly as they turned into transition goals for Chicago. Philly trailed 2-0 early and the team was never able to draw even. Kevin Hayes (10th goal of the season) notched the lone Flyers tally, converting a 2-on-1 pass from Scott Laughton into a goal.
The Jets, like the Flyers, will not make the Stanley Cup playoffs this season. The team had lost seven of its previous nine games (2-6-1) before earning a 4-1 upset home win at the expense of the regular season Western Conference champion Colorado Avalanche on Sunday.
Workhorse Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck achieved his 200th career NHL regular season win as he carried a shutout for 55 minutes and finished with 30 saves on 31 shots against one of the league's No. 3 ranked offense. The game was scoreless until Colorado's J.T. Compher put the Avalanche ahead, 1-0, at 5:03 of the third period.
Four minutes later, however, Adam Lowry (13th goal of the season) knotted the score on a deflection goal. Blake Wheeler (14th) made it 2-1 with a rebound tally at 10:23 and then Kyle Connor's 45th goal of the season opened a two-goal lead for Winnipeg as he scored off the rush at 12:25. Nikolaj Ehlers (27th) added further insurance with a goal at 16:18 scored directly off a Paul Stastny faceoff win. The Jets generated 44 shots on goal overall against Colorado's Darcy Kuemper.
For an in-depth look at Wednesday's matchups, statistical trends and players to watch, see the Five Things preview on PhiladelphiaFlyers.com.
*********
Phantoms Update
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms slogged through a dreadful 5-0 home loss to the Springfield Thunderbirds at the PPL Center in Allentown on Tuesday night. With Lehigh Valley getting eliminated last weekend from making the playoffs, and with the Flyers potentially not planning to use their final non-emergency recall over the final two games of the NHL season, the Phantoms as a team seemed heavy-legged with wavering focus.
Pat Nagle took the loss in goal. The Thunderbirds were 1-for-2 on the power play, while the Phantoms went 0-for-3.
After the game, without naming names, head coach Ian Laperriere ripped into those he felt had essentially quit on the team with a few games remaining.
Lappy last night: "It's a couple guys, it wont hurt me, it will hurt their career. I'm watching, my boss is watching, flyers are watching, everybody is watching them giving up on their teammates and that's unacceptable. They are going to hurt themselves at the end of the day.
— Sam Wismer (@SamanthaWismer) April 27, 2022
Laperriere's harsh commentary after Tuesday's game no doubt has something to do with the fact that the team is right back in action on Wednesday as they host the Cleveland Monsters. On Saturday, the season will come to an end after the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins pay a visit to the PPL Center.
Prior to the Springfield game, Laperriere was asked by Phantoms broadcaster Bob Rotruck about the recent struggles of power forward Wade Allison (2g, 1a in last 12 games, one point in his last nine games. no points in the last four). Laperriere said that Allison has not "had the same pop, the same explosiveness" in recent weeks. The head coach noted that it's hard for a player missing so much time due to injuries after the initial adrenaline wave wears off.
Tanner Laczynski and Ryan Fitzgerald have gone through the same thing, Laperriere said. You can thrive for a bit just from the excitement and energy of being back playing hockey, but the conditioning has to catch up. Allison, who has had multiple injury-related interruptions to his season including a high ankle sprain, an MCL sprain, a forearm/wrist injury a nasty skate and a lower body injury that caused him to miss 1 2/3 games, has managed to stay healthy enough to play for roughly a month but his effectiveness level has dropped the last few weeks.
Isaac Ratcliffe posted eight points (4g, 4a) in the previous 10 games heading into Tuesday's game against Springfield. He had two shots on goal and took a mid-game hooking penalty in the Springfield match.