PREVIEW: FLYERS @ HURRICANES
Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (5-8-3) return to action on Saturday night, traveling to Raleigh to take on Bill Peters' Carolina Hurricanes (6-9-1). Game time at PNC Arena is 7:00 pm ET. The game will be televised on CSN Philadelphia.
This is the first of four meetings between the teams this season, and the first of two in Raleigh. The teams will rematch in Philadelphia on Nov. 23 (Rod Brind'Amour Flyers Hall of Fame induction night) and Dec 23. The season series concludes in Raleigh on Feb. 23.
Last year, the Hurricanes won four of five games against the Flyers. Historically, the Flyers dominated both the Hartford Whalers (35-17-7-0) and Hurricanes (40-12-7-7) but that has not been the case the last few years. The Flyers have lost seven of their last eight (1-4-3) games overall against the Canes and five in a row (0-3-2) on the road.
Both clubs have been on the same schedule over the past week, with game nights on Tuesday and Thursday leading into this match. After the game in Raleigh, the Flyers return home. They will take an off-day on Sunday. Next week, the Los Angeles Kings (Nov. 17) and San Jose Sharks (Nov. 19) pay visits to Philadelphia. The Hurricanes, who are in the second game of a four-game homestand, host the Anaheim Ducks on Monday.
Flyers Outlook
The Flyers have lost eight of their last nine games overall (1-6-2) and fared poorly in two home games over the past week. If the season ended now, the Flyers would be six points behind New Jersey for the lower wildcard seed in the Eastern Conference and three points ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets for the worst record in the NHL.
Philadelphia enters this game coming off a 5-2 home loss to the Washingon Capitals that had nothing to do with goaltending. The Flyers held short-lived 1-0 and 2-0 leads on goals by Scott Laughton and Claude Giroux (power play) but missed out on golden opportunities to take firmer control of the game. In the meantime, the club repeatedly abandoned Steve Mason, who took a dreadful beating on a night where he was actually pretty sharp in goal.
The Flyers went 1-for-3 on the penalty kill (it would have been 0-for-3 but for an overturned Alexander Ovechkin goal on an off-side play) and 1-for-4 on the power play. Philadelphia also failed to convert any of three 2-on-1 rushes.
Of late, it has been hard to determine whether the team defense or its offensive attack has been worse. Both have been dreadful.
After Friday's practice, Hakstol admitted there has not been nearly enough accountability in seven of the last nine games to giving goaltenders Mason and Michal Neuvirth a fair opportunity to make saves. However, the coach said he'd "leave the tougher conversations [about two-way accountability] behind closed doors."
The coach also said on Friday that he is not ready to separate Giroux and Jakub Voracek onto different lines. Giroux said he was glad the coach is willing to give the longtime linemates more time to re-establish their on-ice chemistry and that the key to a turnaround is to focus on attention to smaller details and to start enjoying the game again.
Two seasons ago, Giroux had no goals and seven assists through first 15 games of the campaign. He ended up finishing with 28 goals, tying his career-high, and 86 points while placing as a finalist for the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player. Voracek, who has no goals and five assists through the first 16 games of 2015-16, has been severely pressing of late.
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare appears ready to return to the lineup on Saturday after missing eight games with a lower-body injury. He centered the third line at practice on Friday, with Laughton remaining on the fourth line. Either Vincent Lecavalier or Sam Gagner will be a healthy scratch against the Hurricanes.
Mark Streit appeared all week to be nursing an undisclosed nagging physical issue and did not practice on Friday. He was placed on long-term injured reserve on Saturday, and will undergo surgery to repair a "pubic plate displacement." He is expected to miss about six weeks, Earlier in the week, Streit was by far the last Flyers player to take to the ice for Tuesday's morning skate before the game against Colorado. On Wedneday, he left the ice early at practice before the club engaged in intense one-on-one and two-on-two battle drills during the latter half of the seassion. Shayne Gostisbehere has been recalled from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
R.J. Umberger (suspected foot injury) will be out another week or two.. Taylor Leier has been recalled from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and could make his NHL debut in Raleigh.
Hurricanes Outlook
The month of November hasn't been much kinder to the Hurricanes than it has been to the Flyers. Carolina drags a 1-3-1 record for the month into Saturday's tilt. Both clubs have had issues trying to score goals.
Over the last eight nights, the Hurricanes have suffered 4-1 (vs. Dallas), 3-0 (at New York Rangers) and 3-2 overtime (vs. Minnesota) losses. Although the Hurricanes generally played well in the Minnesota game -- 39 to 21 shot advantage, dominant first and third periods -- the only win they have to show for their last four games was a 3-2 home overtime victory over the Ottawa Senators last Saturday.
In the Minnesota game. Carolina got goals by Justin Faulk (sixth of the season) and Andrej Nestrasil (first). Cam Ward stopped 18 of 21 shots in a losing cause. For the season, defenseman Faulk is tied for the team point-scoring lead with forwards Eric Staal (four goals, six assists), ex-Flyer Kris Versteeg (two goals, eight assists) and promising second-season NHLer Victor Rask (four goals, six assists).
Once again the subject of trade rumors, former Calder Trophy winner Jeff Skinner has three goals and four points through the first 16 games of the season. Jordan Staal has produced three goals and six points. Veteran defenseman Ron Hainsey has chipped in four points (two goals, two assists) but is minus-11 at even strength.
Highly touted rookie defenseman Noah Hanifan has dressed in 13 of the team's 16 games to date. The club's 2015 first-round draft choice has chipped in two assists and is minus-five at even strength thus far.
Carolina enters Saturday's game as the NHL's second least-penalized club. Only the Minnesota Wild (33 times in 15 games) have put themselves short-handed fewer times than the Hurricanes (34 times in 16 games). In the meantime, the Hurricanes are tied with Washington for the highest average shots per game average yet are 28th in the NHL in scoring; only the Flyers and Ducks have scored at a more anemic pace. Carolina is second in the league in fewest shots allowed per game (but are 23rd in goals against average) and second in faceoff percentage.
What does all of this imply? It suggests that the team is well-coached with good structure and discipline. It possesses the puck a lot but simply doesn't have the horses to put the puck in the puck and keep the opposition from scoring.
On the injury front, veteran defenseman James Wisniewski (torn ACL) will likely be on the injured reserve list for months to come. The club is otherwise healthy.
Key team stat comparisons (NHL overall ranking)
Non-shootout goals per game: Flyers 1.81 (29th), Hurricanes 2.00 (28th) Non-shootout goals against per game: Flyers 3.00 (T-24th), Hurricanes 2.88 (23rd) Even strength Goals For/Against Ratio: Flyers 20/29, Hurricanes 18/33 Power play efficiency: Flyers 14.6% (26th), Hurricanes 12.7% (28th) Penalty killing efficiency: Flyers 76.7% (24th), Hurricanes 79.4% (17th) Shots per game: Flyers 30.0 (T-11th), Hurricanes 31.5 (T-1st) Shots against per game: Flyers 34.1 (29th), Hurricanes 25.2 (1st) Faceoff percentage: Flyers 49.8% (T-13th), Hurricanes 53.7% (15th)
Projected lineups (subject to change, will be updated)
FLYERS
12 Michael Raffl - 28 Claude Giroux - 93 Jakub Voracek 24 Matt Read - 14 Sean Couturier - 17 Wayne Simmonds 58 Taylor Leier - 78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 89 Sam Gagner 76 Chris VandeVelde - 21 Scott Laughton - 25 Ryan White
15 Michael Del Zotto - 3 Radko Gudas 55 Nick Schultz - 22 Luke Schenn 23 Brandon Manning - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
35 Steve Mason [30 Michal Neuvirth]
Scratches: Brayden Schenn (healthy), Vincent Lecavalier (healthy), R.J. Umberger (foot injury), Mark Streit (LTIR, displaced public plate), Evgeny Medvedev (healthy).
HURRICANES
12 Eric Staal - 11 Jordan Staal - 16 Elias Lindholm 53 Jeff Skinner - 20 Riley Nash - 32 Kris Versteeg 42 Joakim Nordstrom - 49 Victor Rask - 14 Nathan Gerbe 15 Andrej Nestrasil - 18 Jay McClement - 24 Brad Malone
65 Ron Hainsey - 27 Justin Faulk 26 John-Michael Liles - 54 Brett Pesce 5 Noah Hanifin - 7 Ryan Murphy
30 Cam Ward [21 Eddie Là¤ck]
Scratches: Michal Jordan (healthy), Chris Terry (healthy), James Wisniewski (IR, torn ACL).