PREVIEW: FLYERS @ RED WINGS
Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (19-15-8) will try to earn a three-point weekend as they travel to Detroit on Sunday to take on Jeff Blashill's Detroit Red Wings (23-14-7) on Sunday evening. Game time at Joe Louis Arena is 7:30 p.m. ET. The game will be nationally televised on NBC Sports Network.
This is the first of three meetings between the teams this season, and the first of two in Detroit. The teams will rematch on March 15 in Philadelphia and April 6 in Detroit. Last season, the Flyers won twice on home ice and lost in Detroit.
Joe Louis Arena has been a house of horrors for the Flyers since the late 1980s. The Flyers own just two wins in their last 21 games at the Joe; 23 if the 1997 Stanley Cup Final is counted. In more recent times, the Flyers are 2-9-0 in their last 11 games in Detroit; the bright spot being that the two wins have come in recent seasons. The reverse is true when the Red Wings come to Philly, where the Flyers have won 10 in a row over Detroit. Overall, the home team has won 21 of the last 23 regular season games when the Flyers play the Red Wings.
The Flyers were in action on Saturday afternoon, hosting the New York Rangers. The Red Wings are more rested, having last played on Thursday against the Arizona Coyotes.
Flyers Outlook
The Flyers enter this game on a five-game point streak (4-0-1). After starting the season 5-8-3, the Flyers have earned points in 19 of their last 26 games. They have gone 14-7-5 in that span.
On Saturday, the Flyers and Rangers engaged in hard-fought game that resulted in a 2-2 tie after 65 minutes of hockey. New York won 3-2 via shootout. Brayden Schenn and Wayne Simmonds (power play) scored for Philly, while Steve Mason played marvelously in stopping 29 of 31 shots in regulation and OT before going 1-for-2 in the shootout. Shayne Gostisbehere made his return to the Phladelphia lineup from a two-game absence with a lower-body injury.
As expected, there was no indication after Saturday's game if there would be any lineup changes for Sunday's game. However, Michal Neuvirth is likely to get the start in goal in the second half of the back-to-back set.
Team captain Claude Giroux leads the Flyers with 12 goals, 22 assists and 34 points in 42 games. He is followed on the Flyers' scoring leader list by Jakub Voracek (five goals, 25 assists, 30 points), Wayne Simmonds (12 goals, 12 assists, 24 points, 84 penalty minutes) and Brayden Schenn (10 goals, 12 assists, 22 points). Sean Couturier rounds out the top five with nine goals, 13 assists and 22 points. Gostisbehere has contributed seven goals (four on the power play, three in overtime), nine assists and 16 points in 24 games.
Neuvirth has appeared in 18 games, posting a 9-5-2 record, 2.12 GAA, .934 save percentage and three shutouts. Mason has appeared in 27 games, posting a 10-10-6 record, 2.69 goals against average, .914 save percentage and three shutouts (four regulation shutouts).
Red Wings Outlook
The Red Wings are off to a 5-1-0 start to the month of January. Detroit currently sits in second place in the Atlantic Division with 53 points; four points behind the surprising Florida Panthers for the top spot in the division. The Red Wings are 11-8-4 on home ice this season, and have actually have a better road record (12-6-3).
On Thursday, the Wings trailed the host Coyotes by a 2-0 score heading into the third period but stormed back to force overtime on goals by Pavel Datsyuk and Gustav Nyquist. At 2:08 of the three-on-three OT, defenseman Danny DeKeyser won the game for Detroit. Winning goalie Petr Mrazek stopped 27 of 29 shots for Detroit.
The Red Wings expect to have winger Teemu Pulkkinen back in the lineup on Sunday. The Finnish forward missed six weeks with a shoulder injury. The club otherwise is not expected to feature lineup changes from last game. Mrazek is expected to get the start in goal aganst Czech countryman Neuvirth.
Detroit features one of the NHL's most dynamic and complete young players in rookie forward Dylan Larkin. The 19-year-old Michigan native, whom the Red Wings selected with the 15th overall pick of the 2014 NHL Draft, has emerged as a strong Calder Trophy candidate with his offensive prowess, hockey sense and two-way maturity. Larkin leads the Red Wings with 30 points (14 goals, 16 assists) in 43 games and is also plus-23 at even strength on a club where no one else is higher than plus-eight.
Veteran forward Henrik Zetterberg is second on the team with 30 points (seven goals, 23 asssists) in 44 games. He's followed by Tomas Tatar (14 goals, 13 assists, 27 points), Nyquist (13 goals, 12 assists, 25 points), Justin Abdelkader (13 goals, nine assists, 22 points) and veteran star Datsyuk (six goals, 15 assists, 21 points, plus-eight in just 29 games).
Mrazek, who has taken over primary goaltending duties for Detroit, has posted a 16-8-3 record, 2.15 goals against average and stellar .930 save percentage in 29 appearances. Veteran netminder Jimmy Howard has made 18 appearances, posting a 7-6-4 record, 2.68 GAA, and .909 save percentage.
Veteran power forward Johan Franzén (post-concussion symptoms) has only appeared in two games this season and is on injured reserve. Drew Miller (knee) is also on IR.
Key team stat comparisons (NHL overall ranking)
Non-shootout goals per game: Flyers 2.26 (28th), Red Wings 2.48 (20th) Non-shootout goals against per game: Flyers 2.60 (15th), Red Wings 2.55 (13th) 5-on-5 Goals For/Against Ratio: Flyers 61/62, Red Wings 71/63 Power play efficiency: Flyers 15.9% (28th), Red Wings 18.2% (16th) Penalty killing efficiency: Flyers 78.2% (25th), Red Wings 78.9% (23rd) Shots per game: Flyers 30.2 (12th), Red Wings 28.4 (24th) Shots against per game: Flyers 32.1 (29th), Red Wings 28.3 (26th) Faceoff percentage: Flyers 49.9% (T-18th), Red Wings 50.0% (T-15th)
Projected lineups (subject to change, will be updated)
Flyers
93 Jakub Voracek - 28 Claude Giroux - 17 Wayne Simmonds 12 Michael Raffl - 14 Sean Couturier - 10 Brayden Schenn 76 Chris VandeVelde - 78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 25 Ryan White 24 Matt Read - 21 Scott Laughton - 20 R.J. Umberger
15 Michael Del Zotto - 3 Radko Gudas 55 Nick Schultz - 32 Mark Streit 82 Evgeny Medvedev - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
30 Michal Neuvirth [35 Steve Mason]
Scratches: Brandon Manning (healthy), Jordan Weal (healthy).
Red Wings
14 Gustav Nyquist - 40 Henrik Zetterberg - 8 Justin Abdelkader 21 Tomas Tatar - 13 Pavel Datsyuk - 43 Darren Helm 71 Dylan Larkin - 15 Riley Sheahan - 17 Brad Richards 26 Tomas Jurco - 41 Luke Glendening - 56 Teemu Pulkkinen
55 Niklas Kronwall - 52 Jonathan Ericsson 65 Dan DeKeyser - 27 Kyle Quincey 2 Brendan Smith - 25 Mike Green
34 Petr Mrazek [35 Jimmy Howard]
Scratches: Joakim Andersson (healthy), Alexey Marchenko (healthy), Drew Miller (IR, knee), Johan Franzén (IR, concussion).