PREVIEW: FLYERS @ SENATORS
Beginning a four-game road trip through Canada, Craig Berube's Philadelphia Flyers (29-27-14) will take on Dave Cameron's Ottawa Senators (32-24-11) on Sunday evening. Game time at the Canadian Tire Centre is 7:00 p.m. EDT. The game will be televised on CSN Philadelphia.
This is the second of three meetings between the teams this season, and the lone game in Ottawa. On Jan. 6, the Flyers stopped a 10-shootout losing streak with a 2-1 home shootout win in five rounds after getting outshot by a 41-33 margin in regulation and overtime. The teams will rematch at the Wells Fargo Center on the afternoon of April 11; the final day of the 2014-15 regular season.
For the Flyers, Sunday's game marks the second half of back-to-back games and the final segment of a three-in-four. The Flyers hosted Detroit on Saturday. On Tuesday, the team has a road game in Vancouver, followed by games in games in Calgary on Thursday and Edmonton two nights later.
The Senators are also in the final portion of a three-in-four but had an off night on Saturday. On Thursday, the team had a road game in Montreal. The next night, the Senators were in Uniondale to take on the New York Islanders. Sunday's game marks the start of a stretch of five of six games on home ice.
Flyers outlook
The 2014-15 season has been a tale of two different seasons for the Flyers.Home ice has been very favorable for the Flyers this season. The road has been a nightmare.
The club is 20-9-6 at the Wells Fargo Center, including a 13-4-3 record in the last 20 games dating back to the last time the Flyers played the Senators. Philly's home-record is the sixth best in the Eastern Conference and the 11th-best in the NHL.
On the road, however, the Flyers are 9-18-8. Only five NHL teams have fared worse on the road than Philly this season.
When playing on home ice, the Flyers have scored an average 2.89 goals per game while allowing 2.34 per game. On the road, Philly has mustered 2.31 goals per game while yielding 3.14 per game.
The Flyers enter Sunday's game coming off a 7-2 home blowout win over the Detroit Red Wings. Brayden Schenn led the way with power play and even strength goals, while Philly also got scores from Wayne Simmonds (power play, originally credited to Schenn), Nicklas Grossmann, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Matt Read and Zac Rinaldo (first goal of the season, two-point day).
Steve Mason stopped 31 of 33 shots to earn the win on Saturday. Mason has started each of the team's last eight games since returning from arthroscopic right knee surgery with a relief appearance for Rob Zepp on Feb. 26. Former Senators goaltender Ray Emery is likely to get the start in Ottawa on Sunday.
Forward R.J. Umberger will miss the rest of the 2014-15 season due to abdominal and hip issues that will surgery with a projected 10-week recovery timetable. Defenseman Michael Del Zotto sustained an upper-body injury in the first period of the March 7th game in Boston. He has resumed skating but is doubtful for Sunday's game.
On Saturday evening, the Flyers recalled center Nick Cousins from the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms. This is the first NHL call-up for the second-year pro, who is fifth in the American Hockey League in scoring this season (21 goals, 34 assists in 60 games).
Senators outlook
Ottawa has been red-hot in recent weeks, leapfrogging the Flyers in the standings while going 8-1-1 over the last 10 games and 12-2-2 in the last 16. The Sens won back-to-back games on Thursday and Friday. Overall, the Sens are 16-11-5 on home ice and 16-13-6 on the road this season.
On Friday night, the Senators skated to a 2-1 regulation road win over the Islanders. Goals by Matt Puempel and Kyle Turris were just enough to win as Andrew Hammond flirted with a shutout for 51-plus minutes and finished with 34 saves on 35 shots in a victorious effort.
Entering play on Sunday, defenseman Erik Karlsson leads the Senators in scoring with 54 points (18 goals, team-high 36 assists) in 67 games. Bobby Ryan is next with 49 points (17 goals, 32 assists), and Turris is third with 46 points (17 goals, 29 assists). Mike Hoffman paces the squad with 24 goals.
Overall, the Senators have nine players with double-digit goals and 10 who have recorded 20 or more points this season. The Flyers have six players with double-digit goals and nine with 20-plus points.
Senators goaltender Craig Anderson is 14-12-7 this season in 33 outings with a 2.44 goals against average, .925 save percentage and three shutouts. The 33-year-old netminder last played in the team's 3-1 home loss to the Boston Bruins on Tuesday. Hammond got back-to-back starts on Thursday (27 saves on 29 shots in the Sens' 5-2 win over Montreal after trailing 2-0) and Friday.
The Senators have an extensive list of players on injured reserve. Semi-regular goaltender Robin Lehner is sidelined by a concussion. Also on IR are defenseman Chris Phillips (back) and forwards Clarke MacArthur (concussion), Zack Smith (wrist) and Chris Neil (broken left thumb). Smith is close to being read to return to the lineup.
Key team stat comparisons (NHL overall ranking)
Non-shootout goals per game: Flyers 2.60 (21st), Senators 2.81 (10th) Non-shootout goals against per game: Flyers 2.74 (T-22nd), Senators 2.58 (T-13th) Even strength Goals For/Against Ratio: Flyers 0.99 (T-19th), Senators 1.12 (10th) Power play efficiency: Flyers 23.0% (3rd), Senators 16.8% (23rd) Penalty killing efficiency: Flyers 76.6% (29th), Senators 82.2% (10th) Faceoff percentage: Flyers 51.5% (10th), Senators 47.6% (26th)
Projected lineups (Subject to change, will be updated)
FLYERS
10 Brayden Schenn - 28 Claude Giroux - 93 Jakub Voracek 24 Matt Read - 14 Sean Couturier - 17 Wayne Simmonds 36 Zac Rinaldo - 12 Michael Raffl - 25 Ryan White 76 Chris VandeVelde - 78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 40 Vincent Lecavalier
55 Nick Schultz - 32 Mark Streit 26 Carlo Colaiacovo - 22 Luke Schenn 8 Nicklas Grossmann - 47 Andrew MacDonald
29 Ray Emery [35 Steve Mason]
Scratches: Nick Cousins (healthy), Brandon Manning (healthy), R.J. Umberger (hip/abdominal surgery), Michael Del Zotto (upper body), Radko Gudas (IR, knee surgery).
SENATORS
68 Mike Hoffman - 93 Mika Zibanejad - 6 Bobby Ryan 9 Milan Michalek - 7 Kyle Turris - 61 Mark Stone 27 Curtis Lazar - 44 Jean-Gabriel Pageau - 22 Erik Condra 26 Matt Puempel - 17 David Legwand - 90 Alex Chiasson
3 Marc Methot - 65 Erik Karlsson 46 Patrick Wiercioch - 5 Cody Ceci 2 Jared Cowen - 74 Mark Borowiecki
30 Andrew Hammond [41 Craig Anderson]
Scratches: Colin Greening (healthy), Eric Gryba (healthy), Robin Lehner (IR, concussion), Chris Phillips (IR, back), Clarke MacArthur (IR, concussion), Zack Smith (IR, wrist), Chris Neil (IR, broken left thumb).
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PHANTOMS UPDATE
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (29-24-6-1) may miss the Calder Cup playoffs this season but are not going down without a fight. The club has won three games in a row to pull to within six points (with two games in hand) of the eighth-seeded Springfield Falcons in the AHL's Eastern Conference standings.
Currently in 11th place in the East with 16 games remaining, the Phantoms would also have to catch and pass the Worcester Sharks (five points ahead, same number of games remaining) and St. John's IceCaps (one point ahead, Phantoms have four games in hand) to get into the playoffs.
On Saturday night, the Phantoms overcame a 2-0 deficit at the first intermission (and a 40-25 shot deficit for the game to earn a 4-2 road win over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (New York Islanders' farm team). A three-goal outburst in the third period was the difference for the Phantoms.
Nick Cousins (21st goal of the season), Adam Comrie (5th), Jason Akeson (20th) and Oliver Lauridsen (empty net, 3rd goal of the season) scored for the Phantoms.
Anthony Stolarz stopped 38 of 40 shots to earn the win. It was rookie netminder Stolarz's first start in the last six games for Terry Murray's club. For the season, Stolarz has a 9-11-3 record, 3.06 GAA, .910 save percentage and two shutouts in 27 outings. Veteran starter Rob Zepp has a 17-11-4 record, 2.68 GAA, and .916 save percentage in 34 appearances. Notably, Zepp (who won a shootout against Nashville with the Flyers) has stopped 12 of 15 shootout attempts and is 4-1 in games decided by the skills competition.
Saturday's game was one the chippier games of the season, featuring a host of after-the-whistle scrums, misconducts and a fight. Rookie Phantoms defenseman Jesper Pettersson touched off a ruckus when he drilled vulnerable former Flyers/Phantoms forward Harry Zolnierczyk into the boards midway through the game.
With the recent recalls of Cousins and young veteran defenseman Brandon Manning to the Flyers, the road is a little tougher for the Phantoms. However, the club has been doing a good job of hanging tough, with points in seven of the last 10 games and three straight wins. Blair Jones has resumed practicing and the veteran's return would be a help to the lineup.
The Phantoms lineup on Saturday was as follows:
23 Taylor Leier - 21 Scott Laughton - 45 Zack Stortini 38 Jason Akeson - 25 Nick Cousins - 10 Andrew Gordon 37 Jay Rosehill - 11 Austin Fyten - 16 Brett Hextall 36 Darroll Powe - 17 Kevin Goumas - 29 Derek Mathers
27 Adam Comrie - 2 Mark Alt 4 Robert Hà¤gg - 8 Jesper Pettersson 7 Oliver Lauridsen - 20 Maxime Lamarche
35 Anthony Stolarz [72 Rob Zepp]
Scratches: Shayne Gostisbehere (ACL, out since Nov.), Blair Jones (lower body, out since mid-January), Petr Straka (day-to-day, upper body), Steven Delisle (healthy).