GAME 56: FLYERS VS. PANTHERS
In the second match of a crucial stretch of four games in six nights, Alain Vigneault's Philadelphia Flyers (30-18-7 overall, 19-5-4 home) host Joel Quenneville's Florida Panthers (29-19-6 overall, 13-9-4 away) on Monday. Game time is 7:00 p.m. ET.
The game will be televised on NBCSP. The radio broadcast will be on 97.5 The Fanatic with an online simulcast on the
Flyers Radio 24/7 component of the Flyers Broadcast Network.
This is the second of three meetings this season between the teams, and the lone game in Philadelphia. The Flyers are 0-1-0 thus far, and Florida boasts a 5-0-1 record against the Flyers in the last six meetings dating back to Dec. 28, 2017. All of the Florida wins have come in regulation.
In Sunrise on Nov. 19, 2019, the Flyers got off to quick 1-0 lead on a goal by Travis Sanheim. The Flyers' other highlight was a pretty goal scored by Morgan Frost in his NHL debut, stepping out from behind the net and elevating a backhander over Sergei Bobrovsky to cut a 4-1 deficit to two goals. Florida went on to win, 5-2. The Panthers received goals from Colton Sceviour, Brett Connelly, Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, and Mike Hoffman (empty net).
Carter Hart was pulled at 10:23 of the second period after allowing four goals on 18 shots. Brian Elliott went the rest of the way, stopping all shots he faced. Sergei Bobrovsky earned the win for Florida, stopping 35 of 37 shots.
Although not a true home-and-home set, because there's a game in between with a different opponent, the Flyers and Panthers will conclude their season series on Thursday of this week. The rubber match will be in Sunrise.
FLYERS OUTLOOK
Exiting the All-Star break, the Flyers took five of six possible points. However, a putrid trap-game performance on Thursday in a 5-0 home loss to the lowly New Jersey Devils pushed the Flyers from the upper wildcard spot to below the playoff cutoff line. On Saturday, the Flyers rebounded with a rousing 7-2 road blowout win over the Washington Capitals.
Entering play on Monday, the Flyers are in a points tie with the Carolina Hurricanes for the lower wildcard spot in the East but are still below the playoff line due to a tiebreaker disadvantage (22-21 in regulation wins). They are one point behind the New York Islanders, whom they will face on the road on Tuesday. The Islanders are on the road on Monday to face what could be a fired-up Capitals team after getting raked by the Flyers last game.
Hart, who has missed the last three weeks with a lower right abdominal muscle strain, is ready to return to the lineup. The team will officially announce on Monday that Alex Lyon has been returned to the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Whether it will be Elliott or Hart starting on Monday -- the other is likely to go on Tuesday against the Islanders -- remains to be seen at the morning skate at the Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers had an off-day on Sunday.
Joel Farabee was bedridden for several days last week with a severe bout with the flu, losing a significant amount of weight. Monday's morning skate will be the closest thing to an available practice for awhile. The Flyers are right back in game action on Tuesday. On Wednesday, they'll need an off-day ahead of traveling to Florida. Thursday is another game night against the Panthers.
Shayne Gostisbehere, who is still working his wayinto game shape after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery on Jan. 14 and rushing back into the lineup for one game, may or may not return to the lineup against the Panthers. With Robert Hägg coming off a strong game in Washington and generally solid play throughout Gostisbehere's absence, the dynamically talented but inconsistent Phil Myers could sit if Vigneault makes a lineup change to bring Gostisbehere back in the lineup. There is also the option of going 11F/7D for a game or two.
It is likely that Nolan Patrick will take part in Monday's morning skate, as he did last Thursday. Patrick was on the ice with the team on three straight days last week and traveled with the club to Washington as well.
PANTHERS OUTLOOK
The Panthers need a win on Monday just as much as the Flyers do. In the race for a wildcard spot, Florida is three points behind the Flyers and Carolina. The Panthers do have a game in hand and tiebreaker edges on both the Flyers (24-21) and Hurricanes (24-22). In the race for third place in the Atlantic Division, the Panthers are two points behind Toronto and have both two games in hand and a 24-22 tiebreaker edge.
Florida had been ahead of the Maple Leafs in the see-saw battle for third in the Atlantic, but back-to-back regulation losses heading into this game have hurt the Panthers' cause.
A frequently asked question this season has been "what's wrong with Bob?" because the two-time Vezina winner has posted unsightly statistics (3.27 GAA, .898 SV%) despite a 20-15-5 record. While Bobrovsky hasn't been in prime form, much of the issue stems from the style the Panthers often play.
The current Panthers are the polar opposite from how the team used to be. Rather than scratching out a couple goals and relying on checking and goaltending to eke out wins, the team nowadays has much more skill than it used to have. As a result, they are often willing to trade off scoring chances. The Panthers rank 5th offensively in the NHL at 3.50 average goals per game.
When a team plays that way, something's gotta give. That something is often the team's commitment to defense -- something for which Quenneville has been trying to get his club to strike a balance, with mixed success -- and the starting goalies' statistics. That's not to say that Bobrovsky can't come up with a few more of the makeable saves, but the team-wide 3.30 goals against average (ranked 28th in the NHL) and Bobrovsky personal stats are more team reflective than individually reflective.
Put the Columbus goalies on the Panthers, and they'd likely have stats similar to Bobrovsky's. Put Bob back in Columbus with the team-wide 200-foot commitment that John Tortorella has gotten from his club, and Bobrovsky's stats would be much closer to the norms of his Blue Jackets years even if somewhat off the pace.
Regardless of the goalie's talent, regardless of the team, team defense and goalie play go hand in hand. One will eventually lift or sink the other if sufficiently good or too often subpar. In Florida, it's more a defense issue than a goaltending issue.
Once back on the offensive side of the puck, the Panthers are a dangerous team that can strike in a hurrry. Top-line left winger Huberdeau (19g, 49a, 68 points) has a shot at the first 100-point season of his NHL career. Top-line center Barkov, the team's top all-around forward to Huberdeau's top offensive attacker, has 54 points in 51 games.
In terms of scoring depth, the Panthers boast 10 different players who already have 20 or more points on the season and seven who has scored 14 goals or more. Both Evgenii Dadonov (23 goals) and Hoffman (21 goals) have surpassed the 20-goal mark and Huberdeau's next goal will give Florida three such players on the roster. Defensemen Keith Yandle and Aaron Ekblad have combined offensively to chip in 10 goals and 58 assists.
PROJECTED STARTING LINEUPS (subject to change, will be updated)
FLYERS (Saturday's lineup)
28 Claude Giroux - 14 Sean Couturier - 93 Jakub Voracek
21 Scott Laughton - 13 Kevin Hayes - 11 Travis Konecny
25 James van Riemsdyk - 48 Morgan Frost - 18 Tyler Pitlick
12 Michael Raffl - 82 Connor Bunnaman - 62 Nicolas Aube-Kubel
9 Ivan Provorov - 15 Matt Niskanen
6 Travis Sanheim -5 Phil Myers
8 Robert Hägg - 61 Justin Braun
79 Carter Hart / 37 Brian Elliott
Power Play 1: Giroux, Couturier, Konecny, Voracek, Provorov.
Power Play 2: JVR, Hayes, Frost/Laughton, Sanheim/Gostisbehere, Niskanen.
Scratches: 53 Shayne Gostisbehere (healthy), 49 Joel Farabee (illness, could return).
LTIR: 55 Sam Morin (torn ACL, out for season), 23 Oskar Lindblom (Ewing sarcoma, out for season), 19 Nolan Patrick (migraines).
PANTHERS
11 Jonathan Huberdeau - 16 Aleksander Barkov - 63 Evgenii Dadonov
10 Brett Connolly - 21 Vincent Trocheck - 55 Noel Acciari
77 Frank Vatrano - 14 Dominic Toninato - 68 Mike Hoffman
8 Jayce Hawryluk - 7 Colton Sceviour - 13 Mark Pysyk
3 Keith Yandle - 5 Aaron Ekblad
61 Riley Stillman - 6 Anton Stralman
19 Mike Matheson - 2 Josh Brown
72 Sergei Bobrovsky
33 Sam Montembeault
Power Play 1: Hoffman, Barkov, Dadonov, Huberdeau, Yandle
Power Play 2: Connolly, Trocheck, Matheson, Vatrano, Ekblad
Scratches; 9 Brian Boyle (upper body, day-to-day), 72 Mackenzie Weeger (upper body, may return for this or next game), 62 Denis Malgin (healthy).
IR: 60 Chris Driedger (lower body).
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