Game 59 Preview: FLYERS @ RED WINGS
Interim head coach Scott Gordon's Philadelphia Flyers (27-24-7) are in the Motor City on Sunday to take on Jeff Blashill's Detroit Red Wings (23-28-8). Game time at Little Caesars Arena is 6:00 p.m. ET.
The game will be televised locally on NBCSP. The radio broadcast can be found on 97.5 FM The Fanatic with an online simulcast at FlyersRadio247.com.
This is the third and final meeting of the season between the teams, the lone game in Detroit and the second half of a home-and-home set that started with a Flyers
6-5 overtime win at the Wells Fargo Center on Sunday. The Flyers, who earned a 3-2 home win against Detroit on Dec. 18, will now look for a season series sweep.
On Saturday, the Flyers built a 5-1 lead by early in the third period on goals by Shayne Gostisbehere, Travis Konecny (power play), Scott Laughton, Jakub Voracek and Nolan Patrick. They saw the lead slip away over the course of the third period, however, and needed Konecny to score again in overtime, this time on a wraparound goal, to rescue the victory. Anthony Mantha scored twice for Detroit, who also got goals from Gustav Nyquist, Tyler Bertuzzi and Thomas Vanek. Carter Hart earned the win in goal, while Jonathan Bernier took the loss.
Flyers Outlook
The Flyers have gone 12-8-3 in the 23 games since the leaguewide Christmas break. However, the club is on a run of going 12-2-1 over its last 15 games since an 0-6-2 spell, including a mark of 11-1-1 over the last 13 games.
Acquired on Friday in a trade with the Edmonton Oilers, veteran goaltender Cam Talbot is not yet available to join the Flyers. Gordon will have a choice in goal on Sunday between Hart and veteran Mike McKenna.
The Flyers returned rookie center Mikhail Vorobyev to the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Saturday. There have been reports from Quebec, as yet unconfirmed, that rookie defenseman Philippe Myers will make his NHL debut debut in Detroit on Saturday.
Philadelphia took exception to a dangerous hit by Mantha on team captain Claude Giroux in Saturday's game. However, the top priority on Sunday by far is to win the hockey game. The team Despite the team's torrid pace over the last 14 games, the Flyers are still eight points (seven standings points plus a 30-25 ROW tiebreaker disadvantage) behind the Carolina Hurricanes for the final wildcard playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
The next four games, which lead into the NHL tradeline on Feb. 25, will go a long way toward determining whether the Flyers will legitimately be in the playoff chance come the post-deadline stretch drive. After this tilt in Detroit, the Flyers host the President's Trophy race leading Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday, visit the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday and then host the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stadium Series game at Lincoln Financial field on Feb. 23.
Red Wings Outlook
The Red Wings are 5-5-1 in their last 10 games and 12-13-4 at home this season. However, the club enters this game with points in three straight games (2-0-1) including the big comeback in the third period of Saturday's OT loss in Philly.
Bertuzzi returned to the lineup on Saturday from an upper body ailment. Frans Nielsen (illness) missed Saturday's game but is expected to be available for the rematch in Detroit.
Projected Lines (Subject to change)
FLYERS
25 James van Riemsdyk - 28 Claude Giroux - 11 Travis Konecny
23 Oskar Lindblom - 14 Sean Couturier - 93 Jakub Voracek
21 Scott Laughton - 19 Nolan Patrick -17 Wayne Simmonds
12 Michael Raffl - 44 Phil Varone - XXXXX
9 Ivan Provorov - 6 Travis Sanheim
8 Robert Hägg - 3 Radko Gudas
47 Andrew MacDonald - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
61 Phil Myers
72 Carter Hart
[56 Mike McKenna]
Scratches: 27 Justin Bailey (healthy), 33 Cam Talbot (acquired Feb. 16), 30 Michal Neuvirth (IR, lower body), 37 Brian Elliott (IR, lower body, AHL rehab assisgnment), 5 Sam Morin (AHL rehab for ACL surgery).
RED WINGS
14 Gustav Nyquist - 71 Dylan Larkin - 59 Tyler Bertuzzi
26 Thomas Vanek - 61 Jacob De La Rose - 39 Anthony Mantha
72 Andreas Athanasiou - 41 Luke Glendening - 43 Darren Helm
27 Michael Rasmussen - 51 Frans Nielsen - 8 Justin Abdelkader
55 Niklas Kronwall - 25 Mike Green
65 Dan Dekeyser - 3 Nick Jensen
52 Jonathan Ericsson - 83 Trevor Daley
45 Jonathan Bernier
[35 Jimmy Howard]
Scratches: 17 Filip Hronek (healthy), 28 Luke Witkowski (healthy), 70 Christoffer Ehn (healthy).
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