2. THERE'S HISTORY THERE
The Flyers meet the Avalanche for the first time this season after sweeping the season series last year… In fact, the Flyers have just one regulation loss to the Avalanche at home in the last eight meetings, going 5-1-2 at the Wells Fargo Center since the 2002-03 campaign… The Flyers continue their heavy schedule against the other Conference - they are playing their 11th of 15 games against the Western Conference… The Avs have a majority of their wins against the East this season, going 4-1-0.
3. CENTERS OF ATTENTION
The Flyers have the highest scoring trio in the NHL with their top line of Sean Couturier (17pts) centering Claude Giroux (16pts) and Jakub Voracek (16pts) who have a combined 49 points and all rank in the Top 10 of the NHL scoring race… Couturier has four multi-point games in his last six outings… The Avs boast a top line of Nathan MacKinnon (10pts) centering captain Gabriel Landeskog (8pts) and Mikko Rantanen (11pts) who are three of the top four scorers on the club thus far… MacKinnon comes in with two straight multi-point games, recording five points (2g-3a) in that stretch.
4. THE UPPER HAND
Whoever is on top early has had the upper hand this season… The Avs have five of their seven wins on the season when scoring first (5-2-0), while the Flyers have six of seven wins when getting on the board first… Both teams are perfect when leading after the second period with the Avs recording all seven of their wins when doing so (7-0-0) as are the Flyers, who are 6-0-0 when leading after 40 minutes.
5. PLAYERS TO WATCH:
FLYERS (D: #9 - Ivan Provorov)
The second-year pro has logged over 27 minute of ice time in each of his last four games… Still only 20 years of age and less than 100 games of NHL experience, Provorov ranks 18th in the NHL in tie-on-ice among all players with all 17 players having significantly more NHL experience than him… Since his NHL debut last season, Provorov has yet to miss an NHL game, appearing in his 97th game… Of his previous 96 games, he has logged over 20 minutes in 78 of those games, including 23 of his last 24 games.
AVALANCHE (D: #4 - Tyson Barrie)
The Avs blueliner leads the team's defense in scoring with 10 points (2g-8a)… His eight helpers lead the entire team, while both of his goals this season have been game-winning goals… Barrie has also recorded points in two straight and eight of his last nine games… He has also logged over 20 minutes of ice time in 11 of his 12 games this season… Against the Flyers, Barrie has three points, all assists, but is a +6 in seven games.
