Opening a three-game road trip against Western Conference clubs, John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (13-10-2) are in Tempe on Thursday to take on Andre Tourigny's Arizona Coyotes (13-9-2). Game time at Mullett Arena is 9:00 p.m. ET.
The game will be televised on NBCSP. The radio broadcast is on 97.5 The Fanatic with an online simulcast on Flyers Radio 24/7.
This is the first of two meetings this season between the teams. The Flyers and Coyotes will rematch at Wells Fargo Center on February 12. Last season, the clubs split the series with one win apiece.
On Dec. 11, 2022, in Arizona, the Coyotes prevailed in overtime, 5-4. In a losing cause, the line of Morgan Frost (1g, 3a), James van Riemsdyk (1g, 3a), and Owen Tippett (1g, 1a) dominated the game. With 2:17 remaining in regulation, Travis Konecny took a feed from Frost and tied the score at 4-4 to force OT. Clayton Keller notched a hat trick for Arizona, including the winning goal in sudden death overtime.
On January 5, 2023, at the Wells Fargo Center, the Flyers crushed the Coyotes by a 6-2 score. The Flyers trailed, 1-0, at the first intermission. On a power play in the open half-minute of the second period, Konecny scored on a perfectly executed set play off a center-ice faceoff. Joel Farabee, Wade Allison, Ivan Provorov, Kevin Hayes (power play) and van Riemsdyk also scored for Philly. Frost enjoyed a four-assist game.
Fast forward one season and nearly one calendar year from last year's game in Tempe. Three of the aforementioned Philadelphia players -- JVR, Provorov and Hayes -- are no longer with the Flyers. Another (Allison) is in the American Hockey League with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Meanwhile, the Flyers are playing much better overall hockey this season than they were at the same juncture of last year.
The Coyotes, too, are a greatly improved club. If the season ended today, both the Flyers (third in the Metro Division) and the Coyotes (upper wildcard spot) would qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs. Last season, the Flyers finished 26th overall in the NHL while the Coyotes were 27th.
Here are five things to watch in Thursday's game.
1. The 'Foers Factor'
The hottest Philadelphia player coming into Thursday's game is rookie winger Tyson Foerster, who was in Lehigh Valley this time a year ago. Foerster brings a three-game goal streak and four-game point streak into the night. In that span, he's collected six points (4g, 2a).
Among Foerster's four recent goals, two were on well-placed shots from the top of the left circle. The other two tallies were via deflections from the slot of shots (by Sean Walker and Scott Laughton) that originated from the point.
On Monday, Foerster played a pivotal role in the Flyers' eventual 2-1 overtime win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Wells Fargo Center. Foerster's second period goal knotted the score at 1-1 and proved to be Philly's lone goal of regulation. Sean Couturier, who netted the winning goal of the shootout in last Saturday's game in Pittsburgh, scored the OT game-winner. Konecny had primary assists on both Philly goals in the rematch. Earlier, Konecny had two breakaway opportunities denied.
In addition to the line of Foerster, Couturier and Konecny, keep an eye on the trio of Frost, Tippett and rookie Bobby Brink. The latter line did not score on Monday but had a combined four prime scoring chances -- three for Tippett, one (a deflection from the slot) by Frost, and Brink in the middle of directly setting up two of Tippett's chances. Frost set up the other.
2. Team trends: puck possession, goaltending, scoring
Both the Flyers and Coyotes have lowered their respective team goals against averages (GAAs) from last season. The Flyers enter this game ranked 9th (2.80 team GAA), while the Coyotes rank 10th (2.83 GAA).
Phillly has improved by leaps and bounds as a puck possession team, too. This has been through a combination of the defense corps -- especially Travis Sanheim, Cam York and Sean Walker -- effectively moving pucks up ice, the Flyers establishing their forecheck more effectively and generally playing at a quicker pace than last year's squad.
The Flyers will enter Thursday's game ranked 12th in possession quantity (51.06 percent share of 5-on-5 shot attempts) and 7th in possession quality (53.45 percent share of 5-on-5 expected goals). Finishing their scoring chances has been a much bigger issue than generating them.
Goaltending, whether Carter Hart or Samuel Ersson, has been a strength for the Flyers. Ersson had a slow start through October in spot duty but has been outstanding from the start of November onward. Hart played well right off the bat but dealt with a minor injury and a bout of food poisoning in early November. He had a few minor hiccups within a few games after his return but played well overall.
In the front end of the home-and-home against Pittsburgh, Ersson produced an excellent performance. He was victimized by two unstoppable deflections and a late regulation turnover by Tippett on a 6-on-5 goal. Otherwise, Ersson stopped everything he had a chance to stop. On Monday, Hart was better in a game where there were many more overall scoring chances -- for both sides -- than the game at PPG Paints Arena.
Coming into Thursday, Hart has a 7-6-1 record, 2.55 goals against average, .913 save percentage and one shutout. Ersson's season numbers are deceptive (5-3-1, 2.78 GAA, .885 save percentage. one shutout). Since November 1, Ersson is 5-2-0 with a 1.87 GAA and .922 save percentage.
Arizona of late has been getting scorching hot goaltending from Connor Ingram. He's collected shutouts in two of his last five starts, including a 26-save blanking of the Washington Capitals on Monday. Ingram has won five starts in a row and yielded two or fewer goals in five of his last six outings. For the season, Ingram sports a gaudy 11-3-0 record, 2.23 GAA, .930 save percentage and two shutouts.
Talented but recently struggling goalie Karel Vejmelka (2-6-2, 3.45 GAA, .892 SV%) has at least temporarily been supplanted by Ingram while the former is on a heater. Vejmelka last played on Nov. 22, starting against St. Louis but getting pulled after yielding four goals on 11 shots. Vejmelka is winless (0-3-1 with a no-decision) in his last five starts with four or more goals yielded in four of the games.
Especially of late, Coyotes have been better at finishing scoring chances than the Flyers have to date. Arizona enters Thursday's game ranked in a tie for 10th offensively in the NHL (with Tampa Bay and Boston), averaging 3.33 goals per game. The Flyers rank in a tie for 22nd at a 2.88 goals per game average.
However, if the Coyotes are to sustain their recent success they'll likely need to keep improving on their season puck possession rankings. Arizona ranks 28th in terms of 5-on-5 puck possession quantity (45.63 percent team Corsi), 31st in shots on goal per game (27.2 average) and 23rd in terms of expected goals share (47.91 percent).
The Coyotes have converted 10.5 percent of their 5-on-5 shot attempts in goals, ranking 5th in the NHL in that department (the Flyers, at 7.7 percent, rank 24th). On the power play, the Coyotes are converting shots on net into goals at a clip of 18.18 percent (ranked 7th). By comparison, the Flyers (8.06 percent) rank 29th.
Arizona's goal-scoring success relative to the modest amount of time they've typically spent in possession of the puck is a hard formula to maintain for long-term success over a season. RIght now, though, the club is firing on all cylinders between the red-hot goaltending and scoring four goals or more in five of their last six games.
3. Flyers team defense
On Saturday, the Flyers held the Penguins without a single high-danger scoring chance for the game's first 40 per minutes (per Natural Stat Trick) but play opened up over the final 25 minutes of the game. On a full-game basis, there was a lot more trading off of scoring chances in Monday's rematch in Philly.
Philly plays a system that is very demanding on its defensemen to make quick reads and aggressive decisions with the puck, both in passing the puck ahead to the forwards and in joining the attack up ice. The addition of Walker has made a noticeable difference. Sanheim, who has had some marked ups and downs the last couple weeks, has thrived overall and York has continued to grow as a young NHL defenseman.
The Flyers off-puck play has generally gotten better this season. They normally do a good job taking away the middle of the ice and taking away the lanes for backdoor plays, preventing opponents from making plays out of the corners into dangerous situations. All three issues were significant problems in past seasons. While Philly still can't be described as airtight, they're trending the right way.
Nick Seeler is one of the Flyers most willing and accomplished shot blockers, and the club has a whole -- defensemen and forwards alike -- block a lot of shots. That's one of Tortorella's non-negotiables.
The return of Rasmus Ristolainen to the lineup after missing the season's first 20 games has gone well thus far. On Thursday, the Finnish veteran may be paired with rookie Egor Zamula. In recent games, Zamula and veteran Marc Staal have been taking turns rotating in and out of the left defense spot on the third pair.
4. Flyers special teams vs. Arizona special teams
The Flyers only had one abbreviated power play in Monday's game, which was short-circuited midway through by an offensive zone turnover that forced York to take a holding penalty to negate a shorthanded scoring chance for Pittsburgh.
It's no secret that the Flyers power play has been like a season-long trek through the most arid of deserts with an occasional oasis for a game or two. The season-wide numbers aren't pretty (10-for-82, 12.2 percent success, ranked 28th in the NHL). The Flyers have allowed just one shorthanded goal.
However, it's not all doom-and-gloom, There has recently been optimism that the current power play alignment -- with a first unit of York on the point, Foerster on the left flank, Konecny in the bumper, Couturier down low and Frost on the right half-wall -- seems to be gaining traction. The unit scored twice at home against the New Jersey Devils (Frost and Foerster) and once in Pittsburgh (Foerster again).
The Flyers second power play unit currently consists of Tippett, Laughton, Brink, Cam Atkinson and Ristolainen. There are still potentially some moving parts: Sanheim and Walker were both tried on the power play this season. Farabee has moved on and off the power play at different times. The biggest thing right now is to get Atkinson and Tippett -- the unit's two best shooters -- going again in terms of regularly finishing chances. Brink in particular is a gifted distributor.
The Arizona penalty kill ranks 12th in the NHL at 81.2 percent efficiency. Opponents are 16-for-86. The Coyotes have scored one shorthanded goal to date this season. tallied by Nick Bjugstad against the Capitals in Arizona's last game.
While Philly's power play has been -- and remains -- a work in progress, the penalty kill has emerged as one of the best in the NHL. Overall, the Flyers rank sixth in the NHL in PK success (70-for-82). Over the last 10 games, the Flyers are second in the league at 94.1 percent (opponents are just 2-for-32, and Philly has scored twice shorthanded in that span).
For the season, the Flyers have scored six shorthanded goals: two apiece for Konecny and Walker, one apiece for Ryan Poehling and Laughton. The Flyers are tied for the league lead with Dallas, St. Louis and Carolina.
Arizona presents a good challenge for the Flyers' PK. The Coyotes check in ranking 5th leaguewide on the power play at 26.3 percent success (22-for-82). They've allowed three shorthanded goals.
5. Behind Enemy Lines: Arizona Coyotes
The Coyotes wrap up a five-game homestand on Thursday. It's been a successful homestand thus far with consecutive wins over Tampa Bay (3-1), Colorado (4-3 in overtime), St. Louis (4-1) and Washington (6-0). Going back to a 2-0 shutout road win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights on Nov. 25, the Coyotes have won five games in a row.
Arizona has been a good home team this season, going 8-4-0 at Mullett. On the road, they're 5-5-2.
The Flyers learned the hard way last season not to lose track of Keller, after he scored Philly for a hat trick in last year's game in Arizona. This season, Keller leads the Coyotes in scoring with 24 points (8g, 16a) in 24 games. He has six points (1g, 5a) in his last five games.
Michael Carcone, who has 12 goals among his 15 points this season, brings a four-game goal streak into Thursday's game. The diminutive winger has tallied five times, all at even strength, in the last four games.
Dynamic 19-year-old center Logan Cooley (3g, 11a in 24 games) seems to be hitting his stride. He has logged 19 or more minutes of ice time in three of his five games and scored his third goal of the season on Monday against Washington.
Power forward Lawson Crouse has scored 10 goals this season among his 15 points. He got on a roll from mid-November to Black Friday with a run of six goals in eight games. Since then, he has two points (0g, 2a) in his last five games.
The Coyotes do not have any players ranked in the NHL's top 30 in scoring -- Keller is 35th and Nick Schmaltz (9g, 11a) is next in a tie for 71st -- but they've gotten good balance. Ten players have chipped in 12 or more points to date. The club has two players in double digit goals with roughly two-third of the season remaining, and seven players have posted five or more goals.
