5 THINGS: Flyers @ Coyotes
In the second game of a four-game road trip, John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (9-13-6) are in Tempe on Saturday to take on Andre Tourigny's Arizona Coyotes (8-13-4)
By
Bill Meltzer
philadelphiaflyers.com
GAME NOTES
This is the first of two meetings this season between the inter-conference teams. The Flyers and Coyotes will rematch at the Wells Fargo Center on Jan. 5.
The Flyers have won just two of their last 16 games (2-10-4). However, the team's overall in-game process has been improved in recent weeks without much to show for it. On Friday, the Flyers played well enough to win on the road against the Vegas Golden Knights but lost in overtime, 2-1. Scott Laughton (4th goal of the season) broke a 16-game goal drought with an unassisted bank shot tally from behind the net early in the second period, In a losing cause, Carter Hart stopped 32 of 34 shots. The game ended on a breakaway goal by Jonathan Marchessault after a Kevin Hayes turnover up the ice.
The Coyotes are 2-5-3 over their last 10 games. However, the team is coming off a 4-3 upset win over the Eastern Conference leading Boston Bruins on Friday at Mullett Arena. Karel Vejmelka stopped 43 of 46 Boston shots to earn the win in goal. Lawson Crouse capped a three-point night (two goals, one assist) by scoring the game-winner with 13.5 seconds left in regulation. The Coyotes mustered only 16 shots for the game but found the net on four. The Coyotes also had a would-be goal by Jakob Chychrun overturned on a coach's challenge by Boston's Jim Montgomery for an offside entry. Josh Brown and Nick Schmaltz scored goals that counted. Matias Maccelli and Shayne Gostisbehere collected two assists each in the surprise victory.
Here are five things to watch in tonight's game:
1. Goals are at a premium.
The Flyers enter this game as the NHL's lowest scoring team, averaging just 2.36 goals per game. The Coyotes are the league's fifth lowest-scoring club, averaging 2.68 goals per game. The Flyers' ongoing struggles to score -- they've mustered a mere 2.06 goals per game dating back to Nov. 10 while the Coyotes are at 2.46 GPG in the same span -- has often given the club little to no margin for error in games where they've otherwise played fairly well. Among the Flyers' last nine games, there were two (Black Friday against Pittsburgh and Dec. 1 against Tampa Bay) where Philly got dominated. The other seven were all competitive, winnable games. The Flyers have a 2-5-2 record during that stretch.
In Friday's game in Vegas, the Flyers were the better team in the first period, but trailed heading into the second period. Philly drew even in the second and then needed a series of excellent saves to take the game to the third period tied at 1-1. After nursing the game to OT, the Flyers had the better of the play for much of overtime but ultimately came up short. It was yet another hard-working effort for Philly that resulted in something less than two points.
2.Who's in goal?
No this isn't an Abbott and Costello routine; although it would be an interesting twist ending if fictitious first baseman Who turned out to be a hockey player instead. Rather, it's unknown as of this writing whether Hart will start for the seventh straight game in the Flyers' net. Over his last six starts, Hart has gone 2-3-1 with a 2.51 goals against average and .906 save percentage. Again, lack of goal support has been the primary issue that has stymied the Flyers' ability to come out on top of winnable games.
On the flip side, Felix Sandström needs some work. It's been 15 days since he last saw game action. Back on Nov. 26 in Elmont, Sandström took the loss against the New York Islanders in a game in which he saw just 23 shots and stopped 18 in a 5-2 loss. The game entered the 3rd period tied at 2-2 but a disastrous 22-second stretch early in the third period saw the game go from 2-2 to a 4-2 Islanders lead. New York subsequently added a power play goal on a short-side goal that Sandström would have liked back. For the season, the Swedish netminder is 1-5-1 with a 3.40 GAA and .889 save percentage.
If Tortorella and goalie coach Kim Dillabaugh opt to tab Sandström to start in Arizona, it would solely be due to the need for him to get some much-needed work. It wouldn't be due to the opponent -- there's not a team in the NHL whom the Flyers can afford to take lightly -- nor would it be because Hart has not been upholding his end of the bargain on the vast majority of nights. The Flyers do not play games on back-to-back nights (the most common scenario in which Sandström gets a start) until Dec. 22 in Toronto and Dec. 23 in Carolina.
3. Power play momentum.
The Flyers' power play has struggled most of the season, entering tonight's game at 16.7 percent (ranked 28th in the NHL). However, after enduring an 0-for-19 drought, the Flyers scored power play goals in three straight recent games (New Jersey, Colorado and Washington). They went 4-for-9 in the process. Even when they didn't score, the Flyers' entries and puck movement were vastly improved in that three-game stretch.
On Friday in Vegas, the Flyers never had an opportunity to try to stretch their power play goal streak to a season-high four games. Philadelphia did not receive a single power play in the game against the Golden Knights, abetted by two blatant non-calls on obvious penalties including an obvious too many men on the ice line change for Vegas in overtime and a play in regulation that saw Morgan Frost receive an elbow to the mouth behind the defensive net. Officially, the Flyers power play goal streak ended at three games. Now they will look to make it four of five games with a PPG.
The Flyers held practice at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Friday before leaving for Tempe. They'd gotten three power play goals from the first unit and one from the second unit over the three-game stretch that preceded the zero PP opportunity game on Friday. Given the Flyers' severe issues in generating 5-on-5 goals, netting a power play goal against the Coyotes would be a big help. Arizona ranks 22nd in the NHL on the penalty kill at 75.5 percent (opponents are 27-for-110). Arizona is the NHL's second most-penalized team in the NHL, while the Flyers are the fifth most-penalized club.
It wasn't all that long ago that the Coyotes' current 20.5 percent success rate (17-for-83) on the power play would have ranked in the top half of the league. In today's NHL, however, it's only good enough to rank 24th. The Coyotes, who've only scored 38 goals at 5-on-5 all season to date, are heavily reliant on their power play to bolster whatever they can muster at 5-on-5 or in other manpower situations (three shorthanded goals, one four-on-four goal).
The Flyers, who were 2-for-2 on the penalty kill against Vegas and are 12-for-14 on the PK over the last four games (85.7 percent), ranked in the top eight of the NHL through their first 12 goals of the season but then the bottom dropped out for more than a month. Recently, the PK has started to fare much better both from an eye test and statistical standpoint. This is an area in which being the NHL's No. 1 ranked shot blocking team is of benefit to Philadelphia. However, due to the month-long PK freefall that preceded the recent uptick, the Flyers enter this game ranked 23rd (75.3 percent) on the PK for the season.
4. Flyers line play.
Tortorella rarely sticks with the same starting lineup in its entirety for two straight games. This game could be an exception, at least among the forwards, because all four lines had stretches in the Vegas game where they contributed positive shifts. The club will have an optional morning skate in Tempe. Tortorella will officially confirm his starting goalie and whether there are any lineup changes among the position players. Max Willman is likely to remain a healthy scratch.
Tony DeAngelo was a (semi) healthy scratch in Vegas. He's unlikely to sit out for long. Cam York played well in his season debut on Friday. It seems like the pairing of Ivan Provorov and Rasmus Ristolainen will hold for the time being. Travis Sanheim has recently been settling into a good groove (and, as such, will not be shuffled from left defense to his off side). Thus, Tortorella's lineup decision for Sunday likely comes down to three possibilities: 1) Keep Friday's defense pairs intact, and scratch DeAngelo for the second time,; 2) Start two offensive-minded defensemen on the same pair, with York on the left side and DeAngelo on the right side of the third pair at 5-on-5; 3) Bump DeAngelo up to play RD with Sanheim as his partner, scratching either Justin Braun (26 games played, scratched twice this season) or Nick Seeler (who has dressed in all 28 games to date).
Cam Atkinson is on the road trip with the Flyers. He participated in Saturday's practice. Atkinson has been on the active roster all season and is medically cleared to play but has been dealing with an upper-body injury since the third day of training camp. He did not dress in any preseason games, nor has played in any of the 28 regular season games to date. Atkinson will play when he feels physically ready to contribute at his accustomed level, per Tortorella and the player himself. He took reps during Saturday's practice with Patrick Brown and Nicolas Deslauriers (gray practice jerseys).
Subject to change and based on Friday's game-night lines, below is a potential Flyers' starting lineup against Arizona:
13 Kevin Hayes - 49 Noah Cates - 11 Travis Konecny
86 Joel Farabee - 21 Scott Laughton - 74 Owen Tippett
25 James van Riemsdyk - 48 Morgan Frost - 17 Zack MacEwen
44 Nicolas Deslauriers -38 Patrick Brown - 23 Lukas Sedlak
9 Ivan Provorov - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
6 Travis Sanheim - 61 Justin Braun
45 Cam York -24 Nick Seeler
32 Felix Sandström
79 Carter Hart
PP1: York or DeAngelo (point), Frost (left), Konecny (slot), Cates (netfront), Hayes (right).
PP2: Provorov or York (point), Tippett (left), Farabee (slot), JVR (netfront), Laughton (right)
5. Behind Enemy Lines: Arizona Coyotes
Tonight's game will be just the sixth home game of the season for the Coyotes at their temporary base in Tempe. Located on the campus of Arizona State University, Mullett Arena holds 5,000 fans. The Coyotes, who are 2-2-1 at home and 6-11-3 on the road, took a franchise record 14-game road trip while construction took place to build on-site facilities to the complex's west side annex that are much closer to NHL standards. Previously, visiting teams had to make due with a makeshift locker room.The Bruins were the first visiting club to have use of the new facilities; the Flyers will be the second. The Coyotes will play their home games at Mullett Arena during the 2022-23, 2023-24, and 2024-25 seasons.
Through the season's first 25 games, Clayton Keller (7g, 16a) leads the team in scoring with 23 points. He's followed by defenseman Gostisbehere (6g, 14a), Maccelli (2g, 17a), Crouse (12g, 3a, 56 hits), defenseman J.J, Moser (3g, 10a), Nick Ritchie (6g, 41), Nick Bjugsad (5g, 5a), Christian Fischer (5g, 5a) and Travis Boyd (2g, 8a). Highly skilled defenseman Chychrun, the subject of a slew of trade rumors, has returned to the Arizona lineup to play in eight games to date (3g, 5a, team high +6). Nick Schmaltz has four goals and five points in 10 games played to date. Recently, the Coyotes loaned the services of rookie Dylan Guenther (11 points in 21 games played) to Hockey Canada for the upcoming 2022-23 World Junior Championships.
In goal, Vejmelka (7-7-3 record, 3.03 GAA, .913 SV%, two shutouts) has appeared in 18 games to date. Connor Ingram (1-6-1, 4.57 GAA, .866 save percentage) has gotten into eight games.
The Coyotes claimed defenseman Juuso Välimäki off waivers from the Calgary Flames back on Oct. 9. The former Calgary first-round pick has dressed in 21 games for the Coyotes so far, chipping in one goal and five assists. He was said to be a planned scratch against Boston but ended up skating eight shift (8:37 TOI) as a seventh defenseman/fourth line winger. He may come out against Philly.
Veteran forward Andrew Ladd, who has chronic knee problems including three surgeries and just 81 games played over the last four seasons, is on injured reserve for the entire season. He failed his pre-camp physical, which was expected. He last played in February 2022.
Below is a potential starting lineup, based on Friday's game and subject to change, against the Flyers:
9 Clayton Keller - 72 Travis Boyd - 8 Nick Schmaltz
67 Lawson Crouse - 17 Nick Bjugstad - 63 Matias Maccelli
38 Liam O'Brien - 22 Jack McBain - 36 Christian Fischer
12 Nick Ritchie - 29 Barrett Hayton - TBD
6 Jakob Chychrun - 14 Shayne Gostisbehere
90 J.J. Moser - 3 Josh Brown
2 Patrik Nemeth - 51 Troy Stecher
4 Juuso Välimäki
70 Karel Vejmelka
39 Connor Ingram
