John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (25-17-6) are in the Motor City on Thursday evening to take on Derek Lalonde's Detroit Red Wings (24-18-5). Game time at Little Caesars Arena is 7:00 p.m. ET.
The game will be televised on NBCSP. The radio broadcast is on 93.3 WMMR with an online simulcast on Flyers Radio 24/7.
This is the third and final meeting of the season series between the teams, and the second game in Detroit. The Flyers are 1-0-1 in the season series to date. The two previous meetings could not have been more different from one another in style of play.
On Dec. 16 in Philadelphia, a Cam York goal in the first period stood up the rest of the way in a 1-0 Flyers win behind a shutout by goalie Sam Ersson (33 saves). On Dec. 22 in Detroit, the Flyers trailed 5-1 at the end of the first period. The Flyers rallied all the way back for a 6-5 lead. Detroit then forced overtime and went on to beat Philadelphia 7-6 (2-0) via shootout. The two teams combined for 80 shots on goal over regulation and overtime.
More recently, Philly was flying high as they assembled a five-game winning streak that included a sweep of a three-game road trip and then a blowout victory over the Dallas Stars. Since then, the Flyers have lost three straight games in regulation and are in need of a victory in Detroit to regain their equilibrium.
The Red Wings, who are playing the third game of a five-game homestand, are 5-2-1 over their last eight games. The victories include wins over Toronto Maple Leafs, Florida Panthers (OT), and Tampa Bay Lightning. However, Detroit enters this game coming off a 5-4 loss to Dallas on Tuesday.
Here are five things to watch on Thursday:
1. Help Ersson Help His Teammates
The Flyers have allowed a combined 18 goals over the course of the three-game losing streak. Four of the opposition goals were empty netters.
Goalie play has not been a prime culprit in the last three games. The issue hasn't been the quantity of shots allowed but, rather, the quality of the chances being yielded. Goalies make for convenient scapegoats in games where they don't see a lot of rubber overall but give up several unstoppable (or nearly unstoppable) goals on Grade A chances.
In Tuesday's 6-3 loss to Tampa Bay, penalties by Philly and a struggle to deal with the NHL's top-ranked power play proved to be the Flyers' undoing. The Flyers generated plenty of attack and limited Tampa to 21 shots on goal for the game (the final two were with the Philly net empty for a 6-on-5 attack) but Ersson had very little chance of stopping any of the four goals he yielded.
Ersson has played seven of the last nine periods in goal, and is expected to start both Thursday's game in Detroit and Saturday afternoon's tilt against a powerhouse Boston Bruins team. It's a must for the Flyers to manage the puck better and avoid penalties along with generating attack.
Bottom line: If the Flyers help make Ersson's job a little more doable, the goalie has shown the ability to make clutch saves along the way. He'll stop what he can see and realistically track.
2. Couturier and Konecny
Throughout the 2023-24 season, NHL All-Star Game selection Travis Konecny (22 goals, 42 points) and veteran two-way center Sean Couturier (44 games played, 10g, 20a, 30 points, 53.0 percent on faceoffs) have been rocks of consistency for the Flyers. So has Joel Farabee (17g, 23a, 40 points). We'll discuss Farabee in the next section.
Couturier and Konecny have had to handle very heavy ice-time burdens in the most challenging matchups. This was true even before the Flyers regularly starting to employ a line rotation of 11 forwards and seven defensemen. For the season, Couturier has averaged a defenseman-like 20:03 of ice time per game, while TK has averaged 19:39.
Couturier recently missed two games due to injury, although he's been able to play in each of the last four games. Konecny has dressed in every game this season, although he's been rather banged up at times.
Over the Flyers' last four games, Couturier has posted just one point (0g, 1a). He's never one to make excuses but his overall "A" game hasn't been there for him the last few games. Tortorella has said several times this season that he's well aware that he needs to find opportunities to lighten some of the heavy-lifting load on Couturier. However, those occasions have been hard to find because most games are close.
Konecny, meanwhile, has been in the thick of a solid volume of scoring opportunities but goals have been tougher to come by lately. Over the last nine games, Konecny has chipped in one goal (against Colorado this past Saturday). He's still collecting assists (five helpers in the same nine-game span), however.
A big night in Detroit for Couturier and/or Konecny would go a long way toward the Flyers getting back on the winning track. Especially in the absence of Owen Tippett (IR, lower-body injury) for what will be his third straight sidelined game, it's vital for Philadelphia two most heavily relied upon forwards to come up big again.
3. Who's Been Hot: Farabee, Atkinson and Frost
As January has progressed, the Flyers most productive players of late have been Cam Atkinson on the goal-scoring side, Farabee's all-around offense and Morgan Frost on the playmaking end.
Ever since Atkinson finally rid himself of the shackles of a 26-game goal drought, he's buzzed around the net and has seen frequent rewards. Atkinson brings a six-game point streak (5g, 5a, 10 points) into Thursday's game in Detroit. He could have even more points in that span, as he's been denied on several Grade A chances over the last 10 days or so in addition to the ones he's stashed in the cash register.
Farabee has been the Flyers most productive player at 5-on-5 for awhile -- largely by going to the net -- and also nabbed a power play goal from distance in the Ottawa game. In Detroit, he'll look to extend a current seven-game point streak (5g, 5a, 10 points). Farabee has led the team in January scoring with 15 points in 12 games.
Frost has been on a run of creating a healthy volume of high-grade scoring chances for linemates -- both at 5-on-5 and on the power play -- ever since he requested a one-on-one meeting with Tortorella. For the month of January, Frost has racked up nine assists (mostly primary helpers) and 11 points in 11 games played.
Playmaking is Frost's number one offensive attribute. His ice vision and passing touch are both well above-average and he's also been using his feet very effectively of late to take advantage of his natural speed.
However, Frost is still capable of scoring a few more goals than he has tallied to date this season: seven so far in 2023-24 after a 19-goal campaign last year. Finishing has been an uphill climb on his own scoring chances. Of his seven goals, two were rebound put-ins, two were via netfront deflections (something he's worked on all season), one bounced in off a defender on a semi-wraparound and one was the purely lucky goal that bounced off Frost's skate behind the net and then off the goalie's back into the net.
Frost's most recent goal came back on January 6, as he scored on a power play wrist shot from the top of the left circle. He's had several similar chances since then but most have either been saved by the netminder or blocked by a defender. Another produced a loose rebound that Atkinson probably stashed home for a power play goal.
4. Flyers special teams vs. Detroit special teams
For the 2023-24 season as a whole, the Flyers' penalty kill has been the team's pride and joy, while the power play has been the biggest point of frustration. Just a glance at the Flyers overall rankings -- second in PK percentage at 85.2 percent (137-for-149), tied for third leaguewide with 10 shorthanded goals, but ranked 29th on the power play at 13.8 percent (21-for-152) with two shorthanded goals allowed -- tells that story.
Recently, though, the Flyers power play has shown signs of life. In the last 10-game span dating back to Jan. 6, the Flyers are 9-for-30 (30.0 percent) on the man advantage, That is why the Flyers have bumped up four spots in the overall season rankings since being mired at the bottom of the league (9.8 percent) through the first 38 games of the season.
The Flyers are in the middle of the NHL pack since the Christmas break at 20.8 percent (ranked 14th over the club's last 15 games) and something in the 18.5 percent to 20 percent range is within the Flyers' realistic capabilities. Both power play units have contributed at different times of late.
It would be an exaggeration to say the Flyers' PK work has been faulty over the last week. It's been more about a few bounces recently going the way of opposing power play after it seemed like almost every 50-50 break went the way of the Philly PK for two-plus months. That said, the very stout Tampa power play was a little too much for the Flyers in Tuesday's game. The Bolts went 2-for-3 and scored a 5-on-5 just two seconds after their first power play of the game expired.
Detroit's power play might not be quite as fearsome as Tampa Bay's but it's still plenty dangerous. Since the Christmas break, the Red Wings rank sixth in the NHL in power play percentage (11-for-39, 28.2 percent) over a 13-game span. For the season, Detroit ranks 10th at 23.0 percent (41-for-178). In Tuesday's game against Dallas, the Red Wings struck for three power play goals: one apiece by David Perron, Alex DeBrincat and Larkin.
On the downside, the Red Wings have given up seven shorthanded goals this season. Only Florida, Carolina and Buffalo have allowed more (eight apiece).
Owing largely to their team speed, Detroit generates the NHL's second highest volume of power plays. Only Colorado (179) has had more opportunities on the man advantage this season than Detroit, and the differential is negligible.
The Red Wings have had a middle-of-the-pack penalty kill this season, ranking 15th in the NHL at 80.3 percent. Opposing power plays are 30-for-152. Detroit has scored five shorthanded goals to date. Since the Christmas break, the Red Wing have climbed in the leaguewide rankings, going 83.3 percent (25-for-30) over their last 13 games.
5. Behind Enemy Lines: Detroit Red Wings
The Red Wings are 12-8-4 on home ice so far this season. Over the team's last 10 games overall, Detroit has gone 7-2-1. Most recently, though, the Wings have been alternating wins and losses (2-2-0 over the last four games since a third period rally carried them over Toronto on January 14).
Larkin leads Detroit with 43 points (19g, 24a) this season, and brings an active nine-game point streak (6g, 6a, 12 points) into Thursday's game against the Flyers. The speedy center was not in the lineup the first time the Red Wings played the Flyers this season. In the second game, however, Larkin made his presence felt.
Lucas Raymond (13g, 37 points for the season) has also been hot offensively of late with nine points (2g, 7a) in the last 10 games. Ditto Daniel Sprong with three goals and six assists in the last 10 games (12g, 31 points for the season). Perron has eight points (3g, 5a) in the past 10 matches to bring his season total to 22 points (10g, 12a) in 41 games played.
Former Flyers offensive defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere, who scored a goal against his old club the last time the Red Wings played Philadelphia, has contributed a half-dozen power play assists over the last 10 games. He's a traditional minus-six over that span at even strength. For the season, "Ghost" has posted 32 points (7g, 25a) in 46 games. Moritz Seider (47 games, 5g, 18a, 23 points) leads all Detroit players in ice time with an average 22:24 TOI per game.
Since joining Detroit, Patrick Kane has posted 16 points (7g, 9a) in 19 games. Kane, who had a three-point game (2g, 1a) against the Flyers on Dec. 22, had to leave the Jan. 14 game against Toronto due to a lower-body injury. He has not played since. However, Kane was a full participant in Wednesday's practice, and is nearing a potential return.
Former Flyers/Phantoms goalie Alex Lyon has started each of the Red Wings' last four games and nine of the team's 10 games in January (6-2-1, 2.85 GAA, ..919 percentage). For the season, Lyon is 11-6-1 with a 2.67 GAA, .919 save percentage and one shutout. As Flyers and Phantoms fans are well aware, the cerebral Lyon is a battler in net.
