5 THINGS: Flyers vs. Blackhawks

Playing their third game in four nights, John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (19-19-7) are home on Thursday evening to take on Luke Richardson's Chicago Blackhawks (12-26-4). Game time at the Wells Fargo Center is 7:00 p.m. ET.

GAME NOTES
Thursday's game is 2000's Night at the Wells Fargo Center; a commemoration of the Flyers teams of the first decade of the millennium as part of the Throwback Thursday series.
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 first of two meetings this season between the inter-conference clubs, and the lone game in Philadelphia. The teams will rematch at the United Center on April 13 (final day of the 2022-23 regular season).
The Flyers, who are 8-2-0 in their last 10 games, enter this game coming off a 5-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks at the Wells Fargo Center. Kevin Hayes compiled a hat trick, while Rasmus Ristolainen notched a shorthanded goal and Morgan Frost scored on a nifty between-the-legs shot under the crossbar from along the goal line. Samuel Ersson stopped 24 of 26 shots to earn the win.
The Blackhawks, who are 4-1-0 in their last five games after losing their previous five in regulation, are coming off a 4-3 overtime home win against the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday. Chicago won in comeback fashion, trailing 3-1 entering the third period. Seth Jones forced overtime with a goal in the final minute of regulation and then scored the game-winner at 2:24 of 3-on-3 sudden death. Connor Murphy and Philipp Kurashev also tallied for Chicago. Ex-Flyers goalie Petr Mrazek earned the win with 30 save on 33 shots.
Here are five things to watch in Thursday's game.
1. Home Winning Streak vs. Chicago
Apart from aiming for their ninth win in 11 games, the Flyers have a chance on Thursday to extend one of the NHL's longest home winning streaks against a particular opponent. The Flyers have won 14 straight regular season games against the Blackhawks, dating back to Nov. 9, 1996, which was during the first season of the existence of the Wells Fargo Center (the CoreStates Center).
During that streak, the Flyers have out-scored Chicago, 50 to 24. Most recently, on the afternoon of March 5, 2022, the Flyers earned a 4-3 win in a feisty game that saw Cam Atkinson collect two goals and an assist.
There is an asterisk -- a major one -- attached to the Flyers' home winning streak against the Blackhawks. The total excludes the playoffs. In the 2010 Stanley Cup Final, the Flyers won Games 3 and 4 on home ice to equal the series at two games apiece. Unfortunately, the Blackhawks prevailed in overtime in Game 6 -- on Patrick Kane's infamous "disappearing puck" goal into the padding in the back of the net -- to win the Stanley Cup.
The Flyers' active regular season home winning streak against Chicago isn't even close to a franchise record unbeaten streak against a visiting opponent. From February 7, 1974, through February 2, 1989, the Flyers held a 39-0 record with three ties when the Pittsburgh Penguins visited the Spectrum. Against the Washington Capitals, from Nov. 9, 1974 until March 24, 1980, the Flyers were a perfect 12-0-0 at home and unbeaten by the Caps in the first 24 games (19-0-5) overall in their respective head-to-head history.
2. Play the Right Way Redux
The Flyers responded to getting pummeled by the NHL-leading Boston Bruins on Monday by dominating the Anaheim Ducks (ranked last in the NHL both in goals per game and goals against average) the next night. Philly was relentless in building a 4-1 lead before trading one garbage-time goal apiece in the final minute-plus of the game.
The Flyers now face a similar challenge in combating the Blackhawks. Chicago enters the game ranked 31st -- ahead only of Anaheim -- with an average 2.33 goals per game. Chicago still has a decent power play (20.3 percent success rate, ranked 20th) but they are statistically horrid at 5-on-5. The Blackhawks are minus-49 (58 GF to 107 GA) as a team at 5-on-5, Overall, the Blackhawks are ranked 28th in team goals against average at a 3.69 GAA.
Additionally, Chicago has yielded seven opposing shorthanded goals, ranking 30th in the NHL. This presents a potential vulnerability for Philadelphia to exploit. The Flyers lead the NHL with nine shorthanded goals scored: three by Scott Laughton, three by Travis Konecny, and one apiece for Noah Cates, Travis Sanheim and Rasmus Ristolainen.

The Blackhawks are also one of the NHL's most turnover-prone teams. The team has been charged with 9.32 giveaways per game on average. In and of itself, that ranks fifth-worst in the NHL. However, when adjusted to consider overall puck possession -- the Blackhawks rank last in the NHL in Corsi (42.59 percent shot attempt share) using shot attempts as a proxy for possession -- the Blackhawks sink to the NHL's bottom spot it terms of their overall ability to avoid turning over the puck when they have it. Not even the Ducks commit as many unforced errors with the puck as Chicago.
Correspondingly, the Blackhawks bleed dangerous opposing scoring chances at an alarming rate. They rank 31st (ahead only of Anaheim) with a 41.28 percent expected goal share at 5-on-5. Chicago is third-worst in high-danger chance differential (41.3 percent), and yielded 425 opposing high-danger chances at 5-on-5 while creating only 299 of their own. No NHL team generates fewer high-danger chances in the attack zone than Chicago; not even Anaheim, which scores actual goals at the NHL's worst rate.
Bottom line: If the Flyers can manage their energy well and stay focused in their third game in four nights, they are up against a Chicago team that is vulnerable to getting pinned in its own zone and to turning over the puck in dangerous areas.
It's still a small sample size -- 10 games since the holiday break -- but the Flyers have begun to demonstrate three things: 1) There is still a large gap between themselves and the NHL's best regular season teams like Boston and Toronto, 2) there's an equally large gap in the other direction between the Flyers and the league's worst teams such as Anaheim and Arizona; 3) among the large group of teams somewhere in between the playoff shoo-ins and the basement-dwelling clubs, the Flyers can beat (or get beaten by) most of them depending on execution and goaltending. The home-and-home sweep of a Capitals team that had gone 13-3-3 over its previous 19 games opened some eyes around the NHL that the Flyers are not a pushover.
3. Flyers Scoring on the Rise
The Flyers got a reality check from the Bruins on Monday. Apart from getting strafed for six Boston goals, the Flyers were limited to just 16 shots on goal and four high-danger chances that produced actual shots on goal (meaning, not getting blocked or missing the net) until the score was 5-0 in the third period. Philly generated numerous shots and a few scoring chances once garbage time set in, but Boston still completed a 6-0 shutout.
However, in the bigger picture, the Flyers have been trending up offensively. Over the Flyers' last 17 games -- spanning the period from Dec. 11 to Jan. 17 -- the team has scored at a 3.59 goal per game clip. That ranks 8th in the NHL in that span.
Overall, the Flyers rank 26th offensively in the NHL at a 2.82 goals per game average. That's because the team ranked dead last in the NHL offensively over their first 28 games (2.32 goals per game average, with Chicago ranking 31st in the same span at 2.38 goals per game). There was nowhere to go but up for the Flyers, but moving up six spots in the full-season ranking at midseason is an encouraging sign of making headway.

4. Flyers Line Play
The Flyers will hold an optional morning skate at the FTC in Voorhees on Thursday. Tortorella will address the media at 10:30 a.m. ET. The team has consistently started the same forward line combinations and defense pairings during the 8-2-0 stretch dating back to the start of the post-Christmas road trip.
On Wednesday, goaltender Felix Sandström completed a voluntary two-week conditioning loan with the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms. In that span, he played seven games (4-1-2, 2.39 GAA, .911 SV%). The Flyers must now either put Sandström back on the active NHL roster or waive him for the purpose of assignment to the Phantoms.
In terms of position players, Kieffer Bellows and Justin Braun have regularly been coach's decision (in other words, healthy) scratches in the last few weeks. Bellows was recalled from Lehigh Valley on Jan. 5. By rule, Bellows can go back to the Phantoms without requiring waivers for the second time this season unless he spends 30 or more cumulative days on the Flyers' NHL roster. In Bellows' case, waiver clearance would apply again come Feb. 14.
Due to LTIR (long-term injured reserve) allowance, the Flyers have both the salary cap allowance and roster space to carry three goalies (Carter Hart, Ersson and Sandström), a 13th forward (Bellows) and seventh defenseman (Braun) if they so choose. However, it would not be a surprise if there were roster moves within the next few days to waive Sandström for AHL loan purposes and/or to loan Bellows back to the Phantoms.
Prior to Bellows' most recent recall, the Flyers briefly recalled Phantoms' leading scorer Olle Lycksell (three NHL games, 26 AHL games with 26 points) as the team's 13th forward. Before that, Max Willman (9 NHL games this season, 20 AHL games) spent a month-plus as the 13th forward at the NHL level before being waived and, after he cleared, returning to the AHL.
The projected lineup below is subject to change, and will be updated if Tortorella announces any lineup changes today:
86 Joel Farabee - 49 Noah Cates - 11 Travis Konecny
25 James van Riemsdyk - 48 Morgan Frost - 74 Owen Tippett
13 Kevin Hayes - 21 Scott Laughton - 57 Wade Allison
44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 38 Patrick Brown - 17 Zack MacEwen
9 Ivan Provorov - 45 Cam York
6 Travis Sanheim - 77 Tony DeAngelo
24 Nick Seeler - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
79 Carter Hart
33 Samuel Ersson
PP1: Tippett, Laughton, Konecny, Farabee, DeAngelo.
PP2: Hayes, Frost, JVR, Cates, York.
Extras: 61 Justin Braun, 20 Kieffer Bellows, 32 Felix Sandström
5. Behind Enemy Lines: Chicago Blackhawks
Following the NHL's Christmas Break, the Blackhawks lost five straight games in regulation: 3-0 to Carolina (road), 3-1 to St. Louis (road), 4-1 to Columbus (road), 5-2 to San Jose (home) and 4-1 to Tampa Bay (home).
Since that time, however, the Blackhawks have won four of their last five games and they've been scoring with some regularity: 2-0 win over Arizona (home), 4-3 overtime win against Calgary (home), 3-2 win over Colorado (home), 8-5 loss to Seattle (home) and 4-3 overtime win against Buffalo (home). Starting tonight in Philadelphia, Chicago will play five of its next six games on the road.
The nucleus remnants of the Blackhawks' 2010s dynasty of three Stanley Cup championship teams plus two that reached the Western Conference Final in seven-season period are down to two players: 34-year-old Patrick Kane (eight goals, 28 points in 39 games played in 2022-23) and 34-year-old longtime captain Jonathan Toews (12 goals, 13 assists, 25 points in 41 games played).
Both Kane ($10.5 million cap hit) and Toews ($10.5 million cap hit) are unrestricted free agents after this season. There is a strong possibility that one or both will be dealt by the Blackhawks as trade deadline rentals before Chicago plays Philly again on the final day of the 2022-23 regular season. As such, tonight's game may be the final in-person look Flyers fans have of the two Chicago icons in a Blackhawks uniform.
Another impending unrestricted free agent, Max Domi, leads the Blackhawks in scoring this season with 30 points (13g, 17a in 42 games). Yet another player who can be a UFA this summer, veteran speedster Andreas Athanasiou has dressed in 41 games (9g, 4a).
One player who is signed to the Blackhawks for a long time to come is 28-year-old defenseman Seth Jones (32 gp, 4g, 15a, 19 points, 24.43 TOI). Jones is signed through 2029-30 with a no-movement clause in his contract at $9.5 million average annual value. His younger brother and fellow Chicago defenseman, Caleb Jones, has dressed in 33 games this season (1g, 8a, 9 points, 17:54 TOI).
Chicago power forward Taylor Raddysh (12 goals including five power play tallies, 20 points) and depth forward Boris Katchouk (22 games played, one goal, two assists) are very familiar to the Flyers' Frost. The two former Tampa Bay Lightning forwards were Frost's linemates with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds during the 2017-18 season. Katchouk played regularly with Frost for the lion's share of that campaign, while Raddysh completed the trio after a midseason trade from the Erie Otters to the Soo. Together, they were the one of the most prolific scoring lines in all of Canadian junior hockey and Frost led the entire CHL with a plus-70 rating to go along with 112 points in 67 games.
Thirty-two-year-old Tyler Johnson still has one additional season to go on the seven-year contract he originally signed in 2017 while a member of the Tampa Lightning. Limited by injuries to 19 games this season, the veteran has chipped in 12 points (4g, 8a).
In goal, Mrazek has appeared in 17 games this season (4-10-1 record, 4.17 GAA, .877 save percentage). Alex Stalock has played in 14 games (6-6-1, 2.70 GAA, .918 save percentage, one shutout). Stalock is in concussion protocol and officially day-to-day. He missed six weeks earlier this season due to a concussion, and the Blackhawks have pledged to err on the side of precaution.
Presently, 23-year-old goalie Jaxson Stauber is on recall from the AHL's Rockford IceHogs to back up Mrazek. It's Stauber's second recall of the season. He has yet to appear in an NHL game but has appeared in a dozen AHL games (6-4-0, 3.06 GAA, .896 SV%). Earlier this season, 23-year-old Arvid Söderblom appeared in 15 games for the Blackhawks (2-10-2, 3.45 GAA, .894 save percentage).
On the injury front, winger Juhjar Khaira and defenseman Jarred Tinordi are both on IR.
Potential lineup (based on last game, subject to change)
90 Tyler Johnson - 13 Max Domi - 88 Patrick Kane
23 Philipp Kurashev - 19 Jonathan Toews - 11 Taylor Raddysh
17 Jason Dickinson - 24 Sam Lafferty - 89 Andreas Athanasiou
43 Colin Blackwell - 58 MacKenzie Entwhistle - 52 Reese Johnson
6 Jake McCabe - 4 Seth Jones
8 Jack Johnson - 5 Connor Murphy
41 Isaak Phillips - 82 Caleb Jones
34 Petr Mrzek
30 Jaxon Stauber
PP1: Raddysh, Toews, Domi, Kane,Seth Jones
PP2: Lafferty, Johnson, Athanasiou, Kurashev, Caleb Jones
Extras: 51 Ian Mitchell, 14 Boris Katchouk