5 THINGS: Flyers vs. Blues

In the second match of a four-game road trip, John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (29-34-13) are in the Gateway City on Tuesday evening to take on Craig Berube's St. Louis Blues (35-35-7) at the Enterprise Center. Game time is 8:00 p,m. EDT.

GAME NOTES
The game will be televised on NBCSP. The radio feed with be on 93.3 WMMR with an online simulcast on Flyers Radio 24/7.
This is the second and final game of the season series between the inter-conference clubs, and the lone meeting in St. Louis. Back on Nov.8 at the Wells Fargo Center, the Flyers soared to a 5-1 win in one of the best all-around performances Philadelphia produced this season.
On the heels of rattling off a recent seven-game point streak (5-0-2), the Flyers are now winless in their last three games. Tonight's game will be the Flyers' third in four nights and their fourth game in the last six nights. The Blues, however, are in the same boat schedule-wise.
The only difference is the amount of recent travel. Tonight is the second game of a three-game homestand for the Blues whereas the Flyers are in their fourth different city (Ottawa last Thursday, home against Buffalo on Saturday, in Pittsburgh on Sunday and now in St. Loui).
On Sunday in Pittsburgh, the Flyers out-chanced the Penguins but Pittsburgh was more opportunistic. A late Flyers push, which saw the team cut a 3-0 deficit to 3-2, fell short. An empty netter sealed Philly's fate in a 4-2 loss. Nicolas Deslauriers (6th goal of the season) and Travis Konecny (29th) scored in a losing cause for the Flyers. A would-be second period goal by Morgan Frost was disallowed due to goaltender interference by Joel Farabee. Samuel Ersson made 27 saves on 30 shots.
Here are five things to watch in this game:
1. TK finishing with a flourish.
Flyers leading scorer Konency (29g, 27a, 56 points, 73 PIM in 54 games played) has scored a goal in each of his first two games back in the lineup since missing 16 games with an upper-body injury.
Against Buffalo this past Saturday, TK sniped a goal directly off an offensive left circle faceoff win by Noah Cates. On Sunday in Pittsburgh, Konency sniped a goal from the right slot off a Frost centering pass with the Flyers attacking 6-on-5 in the latter stages of the third period.
With Konecny in the lineup, there are more positive elements -- goal-scoring, chance creation, energy, contributions on both ends of special teams, getting under opponents' skin, etc. -- than negative. However, sometimes he falls on the wrong side of the "playing with discipline" line. Konecny took a pair of penalties in the Pittsburgh game. He pinned the blame on himself afterwards.
The Flyers rank 29th in the NHL offensively, averaging a modest 2.70 goals per game. Konency has already set a new personal single-season high for goals. He's now a single tally away from the first 30-goal season by any Flyers' player since Sean Couturier netted 31 in 2018-19, it's commendable that Konecny has scored with such frequency despite missing a combined 22 games this season.
2. The 86-48-74 line.
Dating back to Dec. 5, Frost is the Flyers' overall scoring leader (37 points in 51 games). He tops the club in assists (22, tied with Tony DeAngelo) and has sole possession of the club's even strength scoring lead (32 points) by five points over frequent linemate Owen Tippett.
In the same span, Frost is tied with Scott Laughton for fourth on the team with 15 goals. He's been especially hot of late with four goals and six points over a current four-game point streak. It was a shame that the goalie interference play in Pittsburgh involving Farabee took a potential fifth goal by Frost in the last four games off the board.
Farabee, meanwhile, has been coming around offensively ever since he finally ended a 26-game goalless drought on March 17 against Buffalo. Over the last nine games, Farabee has posted nine points (4g, 5a). However, it's been six games since Farabee's last goal, and potting a goal against the Blues tonight would be a nice boost toward a continued surge toward the 2022-23 season finish line.
For the 2022-23 season as a whole (23 goals, 42 points in 71 games played) and over the team's last 51 games (17 goals, 32 points), the only Flyers player who has put more pucks in the net this season than Tippett is Konecny. In teams scoring chances per game and high-danger chances, Tippett leads the club by a wide margin over the last four months.
In Saturday's game against Buffalo, Tippett came within a whisker of scoring a wraparound goal. The puck was stopped along -- but not over -- the goal line, The next day in Pittsburgh, Tippett was utterly robbed by Casey DeSmith on a one-timer from the left circle that seemed ticketed off the shooter's stick for the top of the net. The DeSmith save has already been on the leaguewide highlight shows on national TV in both the United States and Canada.
Tippett has put 11 shots on goal in the last two games alone since he notched the game-tying goal in the third period of the March 30 game in Ottawa; the finish to a spectacular passing sequence from Frost to Travis Saheim to goal-scorer Tippett. For a couple games, Tippett was playing through an unspecified nagging injury (he took a couple maintenance days and did not seem to have his usual extra gear within games). The last two games, however, Tippett simply ran into some some stellar goaltending.
3. Broncos Reunion: Attard and Allison
It's been awhile since former Western Michigan Broncos teammates Wade Allison and Ronnie Attard have been together on the ice. Last season, while various injuries limited power forward Allison to a single NHL game, offensive-minded defenseman dressed in 15 late season NHL games (2g, 2a) for the Flyers after completing his NCAA junior season at Western Michigan.
This season, right up until being recalled to the Flyers yesterday from the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the now 24-year-old Attard had spent the entire 2022-23 season working on the details of his 200-foot game with the Phantoms. While not infallible, Attard has made pretty good progress with the Phantoms. A 2023 AHL All-Star Game selection, Attard earned praise for his diligence from both Phantoms head coach Ian Laperriere and Flyers assistant general manager Brent Flahr. Offensively, he's still been able to produce 11 goals and 30 points in 64 games without being a defensive liability at five-on-five (plus-nine). He may not quite be a fully finished product yet but the progress Attard has made over the last calendar year his been considerable. Attard's sunny disposition of the ice has also made him a favorite of Phantoms' teammates and fans alike.
If not for a recent bout with the flu coupled with the Phantoms being in the midst of trying to nail down a Calder Cup playoff spot, Attard might have been recalled from the Phantoms a little sooner. With Rasmus Ristolainen out of the Flyers lineup on a day-to-day basis while dealing with an upper-body injury believed to be a neck issue, there's an opening for fellow right-handed shooting defenseman Attard to get a few games in the Flyers' starting lineup and some power play time at center point. Attard is a very good natural shooter with a heavy shot. He also has some physicality to his game.
Allison (eight goals, 16 points in 54 games) has spent the entire season on the NHL roster for the first time since turning pro in 2020-21. Tortorella, who repeatedly harped eary in the season on Allison's need to play a simper, more directly north-south game, has said that it's hard to assess the player's progress because "he's always hurt" (a phrase Tortorella repeated nine times in a single recent media availability session. Tortorella added that he's seen "Allie" getting on the right track and playing effectively in stretches only to inevitably suffer another injury and have to work back up again to the point at which he'd left off.
When actually healthy, Allison has looked like a player who could be an effective bottom-six (perhaps even a viable top-nine) NHL forward. The issue, alas, has been than the oft-injured winger (who turned 25 on Oct. 14, 2022) has been forced by injury several times this season to exit the lineup and hit the reset button in his game upon his return. In recent weeks, Allison has shown some inconsistency in his overall play but he's been getting scoring chances -- including a couple one-on-one opportunities against goalies -- that haven't being going in the net. Allison has the ability to score either from in close or from the flank. Most of his eight goals for the Flyers this season have been scored from the doorstep but there's also a booming shot from the flank in his arsenal.
Over the last week or two, Allison has been moved around a bit in the lineup. His primary center of late has been Kevin Hayes but he's also found himself skating some shifts with Frost, Cates or on the fourth line.
4. Flyers Line Play
Tortorella returned behind the Flyers' bench on Sunday in Pittsburgh. In the previous two games, Tortorella handed off in-game management duties to longtime assistant coach Brad Shaw. Tortorella, who used the games for player evaluation purposes from other vantage points, said he'd divide the remaining six games between himself, Shaw, Rocky Thompson and Darryl Williams in terms of who's running the game from behind the bench. Thompson and Williams will get at least one game apiece.
Carter Hart remains day-to-day with a lower-body injury that has kept him out of the team's last four games. As a result, emergency recall Ersson started Sunday's game in Pittsburgh after Felix Sandström started each of the three previous games.
Attard will step into Tuesday's lineup in St. Louis in place of the injured Ristolainen. Whether the Flyers opt to start seven defensemen and 11 forwards to go with a 12F/6D arrangement will determine whether veteran defenseman Justin Braun or one among forwards Kieffer Bellows or Tanner Laczynski get into the lineup against the Blues.
Although Scott Laughton has technically started some recent games on the fourth line and others on the second line, he's rotated frequently with assorted lineups and played center and/or left wing over the course of games. Tortorella has been trying to use Kevin Hayes more at center again, but Hayes also still plays some wing.
In the 25 games the Flyers have played since the NHL All-Star break, All-Star game participant Hayes has posted two goals and eight points in an average 16:56 of ice time per game. Since the start of March (15 games), Hayes has not scored a goal and has posted three assists. His last goal was against Nashville on Feb. 11. For the season as a whole, Hayes is still second on the Flyrers in scoring with 53 points (17 goals, team-leading 36 assists). but most of the production came in October, November and January.
For the season, DeAngelo is second on the Flyers in assists (31), leads the defense with 11 goals, leads the entire team with 19 power play points (4 PPG, 15 power play assists) and is tied with Frost for fourth on the team in overall points (42). Own-zone decision-making issues have brought DeAngelo into Tortorella's doghouse at times this season but Tortorella has also defended the feisty player from critics at other times.
The projected lineup below, apart from being adjusted to incorporate Attard, is based on Sunday's lineup in Pittsburgh. At least one among Bellows, Braun or Laczynski will be in the starting lineup. The Flyers will hold an 11:30 a.m. CDT morning skate at the Enterprise Center.
86 Joel Farabee - 48 Morgan Frost - 74 Owen Tippett
21 Scott Laughton - 49 Noah Cates - 11 Travis Konecny
25 James van Riemsdyk - 13 Kevin Hayes - 57 Wade Allison
44 Nicolas Deslauriers - xxxxxx -- 22 Brendan Lemieux
9 Ivan Provorov - 45 Cam York
6 Travis Sanheim - 47 Ronnie Attard
24 Nick Seeler - 77 Tony DeAngelo
32 Felix Sandström
33 Samuel Ersson
Available: 20 Kieffer Bellows (played on Sunday), 61 Justin Braun, 58 Tanner Laczynski.
Injured: 55 Rasmus Ristolainen (upper body), 79 Carter Hart (lower body).
5. Behind Enemy Lines: St. Louis Blues
The Blues, who were sellers at the trade deadline, are fated to miss the playoffs this season. It remains to be seen whether Berube is retained as head coach beyond the current season. "Chief" guided the Blues to the 2018-19 Stanley Cup championship; the lone championship in the club's history (which, as with the Flyers, dates back to the 1967-68 season).
Since taking over from Mike Yeo as the Blues' head coach on Nov. 18, 2018, Berube has led St. Louis to an overall 191-115-43 record. Back on March 15 in a game against the Minnesota Wild, Berube became just the sixth person in NHL history to achieve a 500-game head coaching career after playing 1,000 or more games as a player.
The Blues have been a middle-of-the-pack team this season from an offensive standpoint, averaging 3.22 goals per game to rank 15th in the NHL. The problem has been insufficient commitment from players to a 200-foot game as well as inconsistent goaltending. The team's 3.68 GAA is tied for 28th.
Jordan Kyrou has scored a team-leading 36 goals this season and posted 71 points in 74 games played. However, while old-fashioned plus/minus ratings are a flawed statistic, Kyrou's minus-35 has caused consternation with Berube and others.
Former Flyers center Brayden Schenn, was traded to the Blues in the summer of 2017 in a deal that brought 2017 (Frost) and 2018 (Farabee) first-round picks to Philly. He is still going strong in St. Louis. The 31-year-old Schenn has posted 21 goals and 41 assists for 62 points in 77 games played this season. He's minus-27 on the campaign.
Back in the late 2010s, the most dominant offensive performers in the Ontario Hockey League included the likes of Kyrou (Sarnia Sting), Frost (Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds), Tippett (Mississauga Steelheads, Saginaw Spirit) and Robert Thomas (London Knights, Hamilton Bulldogs).
Pro
Playmaking center Thomas had an excellent season for the Blues last year (20 goals, 57 assists, 77 points in 71 games). He's followed it up in 2022-23 with 17 goals and 63 points to date. Thomas and Frost, who are the same age, have known each other for many years. Both players hail from the Toronto suburb of Aurora, Ontario.
Some other direct and indirect Flyers-Blues connections: St. Louis forward Kasperi Kapanen, who has 12 points (7g, 5a) in 18 games since being claimed off waivers from the Pittsburgh Penguins, is the son of Flyers alum player and current Finland-based European development coach and scout Sami Kapanen. Role-playing Blues forward Tyler Pitlick (5g, 14a, 19 points in 57 games this season).
In goal, sometimes controversial netminder Jordan Binnington has had a rollercoaster season during what has been an equally up-and-down season for the Blues marked by lengthy cold streaks but also some hot stretches. Overall, Binnington has a 25-25-6 record, 3.39 GAA, .891 save percentage and two shutouts in 57 games played. Veteran backup Thomas Greiss has made 21 appearances this season (7-10-0, 3.58 GAA, .896 SV%, one shutout).
The projected lineup below is subject to change. The Blues will hold a morning skate at the Enterprise Center at 10:30 a.m. CDT.
20 Brandon Saad - 10 Brayden Schenn - 15 Jakub Vrana
79 Sammy Blais - 42 Kasperi Kapanen - 75 Jordan Kyrou
63 Jake Neighbours - 22 Logan Brown - 17 Josh Leivo
13 Alexei Toropchenko - 26 Nathan Walker - 9 Tyler Pitlick
4 Nick Leddy - 55 Colton Parayko
47 Torey Krug - 72 Justin Faulk
43 Calle Rosén - 51 Matt Kessel
50 Jordan Binnington
1 Thomas Greiss