Looking for their fourth straight win after the NHL All-Star break, John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (28-19-6) will host Andre Tourigny's Arizona Coyotes (23-23-4) on Monday evening. Game time at Wells Fargo Center 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 second and final meeting of the season between the teams and the lone game in Philadelphia. On December 7 at Mullett Arena in Tempe, the Flyers earned a 4-1 victory. Travis Konecny tallied even strength and shorthanded goals, while Joel Farabee and Cam York each notched a goal apiece at 5-on-5. Lawson Crouse scored the lone goal for the Coyotes.
The Flyers enter this game coming off a 3-2 home victory against the Seattle Kraken on Saturday evening. Sean Couturier (11th goal of season) scored the game-winning goal in the third period. Couturier's winning goal came just a few minutes after he had a puck accidentally deflect off his stick in the defensive zone as Seattle briefly tied the score at 2-2. Scott Laughton (PPG, 6th) and Ryan Poehling (SHG, 7th) scored in the first period. Cal Petersen (17 saves on 19 shots) earned the win in goal.
Arizona is 0-1-1 since the All-Star break. On Saturday, the Coyotes dropped a 5-4 road decision in overtime against the Nashville Predators. The Coyotes are winless in their last five games.
Here are five things to watch in Monday's game:
1. Finding different ways to win
In the first game after the All-Star break, the Flyers overcame a poor first period against the Florida Panthers. Samuel Ersson limited the damage of the Panthers' early onslaught to one goal. Thereafter, the Flyers stepped up over the remainder of the game to grind out a 2-1 victory.
On Thursday at home against the Winnipeg Jets, the Flyers built a 4-0 lead in the first 23 minutes of regulation. Thereafter, the Jets buzzed in Philly's end zone for long stretches of both the second and third periods. Ersson nevertheless carried a shutout for 54-plus minutes and the Flyers skated off with a 4-1 win.
Saturday's 3-2 home win over Seattle was a much more complete and consistent effort by Philly. The Flyers scored goals on both ends of special teams. They slammed the door with authority once Couturier's third-period goal re-established a lead at 3-2.
This season, the Flyers have been a very good team overall when they play with a lead. When leading first, Philly is 21-4-2 to date for a .778 winning percentage (ranked sixth in the NHL).
It took a while this season for the Flyers to earn their first win when trailing first but they have overcame that challenge it to some degree (7-14-6). The league average when trailing first is to win one out of three times (.333 winning percentage). Philly is below the median, clocking in at a .269 winning percentage.
The Coyotes rank 15th in the NHL in winning percentage when leading first: .15-5-2 for a .682 winning percentage. When trailing first, Arizona is 8-18-2 for a .286 winning percentage (ranked in a tie for 20th leaguewide).
2. Flyers centers stepping up recently
In our 5 Things preview of last Thursday's home game against Winnipeg, we noted that the Flyers needed more point production -- especially in the goal-scoring department -- down the middle than they'd been receiving since the start of January. The team's centers subsequently stepped up and delivered in the wins over the Jets and Seattle.
Over the last two games, the Flyers received four goals from their centers: shorthanded goals by Poehling in back-to-back matches, Laughton's power play marker on Saturday, and one even strength goal apiece by Morgan Frost (vs. Winnipeg) and Couturier.
This week, with games on tap against the Coyotes, Toronto Maple Leafs (road) and New Jersey Devils (Stadium Series), the Flyers will need all hands on deck. Couturier's all-around game -- his offense as well as his checking prowess and faceoff ability -- will be especially important to navigating the slate of games this week.
Keep a particularly close watch of Frost, too.
Ever since requesting a one-one-one meeting with Tortorella and advocating for himself after being scratched for the 11th time this season, the 24-year-old center has taken his offensive game to another level. Since that time, Frost had led the team in scoring: 12 points (2g, 10a) over the last 13 games. He's used his feet effectively and shown both his ice vision and passing prowess on a more consistent basis.
Last season, Frost punished the Coyotes for eight points (1g, 7a) over the two meetings between the teams. He had two separate four-point games.
3. Important Game for Cates
Noah Cates has played 10 games so far since returning to the Flyers lineup from a broken foot suffered in late November. He hasn't fully re-assumed the workload he carried as a rookie in 2022-23 or in the early part of the current season, but that could change in a hurry.
With the exception of one game, Cates has primarily played on a wing rather than at center in the 10 matches since his return. He's averaged 12:38 of ice time per game since he re-entered the lineup.
Since the All-Star break, Cates has two points (1g, 1a) in three games. He scored the game-winner on a hustling play against the Panthers for his second goal of the 2023-24 season.
4. Flyers Special Teams vs. Coyotes Special Teams
The Flyers were 1-for-4 on the power play against Seattle and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill. As noted earlier, Poehling scored shorthanded for the second straight game. Laughton's power play goal came on a scorching one-timer from the top of the right circle.
On Thursday, Egor Zamula was a healthy scratch and the Flyers went away -- at least for one game -- from the 11F/7D lineup they'd been using for the last month. There was a trickle-down effect on the power play. With Zamula out of the lineup, Jamie Drysdale was promoted from the second power play unit to the first unit. Cam York (who assisted on the Laughton power play goal, along with Frost) saw PP2 duty.
It remains to be seen how the lineup will be arranged at 5-on-5 and the power play against Arizona. The Flyers did not practice on Sunday.
Over the three games since the All-Star break, the Flyers are 1-for-9 on the power play. For the season, the Flyers rank 31st at 13.2 percent (22-for-167) with three opposing shorthanded goals allowed.
On the penalty kill, the Flyers rank second in the NHL with an 86.0 percent success rate (opposing power plays are 23-for-164). Philly tops the NHL with 12 shorthanded goals scored: five by Konecny, three by Poehling, two by Sean Walker and one apiece by Laughton and Garnet Hathaway.
The Coyotes have a good power play, ranking 11th in the NHL at 22.9 percent (35-for-153). However, the team has coughed up six shorthanded goals (tied for the eighth most leaguewide), including Konencny's breakaway shorthander in the Dec. 7 game in Arizona.
Arizona's penalty kill ranks in the lower one-third of the NHL, checking in at 78.5 percent (21st, opposing power plays are 35-for-165) for the season to date. The Coyotes have scored three shorthanded goals: one apiece by Nick Bjugstad, Alex Kerfoot, and Michael Carcone.
5. Behind Enemy Lines: Arizona Coyotes
Tourigny's team is not ready to contend for a playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Coyotes still struggle to score (ranking 25th in the NHL with 147 goals to date). That does not mean, however, that the Coyotes have not improved significantly in some key areas.
Most notably, at the same juncture of last season,Arizona had yielded 189 opposing goals. This season, they've trimmed the total by 34 goals (155 goals against) to rank 17th with a 3.10 team goals against average. Add that to a generally solid power play and the Coyotes are no pushover.
Clayon Keller leads the Coyotes with 48 points (21g, 27a) in 50 games played. He's followed by Matias Maccelli (7g, 26a, 33 points), Nick Schmaltz (14g, 17a, 31 points) and Kerfoot (7g, 22a, 29 points). Crouse has 19 goals (four on the power play) among his 29 points to date. Sean Durzi tops the blueline with 28 points (8g, 20a) in just 44 games played.
In goal, Connor Ingram has started 32 games and made two relief appearances: 17-12-2 record, 2.76 GAA, .912 save percentage, five shutouts. Karel Vejmelkia has made 18 starts and three relief appearances: 6-11-2 record, 3.33 GAA, .900 save percentage, one shutout.
