5 THINGS: Flyers vs. Predators

GAME NOTES
On the night that Claude Giroux celebrates his 1,000th regular season game with the team, interim head coach Mike Yeo's Philadelphia Flyers (18-30-11) will host John Hynes' Nashville Predators (35-21-4) at the Wells Fargo Center. The special ceremonies for Giroux will begin at 7:00 p.m. ET with the game's opening faceoff at 7:16.

The game will be televised on NBCSP, with a radio broadcast on 97.5 The Fanatic. The radio broadcast will also be streamed on Flyers Radio 24/7.
This is the first of two games this season between the teams this season. The clubs will rematch at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on March 27.
The Flyers enter this game coming off a late-game collapse in a 4-3 overtime home loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday evening. The Flyers held and lost three separate one-goal leads including a 3-2 edge with a power play in the final minute of regulation. Kevin Hayes (4th goal of the season), Giroux (18th) and Cam Atkinson (22nd) scored in regulation.
The Predators currently hold the upper wildcard seed in the Western Conference and are battling the Minnesota Wild for third place and an automatic playoff spot in the Central Division. The Predators have won seven of their last 10 games including a 6-2 road victory against Minnesota on Sunday and a 4-1 home win on Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Here are five things to watch in this game:
1. An Emotional Night
Will Thursday's game be the final one of Giroux's iconic Flyers career? Will the impending unrestricted free agent waive his no-movement clause and accept a trade elsewhere to pursue a Stanley Cup championship? Or will the pull of keeping his family in Philadelphia and remaining with the only organization he's play for in his professional career ultimately result in him pursuing a contract extension instead?
These are all questions that will answered in the days to come. Thursday's game is all about celebrating Giroux becoming just the second player in Flyers history to play 1,000 games with the team.
"That's a real amazing accomplishment, to play 1,000 games with one organization, to play them the way that he did, to add what he's added to this organization. Let's celebrate that and let's celebrate it with a great game. Let's make it special for G," Yeo said after Wednesday's practice in Voorhees.
No matter how you slice it, this won't be just another hockey game from an emotional standpoint. Giroux's wife and two young children, a host of relatives and friends will be on hand. Hockey Hall of Famer Clarke, who was the Flyers' general manager at the time the organization selected Giroux with the 22nd overall pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, will take part in the pregame ceremonies.
Part of what makes Giroux's Flyers legacy special is how beloved the team's longtime captain has been among his teammates. It will be incumbent upon the group as a whole to focus only on the here and now: find a way to defeat the Predators in honor of Giroux, and then see how the immediate future thereafter plays out in upcoming days.
The Flyers' projected lineup is below. The team also recalled forward Max Willman on Wednesday from the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms:
48 Morgan Frost - 28 Claude Giroux - 11 Travis Konecny
25 James van Riemsdyk - 19 Derick Brassard - 89 Can Atkinson
23 Oskar Lindblom - 13 Kevin Hayes - 86 Joel Farabee
71 Max Willman - 38 Patrick Brown - 17 Zack MacEwen
9 Ivan Provorov - 45 Cam York
6 Travis Sanheim - 70 Rasmus Ristolainen
3 Keith Yandle - 61 Justin Braun
79 Carter Hart
35 Martin Jones
2. Finding Ways to Score on the Power Play
It's no secret that the Flyers have struggled on the power play for most of the 2021-22 season. The team enters the game ranked 30th in the NHL in power play success rate (23-for-170, 13.5 percent). The Predators rank in the middle of the pack in the NHL in terms of penalty killing prowess (80.2 percent, ranked 14th).
However, no team in the NHL has been penalized more frequently this season than the Predators. The team has played shorthanded 207 times (compared to 172 for the Flyers) and logged a total of 740 penalty minutes (compare to the Flyers' 520 team penalty minutes).
If the Flyers are to find an avenue to winning this game, coming out on top of the special teams battle would go a long way toward doing so despite Nashville's significant on-paper edge heading into the game. The Predators' power play ranks 9th in the NHL (23.8 percent success rate), while Flyers come in ranked 26th on the penalty kill (75.6 percent).
3. Inside the Numbers: Closing Out Games
The Flyers have either led, been tied or trailed by a single goal within the third period in 22 of their last 24 games. Closeouts, however, have been a major problem and wins have remains scarce (5-15-4).
In the meantime, Nashville boasts a 21-3-0 record when taking a lead to the first intermission and a nearly unblemished 26-0-1 mark when leading after two periods. The Predators have not been especially adept at coming from behind successfully when forced to chase the game: 2-13-1 when trailing after one period and 2-13-0 when trailing after two.

4. Behind Enemy Lines: Nashville Predators
A 35-save performance by goaltender Juuse Saaros backstopped the Predators to a 4-1 victory over Pittsburgh on Tuesday. Goals by Mattias Ekholm (4th), Tanner Jeannot (19th), Eeli Tolvanen (8th) and Yakov Trenin (14th) supplied the offensive support. Roman Josi contributed three assists (50th, 51st and 52nd) and Colton Scissons posted two assists.
Entering Thursday's game, superstar defenseman Josi leads the Predators with 69 points in 58 games played. Both Matt Duchene (31 goals, 60 points) and Filip Forsberg (31 goals, 55 points) have already surpassed the 30-goal milestone on the season.
Defenseman Matt Benning did not play on Tuesday against Pittsburgh and is considered day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Veteran defenseman Mark Borowiecki (day-to-day, lower-body injury) was also unable to suit up for Tuesday's game.
The Predators have a pair of former Flyers on their roster: defenseman Philippe Myers (26 games played) and forward Nick Cousins (47 games played, seven goals, 16 points).
The Predators did not practice on Wednesday. They will hold a morning skate at the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday.
5. Players to Watch: Giroux and Johansen
In his last game, Giroux hit a pair of career milestones on a single play. He notched the 900th point of his NHL career also surpassed Hockey Hall of Fame center Eric Lindros for sole possession of eighth on the Flyers' all-time goal-scoring list with the 291st goal of his career. Giroux has played 17 career games against the Predators, posting seven goals and eight assists for 15 points.
Ryan Johansen has posted five points over his last five games including a three-point outing (1g, 2a) against St. Louis on March 12. For his career, Johansen has posted 13 points (4g, 9a) in 19 games against the Flyers.