Rick Tocchet's Philadelphia Flyers (23-17-8) are in Salt Lake City on Wednesday to take on Andre Tourigny's Utah Mammoth (25-20-4). It's the first of a two-game season-series with Utah. The Flyers will host Utah on March 5 at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Tonight’s game time at Delta Center is 9:00 p.m. EST. The game will be broadcast on NBCSP.
On Monday, the Flyers ended the Vegas Golden Knights' seven-game winning streak and snapped their own six-game winless skid with a 2-1 victory. Travis Konecny scored even strength and shorthanded breakaway goals. Samuel Ersson played arguably his best game of the season in earning the win.
The Mammoth will wrap up their seven-game homestand on Wednesday. It's been a very fruitful stay for the team. Tourigny's squad has gone 5-0-1 so far, with wins in each of the last three games. Overall in January, the Mammoth boast a 7-1-1 record.
Here are the RAV4 Things to watch against Utah.
1. Fatigue factor
The Mammoth have a decided on-paper edge in terms of fatigue factor. Utah has had a three-night break in the game schedule. They've also exclusively played at home since January 7 with no games on consecutive days the entire month of January. On the flip side, the Flyers will play their sixth game in 10 nights and fourth on the road in that span. Tocchet's team has also changed time zones twice during this stretch.
A fatigue factor disadvantage is not an excuse for losing. It is, however, something that has to be managed: Short shifts, good angling, discipline in avoiding penalties, and avoiding the need to play comeback hockey are among the major keys to a potentially tired team beating a well-rested squad on its home ice. So far, however, Utah has been outstanding during its current homestand.
2. Build off last game
The Flyers' 2-1 win in Vegas was not a flawless performance. It was, however, a vast improvement for each of Philly's five previous games: 5-on-5 team defense, goaltending, faceoffs, and the penalty kill were all positive factors in the win over the Golden Knights.
Moving forward, the Flyers still need to clean up other trouble spots from the six-game losing streak that still remained on Monday: the power play, discipline (seven penalties taken), turnovers (18 giveaways including eight in the first period). Wednesday presents a valuable opportunity to take additional corrective steps in the process.
3. Heating up: Konecny
Two-time Bobby Clarke Trophy winner Travis Konecny has been the Flyers most consistent offensive performer over the last six weeks. Dating back to December 1, the Flyers have played 24 games. Despite missing one game, Konecny leads the Flyers' offensively in that span with 24 points (12g, 12a, +4). Trevor Zegras is second (10g, 10a, -3).
On Monday in Vegas, Konency's two unassisted breakaway goals supplied all the offense the Flyers would need -- or receive. In both situations, Konecny showed good anticipation to get in the lane and solo from the defensive zone all the way in to score. Moreover, he varied his finishes. He went low to the glove side on the first and low to the blocker on the other. Konecny has scored the first goal of the game in each of the Flyers' last two matches.
Utah goaltender Karel Vejmelka has been scorching hot of late and earned NHL Third Star of the Week this past week. The Flyers will likely need more than just a great individual offensive night from Konency to capture another win. However, Konency can -- and may need to -- help lead the way once again.
4. Playing with discipline
The Flyers need to play with discipline on Wednesday in every sense of the term: shift management, puck management and staying out of the penalty box. All are equally important. In terms of the third area specifically, one strong PK game is not enough to declare the Flyers' penalty killing swoon in recent weeks to be solved. Even when the penalty kill is at the top of its game, it's extraordinarily risky to have to navigate five or more penalties (seven in the case of Monday's game) in one game. That's not something replicable with consistency. The improved PK structure, however, is replicable.
