5 THINGS: Flyers @ Blackhawks

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This is the second and final meeting of the season between the teams, and the lone game in Chicago. On the afternoon of March 5 at the Wells Fargo Center, the Flyers collected a 4-3 victory. The Flyers led 1-0, trailed 2-1 and 3-2. In the third period, the Flyers pulled even and then went ahead to stay.
Oskar Lindblom gave the Flyers an early 1-0 lead. Alex DeBrincat tied the game on a snipe off a faceoff in the opening half-minute of the second period. Dylan Strome gave the Blackhawks a 2-1 lead at 12:39. Atkinson briefly drew the Flyers even at 2-2 but Strome scored again shortly thereafter to put the Blackhawks ahead again. 3-2.
In the third period, then-Flyer Derick Brassard re-tied the score, making it 3-3 at 3:09. Atkinson (20th goal of the season) notched his second of the game five-plus minutes later to put the Flyers back in the driver's seat with a 4-3 lead. The Flyers closed out the game successfully.
Martin Jones stopped 26 of 29 shots to earn the victory. Kevin Lankinen absorbed the loss with 23 saves on 27 shots.
The Flyers went 0-for-4 on the power play. Chicago went 0-for-1.
The game back on March 5 marked Kevin Hayes' return to the Philadelphia lineup after undergoing a third core-muscle surgical procedure -- this time to clean out a severe infection -- within a calendar year. Since his return, Hayes leads the team with 21 points (6g, 15a) in the 26 games the Flyers have played in that span.
The Flyers enter this game coming off a 4-1 home victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday. A stellar performance by the line of Noah Cates (2g, 1a), Morgan Frost (1g, 1a) and Owen Tippett (1a) led the way for Philadelphia.
In the game against Pittsburgh, the Flyers also got an empty-net goal from Travis Konecny, who took over sole possession of the team's overall scoring lead with 51 points (16g, 35a). Both Konecny and Frost have scored goals in back-to-back games. Konecny will bring a five-game point streak (3g, 3a) to Chicago.
On Sunday, Jones flirted with his first shutout of the season until a late 6-on-5 goal by Sidney Crosby but finished with 37 saves on 38 shots. On Monday, the starting nod will likely go to rookie netminder Felix Sandström (0-2-1, 3.29 GAA, .915 SV%).
After losing six games in a row in regulation, the Flyers have won back-to-back games for the first time since beating the Blackhawks and Vegas Golden Knights back-to-back on March 5 and March 8. Philly is 3-7-0 over its last 10 games.
Chicago is 1-4-0 over its last five games and 2-7-1 over the last 10. On Saturday, the Blackhawks concluded a three-game road trip against Pacific Division clubs with a 4-1 loss at the hands of the San Jose Sharks.
The Blackhawks found themselves in a 3-0 hole shortly past the midpoint of regulation. It was too much to overcome. Tyler Johnson (3rd goal of the season) got Chicago on the board with a late second-period goal from the low slot off a centering feed by team captain Jonathan Toews. Seth Jones also earned an assist, his 46th helper and 51st point of the season, on the play. San Jose re-established a three-goal margin in the third period.
Here are five things to watch in Monday's game:
1. Same Lineup for the Flyers?
It has not been very often this season that the Flyers have started identical starting lineup combinations in three or more straight games. That could be the case, however, in Chicago. The Flyers won't hold a morning skate but after back-to-back wins against Montreal and Pittsburgh, the Flyers could feature the same combinations again on all four forward lines and all three defense pairs. The only likely change is in net, with Jones resting in the second game of the back-to-back.
Projected Flyers lineup (subject to change)
21 Scott Laughton - 13 Kevin Hayes - 11 Travis Konecny
25 James van Riemsdyk - 86 Joel Farabee - 46 Bobby Brink
49 Noah Cates - 48 Morgan Frost - 74 Owen Tippett
23 Oskar Lindblom - 44 Nate Thompson - 17 Zack MacEwen
9 Ivan Provorov - 47 Ronnie Attard
84 Linus Högberg - 6 Travis Sanheim
3 Keith Yandle - 54 Egor Zamula
32 Felix Sandström
[35 Martin Jones]
PP1: Konecny, Hayes, Farabee, Brink, Sanheim
PP2: Frost, Laughton, JVR/Cates, Tippett, Provorov
2. Youthful Energy
Over the course of the previous two games, it was largely the group of Flyers players who are under the age of 24 who drove the team offensively, including 20-year-old Bobby Brink (two assists in the Montreal game), the line of the 23-year-old Cates, 22-year-old Frost and 23-year-old Tippett (who combined for four goals in the past two games). The 22-year-old Joel Farabee skated 19:34 of ice time against Pittsburgh and, despite injuries this season, has his second straight 20-goal campaign within reach if he tallies three goals over the final three games.
On the blueline, young veterans Ivan Provorov (age 25) and Travis Sanheim (age 26) have been pulling down massive ice time -- even more than usual -- because the defense corps is riddled with injuries. Three rookies have been in the lineup (on separate pairings) over the past two games, and all three among 23-year-old Ronnie Attard, 22-year-old Egor Zamula and 23-year-old Linus Högberg have held their own for the most part. The Flyers' top young defenseman, 21-year-old Cam York (30 GP, 3g, 7a, 10 points) is out for the remainder of the season with a lower-body injury.
3. Inside the Numbers: The Last Month
Heading into the game in Chicago, the Flyers have played 15 games over the last month (March 25 to date). In that span, veterans James van Riemsdyk (8g, 2a) and Hayes (2g, 8a) lead the team with 10 points apiece, followed by Cates (4g, 5a, +4 in 13 games played), Konecny (4g, 5a in 14 games), defensemen Provorov (4g, 5a, -10, 24:33 TOI) and Sanheim (2g, 8a, team-high +5, 25:00 TOI) and centerman Frost (3g, 4a, +3).
Meanwhile, the Blackhawks have played 14 games in the same span. Offensively, they've been led by familiar names: DeBrincat (4g, 12a), Patrick Kane (5g, 10a), Toews (3g, 6a), Strome (3g, 6a), Dominik Kubalik (3g, 5a, +3) and defenseman Jones (1g, 7a, -13).
The Blackhawks have the NHL's worst record over the last month, going 2-10-2 (.214 points percentage) with a 2.43 team goals per game average and a team 4.29 goals against average. The Flyers have fared very slightly better at 4-11-0 (.267 points percentage), 2.87 GPG and 4.33 GAA.

4. Behind Enemy Lines: Chicago Blackhawks
The Blackhawks did not practice on Sunday after returning home from Saturday's game in San Jose. Against the Sharks, Lakinen (6-15-6, 3.62 GAA, .887 SV%) got the start in goal; the Finnish netminder's fifth start in the team's last six games. Collin Delia (7 GP, 1-4-0, 4.06 GAA, .896 SV%) is the team's other goalie option following the trade that sent veteran Marc-Andre Fleury to the Minnesota Wild.
Alternate captain Connor Murphy, the son of Flyers alum defenseman and former Flyers assistant coach Gord Murphy, is on injured reserve, along with winger Jujhar Khaira. Former Flyers defenseman Erik Gustafsson, who had a disappointing stint in Philadelphia last season prior to being traded to Montreal at the deadline, has appeared in 57 games this season in his return to the Blackhawks. Gustafsson has posted 17 points (2g, 15a) and averaged 16:42 of ice time. "Gus" appeared in two of three games during the recent road trip.
Acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Brandon Hagel deal, NHL rookie forwards Taylor Raddysh and Boris Katchouk are the former Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL) linemates of Flyers center Morgan Frost. While both were still with Tampa Bay, Raddysh scored his second career NHL goal and Katchouk notched his first in a Dec. 5 game against the Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center. Since coming over to Chicago, Raddysk has chipped in four goals and four assists in 18 games played while Katchouk has one point (1g, 0a, -10) in 18 games.
5. Players to Watch: Tippett and DeBrincat
It still seems like only a matter of time until Owen Tippett breaks out offensively. He's had no fewer than a combined 10 breakaways, point blank scoring opportunities, and/or shots that rang off the goal post or crossbar. In the 18 games since joining the Flyers, Tippett has racked up 43 shots on goal (trailing only Kevin Hayes's 54 and Konecny's 44 among Flyers forwards). Through it all, Tippett only has three goals and two assists to show for it. Nevertheless, if the player keeps using his combination of size, speed and willingness to shoot the puck, an eventual breakthrough seems likely (even if it doesn't happen until next season). He's shown good chemistry with Cates and Frost.
For the season, Patrick Kane (as usual) leads the Blackhawks in overall scoring with 91 points (26g, 65a). In the meantime, pint-sized scoring machine DeBrincat -- a player that the Flyers' Brink was sometimes compared to when he was a second-round selection in the 2019 NHL Draft -- has hit the 40-goal mark on the season and has posted 76 points. Over the team's last five games, DeBrincat leads the Blackhawks with six points (1g, 5a).