5 THINGS: Flyers vs. Blues

Interim head coach Mike Yeo's Philadelphia Flyers (15-25-10) will host Craig Berube's St. Louis Blues (29-14-6) at the Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday evening. Game time at the Wells Fargo Center is 7:00 p.m. ET (NBCSP, 97.5 The Fanatic).

This is the first of two meetings this season between the inter-conference clubs. The scene will shift to the Enterprise Center in St. Louis on March 24.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been more than two calendar years since the last time the Flyers played the Blues. Back on January 15, 2020, the Flyers earned a 4-3 overtime win in St. Louis.
The Flyers enter this game coming off a 4-3 overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes at the Wells Fargo Center on Monday afternoon. A well-rested Flyers team dominated the majority of the game against a fatigued Hurricanes club that was playing for the third time in four days. Nonetheless, the Flyers had to battle back from three separate one-goal deficits in order to gain one point and send the game to OT.
Gerry Mayhew (6th goal of the season), Patrick Brown (2nd) and Oskar Lindblom (7th) scored in a losing cause for the Flyers. Pressed into starting goaltending duties because Carter Hart was dealing with an eye infection, Martin Jones stopped 27 of 31 shots.
The Flyers are winless in the five games (0-3-2) since the NHL All-Star Break. After starting 6-2-2 in their first 10 games, the team has gone 9-23-8 over its last 40 games. The Flyers have won just two of their 20 games.
The Blues are 3-0-1 in the last four games. They enter Tuesday's match coming off a 6-3 road win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday. The Blues led 2-0 early but the game was tied at 3-3 by the end of the middle stanza. In the third period, St. Louis pulled away with three unanswered goals.
Pavel Buchnevich (17th and 18th goals of the season), Klim Kostin (4th), Brayden Schenn (14th), Brandon Saad (16th) and Ryan O'Reilly (11th) scored for St. Louis. The latter Buchnevich goal was an empty-netter off an unselfish 2-on-1 feed from Robert Thomas. The team did not have the services of veteran star Vladimir Tarasenko, who is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. Ville Husso made 34 saves to earn the win in net.
Here are five things to watch in Tuesday's game:
1. Mayhew moves up, Frost's role reduction.
In each of the last two games the Flyers have played, winger Gerry Mayhew has moved up from the third line to the first line for the final 40 minutes of regulation. Oskar Lindblom has primarily played the last two games on the team's third line after being deployed on Claude Giroux's line in the first period.
The 30-year-old Mayhew has clearly become a trusted player for Yeo. He has been responding well so far to an increased role.
Of late, Mayhew has been deployed in 4-on-4 situations, on the power play second unit, and in overtime 3-on-3 situations. He has scored three goals over the last two games and all six of his goals this season have come in his last 10 games. Mayhew's goal against the Hurricanes came on an attempted cross-crease pass that deflected off the stick of Carolina's Sebastian Aho and into the net. Among his six goals this season at the NHL level, Mayhew has two goals in 4-on-4 situations, one power play marker (scored against Washington last Thursday) and three goals at 5-on-5.
While Mayhew has seen his ice time and usage increase, third-line center Morgan Frost has seen his role decrease over the three games of his post NHL All-Star Break recall. The 22-year-old rookie is no longer part of the power play personnel (replaced by Scott Laughton, Frost has played less than a combined 40 seconds on PP2 in the last two games). He exclusively skates 5-on-5 shifts in the bottom six and is periodically skipped on certain shift rotations. In the last two games, Frost has skated 9:10 and 11:03 of ice time, respectively.
2. "At a tipping point"
In each of the last three games, the Flyers have played against strong competition: Pittsburgh, Washington and Carolina. Philly played well enough to put themselves in position to win, but not well enough to close out any of the games with a victory.
Against Pittsburgh, the Flyers held a 4-2 lead in the third period, only to lose 5-4 in overtime. In the Washington game, the Flyers led 3-2 late in the third period but then gave up three goals in the final three minutes to go down to a 5-3 loss. On Monday against the Hurricanes, the Flyers controlled virtually the entire opening 30 minutes of the game and later had the better of play for the majority of the third period. Nonetheless, they trailed by scores of 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2 before losing in overtime, 4-3.
Yeo admitted that the frustration level on the team has reached critical mass: an improved recent process has yielded no wins. It's very easy for a team in that situation to revert to the sort of sloppiness and non-competitiveness that dug the team such a cavernous hole in the standings in the first place.
"I feel like we are at a little bit of a tipping point if I am being honest with you because there is so much frustration. We are pushing and we are getting better. We are getting tougher to play against and we are giving up fewer scoring chances and generating more scoring chances. We are getting more consistent in our checking game and the mentality of how we want to play with the puck. But certainly you don't hope for results as a coach, you want to work and earn your results. But at the same time results do help build the confidence in that game and reinforce those things," Yeo said after Monday's game.
"It is a challenge and I am going to challenge our leaders and challenge our group to stay with it. That is what's required. Whether it is changing culture, building a game, going from a place from where we have been for the last two years to where we want to go, that is a really tough job. A lot of teams with really good players have been able to break that, so that's where we are at. I feel like we have done a lot of building, but the next part is going to be the hardest and we have to stay with it."
Here's the bottom line: This Flyers team has endured 10-game, 13-game and a current five-game winless streak. Dating back to Jan. 1 (19 games played), the Flyers have the NHL's worst record at 2-13-4. While the underlying processes have been noticeably better in the most recent three games, the team's overall performance in the last one-quarter of the season has been deserving of the dismal record that accompanies it.
3. Inside the Numbers
Dating back to Jan 1, only the Seattle Kraken (2.20 goals per game) have scored at a more anemic rate than Philly (2.42). The Flyers' 3.95 team goals against average in that span ranks 30th, and it's usually been a case of the team in from dragging the goaltending down with it. The Flyers' power play ranks 29th (12.1 percent) in that span. The penalty kill ranks dead last in the NHL at 64.6 percent.
At 5-on-5, the team has been outscored by a margin of 47 to 35 (minus-12) dating back to Jan. 1. For the season as a whole across 50 games played, the Flyers are minus-20 (90 GF/ 110 GA) in their 5-on-5 goal differential.
Conversely, the Blues have underlying key numbers in a variety of areas that correspond with a team that is currently in automatic playoff position: third place in the Central Division, one point behind the second-place Minnesota Wild. For the season, the Blues are the NHL's fifth highest-scoring team (3.53 GPG), tied for the 8th-lowest goals against average (2.76), ranks No. 2 in the league in power play efficiency (26.9 percent), has the 6th-ranked penalty kill (84.6 percent) and the second-most shorthanded goals scored (seven).

St. Louis has actually been outshot by opponents on average this season (31.0 shots on goal per game/ 31.7 shots against per game) and actually ranks one spot behind the 22nd-ranked Flyers (47.5 team Corsi) in 5-on-5 shot attempt differentials. The 23rd-ranked Blues have a 47.4 percent team Corsi at 5-on-5. In terms of "expected goals" at 5-on-5, St. Louis ranks 25th at 46.77 percent expected goals rate (Flyers are 26th at 46.69 percent).
Keep in mind, however, that the New York Rangers have had similarly unfavorable 5-on-5 underlying numbers in shot attempt differentials and "expected goals''. As with the Rangers, the Blues' special teams potency, chance-finishing efficiency and ability to tighten things up when needed matter more than the raw numbers. Plain and simple, regardless of their similar leaguewide rankings to the Flyers in a couple oft-cited publicly available metrics, there are many clear-cut reasons why the Blues (and Rangers) have much better bottom-line -- actual goal differentials, won-loss record -- results over the season than the Flyers.
4. Behind Enemy Lines: St. Louis Blues
The Blues expect to have leading scorer Tarasenko back in the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Flyers. St. Louis is 6-3-1 over its last 10 games and 3-1-1 in the last five.
Tarasenko shares his team scoring lead with 45 points (18g, 27a) in 44 games played to date this season. His production has been by Buchnevich, who also has 45 points (18g, 27a) in one fewer game. Jordan Kyrou has 44 points (18g, 26a) in 45 games played. Robert Thomas leads the club with 32 assists among his 39 points. Ivan Barbashev has posted 15 goals among his 34 points.
Former Selke Trophy and Conn Smythe Trophy winner Ryan O'Reilly has chipped in 11 goals and 28 points to date this season. The 31-year-old center is coming off a strong performance in the Toronto game. His older brother, Cal O'Reilly, is the captain of the Flyers' AHL affiliate, Lehigh Valley.
St. Louis defenseman Justin Faulk has posted points in six straight games entering this match. Overall, Torey Krug paces the Blues' defense corp offensively, with 28 points (6g, 22a) and a plus-21 in 44 games played.
During the Blues' history-making midseason 2018-19 turnaround from last place to eventually winning the Stanley Cup, the transformation started with rookie goalie Jordan Binnington shutting out the Flyers in a game at the Wells Fargo Center. This season, Binnington has had his ups and downs in his 24 starts: 11-10-3 record, 3.35 GAA, .898 save percentage and one shutout. The story this year has been the play of Husso in 19 games. The Finn enters this game with a 12-3-2 record, 1.97 GAA, .936 save percentage and two shutouts in 19 games.
5. Players to watch: Ratcliffe and Schenn
Rookie Flyers left wing Isaac Ratcliffe has seen his usage increase since his recall from the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Over the last several games, he has been part of the Flyers' second power play unit. On Monday against Carolina, Ratcliffe skated 13:20 of ice time. He even saw a couple shifts on a line with Claude Giroux and Cam Atkinson and was on the ice in the final minute of the third period with the score tied at 3-3. Ratcliffe has posted points (1g, 3a) in four of the last five games.
Former Flyers center Brayden Schenn has nine points in his last seven games (5g, 4a) and leads his team with 17 points (10g, 7a) dating back to Jan. 1. Overall this season, Schenn has posted 14 goals and 27 points in 33 games. He has played five career games against the Flyers (2g, 2a) since the trade at the 2017 NHL Entry Draft that sent him to the Blues in exchange for the 2017 first-round pick used on Morgan Frost selection, the 2018 first-round pick used on Joel Farabee and center Jori Lehterä.