It’s been tough going for the Flyers of late as they have lost eight of their last ten, and are currently on a four game losing streak. It has been especially disappointing due to the fact that its not one particular area the team has had its struggles. Throughout this ten game stretch the Flyers have scored only 23 goals, while giving up 33 to their opposition. Furthermore if you have been watching, they haven’t exactly been the best goals to give up. There have been multiple sloppy turnovers leading to odd man rushes, as well as breakdowns in their own zone leading to some really quality chances.
The Philadelphia Flyers are 22-25-10 this season and sit seventh in the metro division, nine points out of a playoff spot. Last time out the Flyers fell to the Vancouver Canucks by a score of 6-2. While they played better than they have of late there was still just to many mistakes that ultimately cost them in the end.
The Calgary Flames are 26-19-11 this season sitting fifth in the pacific division and just two points out of the final wild card position. They are coming off a really solid 3-2 win over the New York Rangers, in which they snapped a seven game win streak the Rangers were riding. The Flames have been lead this season by Elias Lindholm (49 points), Nazem Kadri (41 points), and Tyler Toffoli (48 points).
Flyers Projected Lines
James van Riemsdyk-Morgan Frost-Travis Konecny
Kevin Hayes-Scott Laughton-Owen Tippett
Nic Deslauriers-Noah Cates-Wade Allison
Joel Farabee-Patrick Brown-Olle Lycksell
Ivan Provorov-Justin Braun
Cam York-Rasmus Ristolainen
Nick Seeler-Tony DeAngelo
Sam Ersson
(Carter Hart)
Flames Projected Lines
Dillon Dube-Elias Lindholm-Tyler Toffoli
Jakob Pelletier-Nazem Kadri-Jonathan Huberdeau
Andrew Mangiapane-Mikael Backlund-Blake Coleman
Milan Lucic-Trevor Lewis-Brett Ritchie
Noah Hanifin-Rasmus Andersson
MacKenzie Weegar-Chris Tanev
Nikita Zadorov-Dennis Gilbert
Jacob Markstrom
(Dan Vladar)
What to Watch For
- This is the second and final time the two teams will battle it out this season. The teams met earlier this season during yet another Flyers ten game losing streak, in which the Flames won 5-2. The Flyers were without Travis Konecny and Scott Laughton in this matchup, while Blake Coleman recorded a goal and an assist for the Flames.
- Joel Farabee has struggled this year, after showing a lot of promise last season. The 22-year-old forward has only tallied nine goals and 17 assist this season for a total of 26 points in 57 games. While the Flyers may be out of a playoff spot and not very close to a first overall pick, players like Farabee are the reason to keep watching. I want to see if he, and other young players, are just going to pack it in for the season or if they can show a little spark and a little promise of something to look forward too in the future.
- After going pointless in his last eight game Travis Konecny has three points in his last two games. The jury is still out on whether Konecny can be a top line player or whether he is just very solid role player on a good team. Hopefully he will continue to pile up points down the home stretch and prove to be more than a streaky player.
- Jonathan Huberdeau has not lived up to the hype that surrounded him when he came to Calgary. After recording 115 points last season with the Florida Panthers, the 29-year-old winger has just 38 points in 53 games. Additionally, there has recently been drama off the ice with Huberdeau’s agent tweeting about the lack of joy in the Flames locker room, while also taking a subtle shot at head coach Darryl Sutter. So the pressure is building on and off the ice for Huberdeau it will be interesting to see how he deals with it in the remaining games. /
