The Philadelphia Flyers’ season is mercifully coming to an end with this road trip to visit our friends up north. The first of the final two games come in Manitoba, against the Winnipeg Jets.
The Jets are eliminated from playoff contention in the much tighter Western Conference, but they’re still a solid team with plenty of threats that the Flyers have to worry about in the upcoming matchup. The first is Kyle Connor, who leads the team in goals (3) and points (4) over the last 5 games. He also leads the team in points on the season as a whole, with 89 in 76 games. He has 45 goals on the season, which is 16 more than the second-place player on the team, Mark Scheifele, who has 29. It is Scheifele’s 5th season with at least 29 goals, and if he manages to pot one in the last 2 games, it will be his 3 season with 30 goals or more.
Leading the team in assists over the last five games is the Jets’ best defenseman, Neal Pionk (3). He sits 8th on the team in points with 34, and he sits 5th on the Jets with 31.
The Jets over their last 10 games have had trouble winning games. They are 3-6-1 despite a win against the Central Division and Western Conference-leading Colorado Avalanche in their most recent game to break a five-game losing streak. The Jets are 36-32-11 in 80 games.
The projected starting goaltender for the Jets is Eric Comrie. He is 8-5-1 with a 2.72 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage on the season. His last game was a 42 save loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. He only allowed three goals, but the Hurricanes are a force to be reckoned with. In his last three outings, he has had over a .930 save percentage, but both of them have been losses.
The Flyers have unsurprisingly not been good over their last 10 games. They are 3-7-0 and coming off of a loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. They won their two games before that against the Pittsburgh Penguins and Montreal Canadiens, two teams that are on very different ends of the spectrum in the Eastern Conference. The Flyers have a total record of 25-44-11 over the course of the season. They sit last in the Metropolitan Division, two points behind the New Jersey Devils in the same amount of games.
Travis Konecny holds the team lead in points for the season with 52 in 77 games. He also leads the team in assists (4) and points (6) in the last 5 games. Cam Atkinson is second with 50 points in 4 fewer games. Then, the total drops from 50 to 37 with James van Riemsdyk in third place on the team.
The young guys are helping to lead the charge through the end of the season, just as was planned by Chuck Fletcher. Ronnie Attard, Noah Cates, Morgan Frost, and Bobby Brink are all contributing to the Flyers’ on-ice play. Of course, there have been bumps in the road, as there are with any young player’s development. But in the end, this could prove to be a very beneficial time for these young players. Building confidence is paramount, and although the Flyers haven’t been winning games, getting playing time and producing well on or even off the score sheet can do wonders.
The projected starting goaltender for the Flyers is Martin Jones per the NHL projected lines. Jones has a 3.43 goals-against average and an even .900 save percentage in 34 games played. In his last outing, he took home a victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins. He had a .974 save percentage in that game.
The Jets may be out of the playoffs, but they are not a team that the Flyers can take lightly. The Flyers are going to want to end start the end-of-season road trip off on the right foot, and winning is the perfect way to do that. Or, they can lose and increase the draft stock. Only time will tell.
Projected Lineup
Scott Laughton — Kevin Hayes — Travis Konecny
James van Riemsdyk — Joel Farabee — Bobby Brink
Noah Cates — Morgan Frost — Owen Tippett
Oskar Lindblom — Nate Thompson — Zack MacEwen
Ivan Provorov — Ronnie Attard
Linus Hogberg — Travis Sanheim
Keith Yandle — Egor Zamula
Martin Jones
Felix Sandstrom
