The Philadelphia Flyers limped into the All-Star break, looking much like the Flyers of old. A refresh was desperately needed.
Coming out of the break and traveling to Florida to face off against the highly talented Panthers was no easy task. After a first period in which the Flyers were outplayed, they managed to escape only down 1-0. The Flyers then bounced back and took down the Panthers 2-1, who up until then had a record of 20-0-4 when scoring first. The win had to be a big morale boost for the Flyers, and unfortunately their reward is a home tilt against the Winnipeg Jets.
4-Game Losing Streak
You can look at this in two ways. The Jets, who are currently on a 4 game losing streak, are struggling and the Flyers have a good shot to extend that streak to 5. Or you can say…the Jets are due.
Regardless, Winnipeg has lost 4 in a row and are now 30-13-5 on the year. They hold onto 3rd place in the top-heavy Central Division, 3 points behind the first place Colorado Avalanche. The Jets have only scored 2 goals during this gruesome stretch of losses. They were shut out by the Toronto Maple Leafs, actually losing to them twice during the streak. They were also shut out by the Pittsburgh Penguins and suffered a loss at the hands of the juggernaut Boston Bruins.
The Jets are struggling mightily when it comes to scoring lately. Despite Winnipeg’s stellar record, they are actually in the middle of the pack when it comes to goals for, averaging 3.08 per game. Goaltending has been their strength this season. The Jets let up an average of only 2.31 goals per game and average a SV% of 0.924%.
Connor Hellebuyck
Jets fans can thank their stud goaltender, Connor Hellebuyck for those fine numbers. The Winnipeg netminder boasts a 2.22 GAA and a SV% of 0.923. These are unreal numbers and obviously a huge part of the Jets’ success this year. Lucky for the Flyers, they won’t see him tonight as 30-year-old backup, Laurent Brossoit, gets the nod. Don’t take a sigh of relief too quick though as he also has good numbers for Jets. He is 7-3-2 with a 2.07 GAA and a 0.926 SV%.
Round 2
The Flyers defeated the Jets in Winnipeg the last time these two teams played on January 13th. Sam Ersson stole the show with a tremendous performance and Cam Atkinson netted 2 goals. This time around, they will be playing a different team. Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor did not play in that first matchup. These two players are game changers for the Jets and can cause headaches for any defense. Scheifele just made his return from injured reserve after missing 6 games and Connor himself had a much longer stint on IR, returning in mid-January. Despite missing time, Scheifele still is leading the way in Winnipeg:
Mark Scheifele
– 41 points (1st)
– 14 goals (T-3rd)
– 27 assists (1st)
As for Connor, he leads the team in goals with 18 and has been on a cold stretch of late. The Flyers need to make sure he doesn’t get hot tonight.
How Do the Flyers Win Tonight?
As always, the Flyers are going to need excellent goaltending again from Sam Ersson, who stole the last game in Winnipeg. But looking past goaltending, every Flyers fan knows the Flyers don’t score the most goals, averaging 2.84 per game. But the Flyers have been able to make the most of excellent scoring opportunities. The Flyers have 13 goals on breakaways this season which ranks 2nd in the league. Their 48 breakaway opportunities ranks 1st in the league as well. The Flyers need to continue to take chances and have been finding themselves in great spots for a quick dash past the defenders and on towards the goal. Rather than playing it safe, taking chances against the Jets who have been struggling offensively could be in the cards tonight.
Flyer to Look Out For
For tonight’s game, I’m going with Joel Farabee. After an awful season last year, Joel is back with a vengeance. Farabee has 17 goals and 24 assists thus far and has been real good on 5v5 play. It’s been a very encouraging year for not only the player but surely the front office as well as the 23-year-old is making his case again to be part of the future of the Flyers.
It has been 4 games since Farabee has scored and I think he’s a good bet to end that streak tonight. The Flyers can’t overlook Jets goaltender Laurent Brossoit tonight and will need convert when the opportunity arises to take down this top Central Division team. Look for Farabee to convert on his chances.
PHI Record: 26-19-6, 58 pts, 3rd in Metropolitan
WPG Record: 30-13-5, 65 pts, 3rd in Central
When: 7:00pm ET
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA
Broadcast Info: NBC Sports Philadelphia, 97.5 The Fanatic
Last Game PHI: 2/6/24, 2-1 W at Panthers
Last Game WPG: 2/6/24, 3-0 L at Penguins
PHI Goalie: Samuel Ersson (12-8-3, .898 SV%, 2.60 GAA, 3 SO)
WPG Goalie: Laurent Brossoit (7-3-2, .926 SV%, 2.07 GAA, 0 SO)
PHI Projected Lineup
#74 Owen Tippett – #14 Sean Couturier – #89 Cam Atkinson
#86 Joel Farabee – #48 Morgan Frost – #11 Travis Konecny
#71 Tyson Foerster – #25 Ryan Poehling – #27 Noah Cates
#21 Scott Laughton – #19 Garnet Hathaway
#6 Travis Sanheim – #55 Rasmus Ristolainen
#8 Cam York – #9 Jamie Drysdale
#24 Nick Seeler – #26 Sean Walker
#5 Egor Zamula
#33 Samuel Ersson
#40 Cal Petersen
Scratched: #18 Marc Staal, #44 Nicolas Deslauriers, #62 Olle Lycksell
Injured: None
WPG Projected Lineup
#81 Kyle Connor – #55 Mark Scheifele – #13 Gabriel Vilardi
#91 Cole Perfetti – #23 Sean Monahan – #27 Nikolaj Ehlers
#62 Nino Niederreiter – #17 Adam Lowry – #22 Mason Appleton
#36 Morgan Barron – #7 Vladislav Namestnikov – #9 Alex Iafallo
#44 Josh Morrissey – #2 Dylan DeMelo
#54 Dylan Samberg – #4 Neal Pionk
#64 Logan Stanley – #88 Nate Schmidt
#39 Laurent Brossoit
#37 Connor Hellebuyck
Scratched: #15 Rasmus Kupari, #21 Dominic Toninato, #71 Axel Jonsson-Fjällby
Injured: #19 David Gustafsson
Suspended: #5 Brenden Dillon
News and Notes
– The Flyers are 45-16-6 against the Jets all-time dating back to their time in Atlanta as the Thrashers.
– Betting Odds: Flyers +110 ML, Jets -132 ML, Over/Under 5.5 goals
– The Jets only have scored 2 goals or fewer in 7 of last 8
– The Flyers are 11-12-2 at home, while the Jets are 14-6-3 on the road this season.
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