The Philadelphia Flyers continue their 8 game home-stand with game number 7 being against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Flyers fell to the Minnesota Wild 5-4 on Thursday night after blowing 4 one-goal leads and allowing the game-tying and go-ahead goals within 25 seconds of one another. The are currently 1-4-1 on their home-stand, have lost 8 of their last 9 games, 21 of their last 24, and 34 of their last 44 since starting the season 6-2-2.
The Chicago Blackhawks haven’t fared well this season as they are currently 7th in their division, 14th in the Western Conference, and 25th in the NHL, which is 4 spots better than Philadelphia. Their big off-season of trading and then signing Seth Jones and trading for Marc-Andre Fleury haven’t helped all that much as their aggressive re-tool has been as successful as the Flyers’.
Patrick Kane leads the team with 55 points, Alex DeBrincat leads the team in goals with 30, and Seth Jones sits third on the team in points with 35. Starting goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury holds a 17-19-4 record with a 2.84 GAA and a .911 SV%. With the trade deadline looming, Fleury’s name has been atop most team’s lists who are in need of a goaltender.
The Blackhawks are currently 30th in the NHL in goals, 29th in shots, 15th on the power play, 24th in goals allowed, and 28th on the penalty kill. The Flyers are 29th in goals, 18th in shots, 30th on the power play, 25th in goals allowed, and 25th on the penalty kill. If these stats indicate anything it’s that both these teams are perfectly suited for each other and there’s a good chance this game could be a scoring-palooza.
Kevin Hayes is set to make his return to the lineup after missing the last 16 games. He has 3 goals and 9 assists in 20 games and figures to start the game as the Flyers 3rd line centre. It’s going to be a battle of the back-ups as well as Martin Jones and Kevin Lankinen are set to tend their respective creases.
PHI Record: 16-28-10, 42 pts, 8th in Metropolitan
CHI Record: 20-27-8, 48 pts, 7th in Central
When: 3:00pm ET
Where: Wells Fargo Center
PHI Goalie: Martin Jones (6-10-3, 3.51 GAA, .898 SV%, 0 SO)
CHI Goalie: Kevin Lankinen (3-5-4, 3.53 GAA, .887 SV%, 0 SO)
PHI Projected Lineup
#28 Claude Giroux – #21 Scott Laughton – #11 Travis Konecny
#86 Joel Farabee – #19 Derick Brassard – #89 Cam Atkinson
#23 Oskar Lindblom – #13 Kevin Hayes – #25 James van Riemsdyk
#71 Max Willman – #38 Patrick Brown – #17 Zack MacEwen
#9 Ivan Provorov – #61 Justin Braun
#6 Travis Sanheim – #70 Rasmus Ristolainen
#3 Keith Yandle – #24 Nick Seeler
#35 Martin Jones
#79 Carter Hart
CHI Projected Lineup
#8 Dominik Kubalik – #17 Dylan Strome – #88 Patrick Kane
#12 Alex DeBrincat – #19 Jonathan Toews – #90 Tyler Johnson
#38 Brandon Hagel – #77 Kirby Dach – #58 MacKenzie Entwistle
#23 Philipp Kurashev – #22 Ryan Carpenter – #24 Sam Lafferty
#44 Calvin De Haan – #4 Seth Jones
#82 Caleb Jones – #5 Connor Murphy
#61 Riley Stillman – #6 Jake McCabe
#32 Kevin Lankinen
#29 Marc-Andre Fleury
Last Game PHI: 3/3/22, 5-4 L vs. Minnesota
Last Game CHI: 3/3/22, 4-3 OTW vs. Edmonton
News and Notes:
– This is the first meeting of the season between Philadelphia and Chicago and the first since October 24th, 2019. The Flyers won that game 4-1.
– This is the 142nd all-time matchup between the Flyers and Oilers, with the Flyers holding a 65-47-30-0 edge in the series.
– Patrick Kane has 5 goals and 12 assists in 17 career games against the Flyers, while Seth Jones has 6 goals and 13 points in 20 career games.
– Claude Giroux has 6 goals and 18 assists in 18 career games against the Blackhawks, while Martin Jones holds a 7-5-1 record in 14 games against the Blackhawks with a .915 save percentage and a 2.49 GAA.
– Newly-formed first line: Travis Konecny has points in 8 of his last 10 games, Scott Laughton has 11 points in his last 12 games, and Claude Giroux has 9 points in his last 11 games.
Broadcast Info: TV – ABC, ESPN+, Radio – 97.5 The Fanatic
Injuries:
PHI: Ryan Ellis (lower-body), Nate Thompson (shoudler), Sean Couturier (back)
CHI: Jujhar Khaira (back), Reese Johnson (collarbone)
