Flyers-Bruins: Game 45 Preview

Kevin Durso

January 14 2017

(Kate Frese/Sports Talk Philly)

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor

As the Flyers season continues to shift into the second half of games, another matchup against the Boston Bruins with plenty of meaning awaits.

It seems like every season, and every meeting, between the Flyers and Bruins holds some sort of meaning, and the same holds true on Saturday afternoon, when the two teams, clinging to playoff spots at the moment, meet for their second of three games this season.

The opening face-off is set for 1 p.m.

Flyers Leaders	GP	G	A	P	Bruins Leaders	GP	G	A	P
Jake Voracek	44	13	27	40	Brad Marchand	45	15	23	38
Claude Giroux	44	10	26	36	David Pastrnak	38	19	12	31
Wayne Simmonds	44	17	16	33	David Krejci	45	9	18	27
Brayden Schenn	41	14	15	29	Torey Krug	45	3	23	26
Travis Konecny	43	7	14	21	Ryan Spooner	44	7	14	21

Player to Watch
17 Wayne Simmonds	88 David Pastrnak
Last 5 Games: 0 G, 1 A, 1 P, -5	Last 5 Games: 0 G, 5 A, 5 P, -1

Wayne Simmonds deservedly was named an All-Star this week, but the first-time All-Star has struggled to find the net lately. Simmonds has gone seven games without a goal and has just two points in that time. If there's one area where Simmonds can find the scoresheet again, it's the power play. Keep an eye on Simmonds if the Flyers can get a few power play chances.

David Pastrnak got off to an incredible start and could have earned an All-Star nod as well, but instead made the list of snubs. Pastrnak, like Simmonds, is riding a goal drought — 12 games entering Saturday — but that's bound to end sooner or later.

Goalie Matchup
30 Michal Neuvirth	40 Tuukka Rask
6-2-0, 3.18 GAA, .876 SV%	21-9-3, 1.95 GAA, .926 SV%

Michal Neuvirth made his return from injury last Saturday at home with a win against Tampa Bay. Neuvirth has since picked up another win, Thursday's shootout victory in relief against the Vancouver Canucks.

Tuukka Rask has had an interesting week. While riding the wave of success to a well-deserved All-Star Game appearance, Rask made only three saves against Nashville on Thursday when a high shot near the neck knocked him out of the game. Rask has said he will be good to go and should be in goal as usual when the Flyers come to town on Saturday.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Scratches: Matt Read, Shayne Gostisbehere, Nick Schultz

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
12 Michael Raffl	28 Claude Giroux	11 Travis Konecny
25 Nick Cousins	14 Sean Couturier	93 Jake Voracek
22 Dale Weise	10 Brayden Schenn	17 Wayne Simmonds
76 Chris VandeVelde	78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare	13 Roman Lyubimov
Defense
3 Radko Gudas	32 Mark Streit
47 Andrew MacDonald	9 Ivan Provorov
15 Michael Del Zotto	23 Brandon Manning
Goalie
30 Michal Neuvirth

Game Notes

Power Play: Flyers (5th, 7th at home), Bruins (23rd, 22nd on road)
Penalty Kill: Flyers (17th, 9th at home), Bruins (2nd, 7th on road)
Recent History vs. Bruins
- Nov. 29, 2016 - The Flyers claimed a 3-2 win in a shootout over the Bruins in Philadelphia. The Flyers scored two goals in 1:32 in the first, with Michael Del Zotto and Claude Giroux getting the goals. The Flyers carried a 2-0 lead into the third, but goals by David Krejci and Brad Marchand separated by 1:18 tied the game. The game eventually went to a shootout. Neither team scored in the first three rounds, Jake Voracek and Marchand traded goals in the fifth round, and finally a goal by Shayne Gostisbehere in the ninth round proved to be the game-winner as Steve Mason stopped David Backes for the win. Mason made 45 saves in the win.
Flyers leaders vs. Bruins