Flyers-Red Wings: Game 74 Preview

12-20-2017_FlyersvsRedWings_1st_credKateFrese-9

(Kate Frese/SB Nation)

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

A solid weekend with back-to-back wins has helped the Flyers right the ship and gain some breathing room in the standings with just nine games left on their schedule. Four of their next five games will come on the road, starting with Tuesday night's meeting with the struggling Detroit Red Wings.

Detroit enters the game on a 10-game losing streak, and the results have not been pretty as the Red Wings free fall to their second straight season without a playoff appearance.

Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.

Team Leaders

Philadelphia Flyers GP G A P Detroit Red Wings GP G A P
Claude Giroux 73 26 58 84 Dylan Larkin 72 9 41 50
Jake Voracek 73 18 60 78 Henrik Zetterberg 72 10 37 47
Sean Couturier 73 29 39 68 Anthony Mantha 70 23 18 41
Shayne Gostisbehere 69 12 41 53 Gustav Nyquist 72 19 15 34
Wayne Simmonds 66 23 20 43 Mike Green 65 8 25 33
 
Player to Watch
11 Travis Konecny 39 Anthony Mantha
Last 5 Games: 1 G, 3 A, 4 P, +5 Last 5 Games: 0 G, 0 A, 0 P, -5
 
The Flyers have seen a ton of energy around Travis Konecny, who has an adventurous day on Sunday in the Flyers win over the Capitals. Konecny comes into the game one goal away from a 20-goal season as the second-year forward continues to grow into a trusted and driving force in the Flyers offensive game.
 
Anthony Mantha leads the Red Wings in goals this season with 23, but has been mired in a slump of late. Since a two-goal, four-point night against Boston on March 6, Mantha has been held off the scoresheet for six games. Mantha has just three goals and two assists in total in his last 14 games, so this is a prolonged slump, but games like the one against Boston are always possible.
 
Goalie Matchup
34 Petr Mrazek 35 Jimmy Howard
13-12-4, 2.98 GAA, .903 SV% 18-25-8, 2.87 GAA, .909 SV%

The Flyers went out and traded for Petr Mrazek one month ago and now he gets to make a homecoming in Detroit. Mrazek struggled in his last few starts, but turned in a solid effort against Washington to get back into the win column. Playing against his former team should be plenty of motivation for this game.

At the other end, longtime Red Wings netminder Jimmy Howard is expected to get the start. Howard was in goal against the Flyers on Dec. 20, taking the loss after allowing four goals on 31 shots. Howard has been in goal for seven of Detroit's 10 losses on their current losing streak and allowed four goals in each of his last three starts.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Injuries: Brian Elliott, Michal Neuvirth, Johnny Oduya, Michael Raffl

Scratches: Dale Weise, Taylor Leier, Brandon Manning

Left Wing Center Right Wing
28 Claude Giroux 14 Sean Couturier 11 Travis Konecny
54 Oskar Lindblom 19 Nolan Patrick 93 Jake Voracek
40 Jordan Weal 51 Valtteri Filppula 17 Wayne Simmonds
15 Jori Lehtera 21 Scott Laughton 24 Matt Read
Defense    
9 Ivan Provorov 53 Shayne Gostisbehere  
6 Travis Sanheim 47 Andrew MacDonald  
8 Robert Hagg 3 Radko Gudas  
Goalie    
34 Petr Mrazek    

Lineup Notes

The only change expected for the Flyers is the addition of Jori Lehtera for Michael Raffl, who will be out for the next two weeks with an upper-body injury. 

Red Wings Projected Lineup

Scratches: David Booth, Luke Witkowski, Xavier Ouellet

Left Wing Center Right Wing
59 Tyler Bertuzzi 40 Henrik Zetterberg 14 Gustav Nyquist
43 Darren Helm 71 Dylan Larkin 39 Anthony Mantha
72 Andreas Athanasiou 51 Frans Nielsen 8 Justin Abdelkader
42 Martin Frk 41 Luke Glendening 77 Evgeny Svechnikov
Defense    
52 Jonathan Ericsson 83 Trevor Daley  
55 Niklas Kronwall 25 Mike Green  
65 Danny Dekeyser 3 Nick Jensen  
Goalie    
35 Jimmy Howard    

Game Notes

  • Power Play: Flyers (18th, 7th on road), Red Wings (23rd, 20th at home)
  • Penalty Kill: Flyers (27th, 22nd on road), Red Wings (22nd, T-15th at home) 
  • Recent History vs. Red Wings
    • Dec. 20, 2017 – Flyers 4, Red Wings 3 (at PHI)
    • Jan. 23, 2018 – Flyers 3, Red Wings 2 (OT) (at DET)
  • Flyers Leaders vs. Red Wings
    • Claude Giroux – 19 GP, 7 G, 15 A, 22 P
    • Jake Voracek – 32 GP, 6 G, 17 A, 23 P
    • Sean Couturier – 15 GP, 5 G, 5 A, 10 P
  • Milestone Watch
    • Sean Couturier needs one goal to reach 100 for his career.
    • Jake Voracek needs one assist to reach 300 as a Flyer.
    • Claude Giroux needs one points to pass Eric Lindros for 5th all-time in Flyers history.
    • Jordan Weal will play in his 100th NHL game tonight.

Where to Watch
TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic

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