Flyers-Red Wings: Game 79 Preview

Flyers Leaders	GP	G	A	P	Red Wigns Leaders	GP	G	A	P
Claude Giroux	75	22	44	66	Pavel Datsyuk	63	16	32	48
Wayne Simmonds	78	29	28	57	Henrik Zetterberg	79	13	35	48
Brayden Schenn	76	25	31	56	Dylan Larkin	77	23	22	45
Jakub Voracek	69	11	42	53	Tomas Tatar	78	21	24	45
Shayne Gostisbehere	60	16	27	43	Gustav Nyquist	79	17	25	42

 

Player to Watch
17 Wayne Simmonds	15 Riley Sheahan
Last 5 Games: 4 G, 2 A, 6 P, E	Last 5 Games: 2 G, 2 A, 4 P, +4

 

If you're looking for goals, look at Wayne Simmonds. Simmonds has four goals in his last four games and six points in that time. Needing just one goal to reach 30 for the season and a new career-high in goals, looks for Simmonds to be around the net constantly on Wednesday.

 

Much like the Flyers, goal scoring comes at a premium at this time with defense being a primary focus. Riley Sheahan has been among the Red Wings most dangerous scorers of late. With four points in his last five games, tied for most on the team in that stretch, look for Sheahan to be in scoring areas.

 

Goalie Matchup
35 Steve Mason	35 Jimmy Howard
22-18-9, 2.53 GAA, .918 SV%	13-12-5, 2.81 GAA, .906 SV%

Steve Mason continues to try to carry the Flyers to the playoffs. He makes another start in goal, this time looking to rebound from a loss. Mason had been excellent in three straight wins for the Flyers last week, and will need that kind of performance on Wednesday in Detroit.

Jimmy Howard has been the Red Wings go-to guy in net of late and he's kept them right on pace with the Flyers. Howard has wins in three of his last four games, allowing two goals in all of them. His only loss in those four games came in relief, when he replaced Petr Mrazek in Montreal, but still took the loss after allowing two third-period goals. This is only his 35th appearance of the season.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Scratches: Scott Laughton, Andrew MacDonald, R.J. Umberger, Jordan Weal, Michael Del Zotto

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
10 Brayden Schenn	28 Claude Giroux	17 Wayne Simmonds
12 Michael Raffl	14 Sean Couturier	89 Sam Gagner
93 Jake Voracek	52 Nick Cousins	24 Matt Read
76 Chris VandeVelde	78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare	25 Ryan White
Defense
23 Brandon Manning	53 Shayne Gostisbehere
55 Nick Schultz	32 Mark Streit
82 Evgeny Medvedev	3 Radko Gudas
Goalie
35 Steve Mason

Andrew MacDonald's status for Wednesday's game is unknown after suffering an upper-body injury on Sunday, but he did travel with the team and practiced on Tuesday after originally being ruled out Wednesday. If MacDonald can't go, Evgeny Medvedev will go back into the lineup.

Game Notes

• Power Play: Flyers (T-14th, T-11th on road), Red Wings (11th, 24th at home)
• Penalty Kill: Flyers (22nd, 17th on road), Red Wings (15th, 9th at home) 
• Recent History vs. Red Wings
  • Jan. 18, 2016 - The Flyers defeated the Red Wings, 2-1, in a shootout in Detroit. Claude Giroux scored early in the third to tie the game. Shayne Gostisbehere appeared to score in the final seconds, but the goal was disallowed for goalie interference and the game would go to overtime and eventually a shootout. Pavel Datsyuk scored for Detroit first in the shootout, but Giroux and Jake Voracek each scored in the final two rounds to seal a win for the Flyers. Michal Neuvirth made 29 saves in the win. 
  • March 16, 2016 – The Flyers defeated the Red Wings, 4-3, in Philadelphia. The Flyers roared out to a 2-0 lead on goals by Michael Raffl and Wayne Simmonds. Andreas Athanasiou scored early in the second to cut the lead to one, but Raffl's second goal gave the Flyers a 3-1 lead. Pavel Datsyuk made it a one-goal game again. Shayne Gostisbehere scored with 1:07 left in the second to again restore the two-goal lead and the Flyers held off a late rally from Detroit, including a goal by Tomas Tatar with 3:46 to play. Steve Mason made 34 saves in the win.
• Flyers leaders vs. Red Wings
• Claude Giroux – 13 games, 6 goals, 10 assists, 16 points
• Michael Raffl – 8 games, 4 goals, 4 assists, 8 points
• Jake Voracek – 26 games, 4 goals, 13 assists, 17 points
• Steve Mason – 25 games, 12-11-2, 2.76 GAA, .919 Sv%

Where to Watch
TV: NBCSN
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic

Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.