Flyers-Blues: Game 41 Preview

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

Well, here we are: the halfway point of the season.

The Flyers hit the ice on Saturday afternoon for their third game in a four-game homestand as they get ready to head into their bye week starting on Monday. They will face an old friend as well, as they welcome the St. Louis Blues to town.

Game time is set for 1 p.m.

Team Leaders

Philadelphia Flyers GP G A P St. Louis Blues GP G A P
Claude Giroux 40 13 35 48 Brayden Schenn 43 17 25 42
Jake Voracek 40 8 40 48 Vladimir Tarasenko 43 17 22 39
Sean Couturier 40 19 19 38 Jaden Schwartz 30 14 21 35
Shayne Gostisbehere 37 8 22 30 Alex Pietrangelo 39 7 21 28
Wayne Simmonds 40 13 11 24 Paul Stastny 43 8 19 27
 
Player to Watch
14 Sean Couturier 10 Brayden Schenn
Last 5 Games: 3 G, 4 A, 7 P, +1 Last 5 Games: 0 G, 2 A, 2 P, E
 
Sean Couturier continues to lead the way for the Flyers in goals, and has three in the last four games to keep his career year going strong. He enters Saturday's game, the halfway point of the season just a goal shy of his first 20-goal season and one point shy of matching his career-high for points in a season.
 
Brayden Schenn is also on track for a career year. The Flyers traded Schenn on draft night to St. Louis for an additional first-round pick in 2017 and a conditional first-round pick in 2018, and while that likely bodes well for their future and Morgan Frost, the selection made with the pick acquired, is lighting up juniors, Schenn is having a tremendous year. He's already on pace for career-highs in goals and points. Interestingly enough, Schenn enters this game in a bit of a scoring slump. He scored six goals in for games from Dec. 5-10, and since then has just one goal and four assists in 12 games. But playing against his former team will probably be a motivator. 
 
Goalie Matchup
37 Brian Elliott 34 Jake Allen
15-10-7, 2.73 GAA, .910 SV% 18-12-2, 2.57 GAA, .913 SV%

Make it 16 straight starts for Brian Elliott. The Flyers goaltender has been a workhorse, and while he's had many good games during his stretch of consecutive starts, Elliott allowed four goals in the win over the Islanders on Thursday after giving up five to the Penguins on Tuesday. A break is certainly in order for Elliott, and he'll probably finally get one on Sunday, so this is expected to be his final start before the bye week. And it comes against one of his former teams. 

Jake Allen has gotten the bulk of the work for the Blues, but has yet to make a start in 2018. This will be his first start in over a week. And his recent performances haven't been great. Allen has just one win since Dec. 10, losing four straight starts at one point. He has allowed three goals or more in four of his last six starts.  

Flyers Projected Lineup

Scratches: Taylor Leier, Dale Weise, Travis Sanheim

Left Wing Center Right Wing
28 Claude Giroux 14 Sean Couturier 11 Travis Konecny
12 Michael Raffl 51 Valtteri Filppula 93 Jake Voracek
40 Jordan Weal 19 Nolan Patrick 17 Wayne Simmonds
15 Jori Lehtera 21 Scott Laughton 56 Tyrell Goulbourne
Defense    
9 Ivan Provorov 53 Shayne Gostisbehere  
8 Robert Hagg 47 Andrew MacDonald  
23 Brandon Manning 3 Radko Gudas  
Goalie    
37 Brian Elliott    

Lineup Notes

While the Flyers other three lines remain intact, look for Tyrell Goulbourne to make his NHL debut on the fourth line with Scott Laughton and Jori Lehtera.

Blues Projected Lineup

Injuries: Jaden Schwartz, Robby Fabbri, Zachary Sanford

Scratches: Oskar Sundqvist, Chris Thorburn, Vince Dunn

Left Wing Center Right Wing
71 Vladimir Sobotka 26 Paul Stastny 32 Tage Thompson
9 Scottie Upshall 10 Brayden Schenn 91 Vladimir Tarasenko
21 Patrik Berglund 28 Kyle Brodziak 20 Alex Steen
23 Dmitrij Jaskin 49 Ivan Barbashev 56 Magnus Paajarvi
Defense    
19 Jay Bouwmeester 27 Alex Pietrangelo  
6 Joel Edmundson 55 Colton Parayko  
4 Carl Gunnarsson 41 Robert Bortuzzo  
Goalie    
34 Jake Allen    

Game Notes

  • Power Play: Flyers (13th, T-17th at home), Blues (28th, 27th on road)
  • Penalty Kill: Flyers (29th, 30th at home), Blues (10th, 10th on road) 
  • Recent History vs. Blues
    • Nov. 2, 2017 – Flyers 2, Blues 0 (at STL)
  • Flyers Leaders vs. Blues
    • Shayne Gostisbehere – 3 GP, 0 G, 3 A, 3 P
    • Travis Konecny – 3 GP, 0 G, 2 A, 2 P
    • Wayne Simmonds – 21 GP, 6 G, 7 A, 13 P
    • Brian Elliott – 5 GP, 4-1-0, 2.16 GAA

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

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