Flyers-Jets: Game 69 Preview

Team Leaders

Philadelphia Flyers	GP	G	A	P	Winnipeg Jets	GP	G	A	P
Claude Giroux	68	23	57	80	Blake Wheeler	67	18	57	75
Jake Voracek	68	16	57	73	Patrik Laine	67	39	23	62
Sean Couturier	68	29	34	63	Nikolaj Ehlers	67	26	26	52
Shayne Gostisbehere	64	10	40	50	Mark Scheifele	50	21	30	51
Wayne Simmonds	61	20	17	37	Kyle Connor	61	22	19	41

 

Player to Watch
19 Nolan Patrick	29 Patrik Laine
Last 5 Games: 1 G, 3 A, 4 P, -1	Last 5 Games: 8 G, 3 A, 11 P, +9

 

The Flyers are really starting to see some offensive consistency out of Nolan Patrick, who has points in eight of his last 11 games, including five goals. His between-the-legs pass in Boston also showed the poise and hockey instinct that Patrick possesses and the confidence he now has in that area of his game to make plays like that. His defense and puck control have been a question at times lately, so he still has areas to work on and grow, but he's a player worth watching offensively now for sure.

 

There is no hotter player in the league right now than Patrik Laine. Laine has eight goals in his last four games, including three multi-goal games, putting him on the cusp of a 40-goal season. With a lethal shot on the power play and dynamic skills, he needs to be followed on the ice at all times. 

 

Goalie Matchup
34 Petr Mrazek	37 Connor Hellebuyck
11-10-4, 2.94 GAA, .905 SV%	35-10-8, 2.39 GAA, .923 SV%

The first four losses on the Flyers current five-game streak were all started by Petr Mrazek and each one seemed to get progressively worse. After winning his first three starts with the team, including one shutout win, Mrazek has allowed four goals or more in each of the last four starts. He got the night off in Boston, so he will probably get the call on Saturday. He should enter this game mentally refreshed and ready to go and needs to be good to get the Flyers back to the win column.

Connor Hellebuyck is one of the good stories in the league this season. The goalie who split time in the crease over his first two seasons will match a career-high with his 56th game of the season on Saturday and set a new career mark with his 54th start. Hellebuyck is already working on a career season with 35 wins.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Injuries: Brian Elliott, Michal Neuvirth, Robert Hagg, Johnny Oduya

Scratches: Jordan Weal, Dale Weise, Taylor Leier

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
28 Claude Giroux	14 Sean Couturier	11 Travis Konecny
54 Oskar Lindblom	19 Nolan Patrick	93 Jake Voracek
12 Michael Raffl	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
23 Brandon Manning	3 Radko Gudas
Goalie
34 Petr Mrazek

Lineup Notes

Travis Sanheim was called up on an emergency basis and will play on Saturday. He fills in for Robert Hagg, who will be out for two weeks with a lower-body injury, as GM Ron Hextall announced on Saturday morning. Johnny Oduya is also still battling an injury and listed as day-to-day.

Jets Projected Lineup

Injuries: Mark Scheifele, Adam Lowry, Jacob Trouba, Steve Mason, Tobias Enstrom

Scratches: Marko Dano, Shawn Matthias, Dmitry Kulikov

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
27 Nikolaj Ehlers	25 Paul Stastny	29 Patrik Laine
81 Kyle Connor	26 Blake Wheeler	15 Matt Hendricks
85 Mathieu Perreault	18 Bryan Little	52 Jack Roslovic
13 Brandon Tanev	9 Andrew Copp	40 Joel Armia
Defense
70 Joe Morrow	33 Dustin Byfuglien
44 Josh Morrissey	57 Tyler Myers
7 Ben Chiarot	3 Tucker Poolman
Goalie
37 Connor Hellebuyck

Game Notes

• Power Play: Flyers (T-16th, 21st at home), Jets (2nd, T-10th on road)
• Penalty Kill: Flyers (29th, 29th at home), Jets (8th, 6th on road) 
• Recent History vs. Jets
  • Nov. 16, 2017 – Jets 3, Flyers 2 (F/SO)
• Flyers leaders vs. Jets
  • Claude Giroux – 26 GP, 7 G, 19 A, 26 P
  • Jake Voracek – 20 GP, 5 G, 12 A, 17 P
  • Wayne Simmonds – 19 GP, 7 G, 6 A, 13 P
  • Petr Mrazek – 5 GP, 3-1-0, 2.64 GAA
• Milestone Watch
  • Sean Couturier needs one goal to reach 100 for his career.
  • Jake Voracek needs five assists to reach 300 as a Flyer.
  • Claude Giroux needs five points to pass Eric Lindros for 5th all-time in Flyers history.
  • Radko Gudas will play in his 200th game as a Flyer today.

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