Flyers-Wild: Game 46 Preview

Kevin Durso

January 14 2019

(Photo: Kate Frese)

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor

The Flyers snapped an eight-game losing streak on Thursday and returned right back to the loss column on Saturday in New Jersey, falling 3-2. But don't be fooled by the score. The Flyers really were not very involved in the game and a meaningless goal with two seconds left made the final score appear much closer.

The Minnesota Wild have been clinging to a playoff spot among a mass of Western Conference teams that are hovering around the wildcard. They are the Flyers next opponent as the season continues on.

Game time is at 7 p.m.

Team Leaders

Philadelphia Flyers	GP	G	A	P	Minnesota Wild	GP	G	A	P
Claude Giroux	45	14	34	48	Zach Parise	43	19	21	40
Jake Voracek	45	11	25	36	Mikael Granlund	44	12	27	39
Sean Couturier	43	16	18	34	Ryan Suter	44	4	24	28
Travis Konecny	45	11	13	24	Eric Staal	43	13	14	27
Wayne Simmonds	45	13	6	19	Jared Spurgeon	44	7	19	26

Player to Watch
14 Sean Couturier	11 Zach Parise
Last 5 Games: 1 G, 4 A, 5 P, +1	Last 5 Games: 1 G, 4 A, 5 P, +1

The late goal on Saturday gave Sean Couturier his first goal in five games. He also has five points in his last three games. For a team that has struggled offensively, Couturier has been providing a lot of the offense of late.

Zach Parise has not scored a goal in four games, but prior to that, he had four goals and nine points in his previous five games. As a longtime foe of the Flyers from his days in New Jersey, Parise seems to come up with a big goal or play against the Flyers always.

Goalie Matchup
79 Carter Hart	40 Devan Dubnyk
9 GP, 3-5-1, 2.54 GAA, .916 SV%	36 GP, 17-15-3, 2.62 GAA, .914 SV%

Carter Hart's last game was decent, making 23 saves in a loss in New Jersey. Hart was tested early and often and the goals were more on the team in front of him than the goalie himself, but he continues to be poised and keep games close.

Devan Dubnyk had a four-game winning streak snapped in a bad loss to Detroit on Saturday, allowing five goals on 37 shots. His four wins before that start including a 38-save win over Toronto in a 4-3 decision and a 32-save shutout against Montreal.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Injuries: Michal Neuvirth, Brian Elliott, Anthony Stolarz, Corban Knight

Scratches: Jori Lehtera, Christian Folin

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
25 James van Riemsdyk	28 Claude Giroux	11 Travis Konecny
23 Oskar Lindblom	14 Sean Couturier	93 Jake Voracek
21 Scott Laughton	19 Nolan Patrick	17 Wayne Simmonds
12 Michael Raffl	44 Phil Varone	22 Dale Weise
Defense
9 Ivan Provorov	6 Travis Sanheim
53 Shayne Gostisbehere	47 Andrew MacDonald
8 Robert Hagg	3 Radko Gudas
Goalie
79 Carter Hart

Lineup Notes

Andrew MacDonald likely slots back into the lineup after missing some time with an injury. Christian Folin comes out.

Wild Projected Lineup

Injuries: Mathew Dumba

Scratches: Eric Fehr, Matt Hendricks

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
16 Jason Zucker	9 Mikko Koivu	64 Mikael Granlund
18 Jordan Greenway	12 Eric Staal	22 Nino Niederreiter
11 Zach Parise	3 Charlie Coyle	19 Luke Kunin
23 J.T. Brown	14 Joel Eriksson Ek	17 Marcus Foligno
Defense
20 Ryan Suter	46 Jared Spurgeon
25 Jonas Brodin	29 Greg Pateryn
36 Nick Seeler	39 Nate Prosser
Goalie
40 Devan Dubnyk

Game Notes

Power Play: Flyers (30th, T-24th at home), Wild (9th, 19th on road)
Penalty Kill: Flyers (26th, T-21st at home), Wild (4th, T-16th on road)
Recent History vs. Wild
- Nov. 11, 2017 – Wild 1, Flyers 0 (at PHI)
- Nov. 14, 2017 – Wild 3, Flyers 0 (at MIN)
Flyers Leaders vs. Wild
- Jake Voracek – 21 GP, 3 G, 14 A, 17 P
- Wayne Simmonds – 23 GP, 5 G, 10 A, 15 P
Milestone Watch
- Travis Konecny needs one points to reach 100 for his career.
- Claude Giroux needs three assists to reach 500 for his career.