Flyers-Canucks: Game 24 Preview

Kevin Durso

November 25 2019

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor

Saturday's game was a missed opportunity for the Flyers to jump on a struggling team. While the Flyers have earned points in 10 of 12 games so far in a busy month of November, they have lost five of the last six games.

Four games remain in this grueling November schedule for the Flyers, which closes out at the end of the week. It starts on Monday night with a visit from the Vancouver Canucks.

Game time is at 7 p.m.

Team Leaders

Philadelphia Flyers	GP	G	A	P	Vancouver Canucks	GP	G	A	P
Travis Konecny	23	8	15	23	Elias Pettersson	24	10	19	29
Claude Giroux	23	7	10	17	J.T. Miller	24	9	14	23
Oskar Lindblom	23	9	7	16	Brock Boeser	24	10	13	23
Sean Couturier	23	6	10	16	Quinn Hughes	23	2	16	18
Ivan Provorov	23	5	9	14	Bo Horvat	24	8	10	18

Player to Watch
14 Sean Couturier	40 Elias Pettersson
Last 5 Games: 1 G, 2 A, 3 P, E	Last 5 Games: 2 G, 4 A, 6 P, -1

After opening November with a four-game points streak, Sean Couturier has one goal and four assists in the last eight games. Couturier's solid two-way play has been consistent and he's among the players due for some offensive success.

Elias Pettersson continues to deliver for the Canucks. He has points in five of his last six games, including a three-point game against Nashville on Thursday and the only Canucks goal in regulation in Saturday's shootout win in Washington.

Projected Goalie Matchup
79 Carter Hart	35 Thatcher Demko
15 GP, 6-5-3, 2.65 GAA, .898 SV%	8 GP, 5-2-1, 2.50 GAA, .916 SV%

It's been a rough go for Carter Hart of late. While he was solid in Saturday's game, making 25 saves on 27 shots, he suffered his fourth straight loss. He gets another chance in net on Monday night.

Thatcher Demko makes his first start since Nov. 16, when he allowed five goals on 23 shots in an overtime loss to Colorado, his most this season. In each of his other seven starts, Demko allowed three goals or less.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Injuries: Nolan Patrick

Scratches: Chris Stewart, Shayne Gostisbehere

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
23 Oskar Lindblom	14 Sean Couturier	93 Jake Voracek
28 Claude Giroux	48 Morgan Frost	11 Travis Konecny
49 Joel Farabee	13 Kevin Hayes	21 Scott Laughton
25 James van Riemsdyk	12 Michael Raffl	18 Tyler Pitlick
Defense
9 Ivan Provorov	15 Matt Niskanen
6 Travis Sanheim	61 Justin Braun
8 Robert Hagg	5 Phil Myers
Goalie
79 Carter Hart	37 Brian Elliott

Lineup Notes

Shayne Gostisbehere remains a healthy scratch for the second straight game and the rest of the Flyers lineup will remain the same for Monday's game.

Canucks Projected Lineup

Injuries: Jay Beagle, Brandon Sutter, Micheal Ferland, Tyler Motte, Antoine Roussel, Ashton Sautner

Scratches: Oscar Fantenberg

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
70 Tanner Pearson	40 Elias Pettersson	6 Brock Boeser
9 J.T. Miller	53 Bo Horvat	71 Zack MacEwen
59 Tim Schaller	88 Adam Gaudette	17 Josh Leivo
21 Loui Eriksson	44 Tyler Graovac	18 Jake Virtanen
Defense
23 Alexander Edler	57 Tyler Myers
43 Quinn Hughes	8 Chris Tanev
4 Jordie Benn	51 Troy Stecher
Goalie
25 Jacob Markstrom	35 Thatcher Demko

Game Notes

Power Play: Flyers (T-13th), Canucks (4th)
Penalty Kill: Flyers (6th), Canucks (9th)
Recent History vs. Canucks
- Dec. 15, 2018 – Canucks 5, Flyers 2 (at VAN)
- Feb. 4, 2019 – Flyers 2, Canucks 1 (at PHI)
- Oct. 12, 2019 – Canucks 3, Flyers 2 (F/SO) (at VAN)
Flyers Leaders vs. Canucks
- Claude Giroux – 17 GP, 4 G, 10 A, 14 P
- Kevin Hayes – 10 GP, 4 G, 3 A, 7 P
- Jake Voracek – 26 GP, 4 G, 14 A, 18 P
- Travis Konecny – 6 GP, 1 G, 3 A, 4 P
- Carter Hart – 2 GP, 1-0-1, 1.44 GAA, .954 SV%
Milestone Watch
- Kevin Hayes needs two goals to reach 100 for his career.