Flyers-Coyotes: Game 29 Preview

Kevin Durso

December 5 2019

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor

After opening the floodgates late in their last game, the Flyers winning streak is at five games, their longest of the season. The push for six straight wins continues on home ice as the Flyers face the Arizona Coyotes.

The Coyotes are fresh off a 4-2 win over Columbus, bringing their record to 16-9-4 on the season. They quietly have gotten off to a hot start, sitting in second place in the Pacific Division.

Game time is at 7 p.m.

Team Leaders

Philadelphia Flyers	GP	G	A	P	Arizona Coyotes	GP	G	A	P
Travis Konecny	28	10	17	27	Nick Schmaltz	29	5	15	20
Sean Couturier	28	8	13	21	Alex Goligoski	29	2	15	17
Claude Giroux	28	9	11	20	Clayton Keller	29	5	12	17
Jake Voracek	28	6	14	20	Christian Dvorak	29	8	9	17
Oskar Lindblom	28	11	7	18	Carl Soderberg	29	8	7	15

Player to Watch
93 Jake Voracek	36 Christian Fischer
Last 5 Games: 1 G, 5 A, 6 P, +5	Last 5 Games: 2 G, 1 A, 3 P, +4

The Flyers have shown that all lines are capable of producing at any time. The one line that didn't score in Tuesday's game was the line featuring Sean Couturier, Jake Voracek and Oskar Lindblom. Voracek has been solid for the last several games since moving to that line, and after being held off the board, he could be due for a big offensive night.

Christian Fischer has just six points in 28 games this season, but half of those points have come in the last five games. He had a big goal for Arizona in their win against Columbus.

Projected Goalie Matchup
37 Brian Elliott	35 Darcy Kuemper
14 GP, 7-2-2, 2.70 GAA, .916 SV%	19 GP, 11-6-2, 1.97 GAA, .936 SV%

Brian Elliott gets the start in goal on Thursday night. Elliott was stellar in Montreal on Saturday, making 39 saves in a 4-3 overtime win. Elliott has won his last three starts to improve to 7-2-2 on the season.

Darcy Kuemper has been one of the NHL's best goalies this season, leading the league with a 1.97 GAA and .936 save percentage. Kuemper is expected to get the start in Philadelphia. Against the Flyers, his career numbers are not great. He has a 1-2-1 record with a 3.78 GAA and .886 save percentage in four games against the Flyers.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Injuries: Michael Raffl, Nolan Patrick

Scratches: Chris Stewart, Mikhail Vorobyev

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		18 Tyler Pitlick
Defense
9 Ivan Provorov	15 Matt Niskanen
6 Travis Sanheim	61 Justin Braun
53 Shayne Gostisbehere	5 Phil Myers	8 Robert Hagg
Goalie
37 Brian Elliott	79 Carter Hart

Lineup Notes

Mikhail Vorobyev was called up on Wednesday to replace the injured Michael Raffl, but he will be out of the lineup on Thursday. The Flyers are choosing to play seven defensemen, meaning Robert Hagg will come back into the lineup and rotate the other forwards to the fourth line throughout the game.

Coyotes Projected Lineup

Injuries: Niklas Hjalmarsson

Scratches: Michael Chaput, Barrett Hayton, Aaron Ness

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
9 Clayton Keller	21 Derek Stepan	13 Vinnie Hinostroza
18 Christian Dvorak	8 Nick Schmaltz	83 Conor Garland
67 Lawson Crouse	34 Carl Soderberg	81 Phil Kessel
40 Michael Grabner	15 Brad Richardson	36 Christian Fischer
Defense
23 Oliver Ekman-Larsson	55 Jason Demers
6 Jakob Chychrun	33 Alex Goligoski
82 Jordan Oesterle	46 Ilya Lyubushkin
Goalie
35 Darcy Kuemper	32 Antti Raanta

Game Notes

Power Play: Flyers (15th), Coyotes (T-13th)
Penalty Kill: Flyers (T-3rd), Coyotes (16th)
Recent History vs. Coyotes
- Nov. 5, 2018 – Flyers 5, Coyotes 2 (at ARI)
- Nov. 8, 2018 – Flyers 5, Coyotes 4 (F/OT) (at PHI)
Flyers Leaders vs. Coyotes
- Claude Giroux – 16 GP, 7 G, 10 A, 17 P
- Shayne Gostisbehere – 7 GP, 2 G, 6 A, 8 P
- Kevin Hayes – 10 GP, 4 G, 6 A, 10 P
- Sean Couturier – 14 GP, 4 G, 8 A, 12 P
- Brian Elliott – 15 GP, 10-2-1, 2.14 GAA, .921 SV%