Flyers-Coyotes: Game 42 Preview
The first game of 2020 for the Flyers went a lot like their last of 2019. A little too much, in fact. The Flyers allowed four first-period goals for the second straight game. They trailed 5-2 to Vegas and were able to claw their way back to within a goal with nearly an entire period to go. A late 6-on-3 gave the Flyers a golden opportunity to get the game tied, and they were unable to do so, falling to 1-3-0 on the six-game road trip.
That has made Saturday's game that much more important. The losses on the road trip to San Jose, Los Angeles and Vegas have not really been as close as the scores would indicate -- a 5-3 loss to LA and a 5-4 loss to Vegas -- and the Flyers need to respond with a road effort that not only gets them back in the win column, but helps boost the numbers on the road. They take on the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday night in the final game on the West coast.
Game time is 8 p.m.
Team Leaders
Philadelphia Flyers | GP | G | A | P | Arizona Coyotes | GP | G | A | P |
Travis Konecny | 38 | 12 | 24 | 36 | Nick Schmaltz | 43 | 7 | 26 | 33 |
Jake Voracek | 41 | 8 | 25 | 33 | Clayton Keller | 43 | 10 | 20 | 30 |
Sean Couturier | 41 | 12 | 21 | 33 | Christian Dvorak | 43 | 10 | 15 | 25 |
Claude Giroux | 41 | 13 | 17 | 30 | Carl Soderberg | 43 | 12 | 13 | 25 |
Ivan Provorov | 41 | 9 | 15 | 24 | Phil Kessel | 43 | 9 | 14 | 23 |
Player to Watch | |
28 Claude Giroux | 81 Phil Kessel |
Last 5 Games: 2 G, 4 A, 6 P, +3 | Last 5 Games: 1 G, 1 A, 2 P, E |
Projected Goalie Matchup | |
79 Carter Hart | 32 Antti Raanta |
28 GP, 13-9-3, 2.52 GAA, .908 SV% | 19 GP, 8-8-2, 2.76 GAA, .918 SV% |
By the numbers, Thursday's start was not a good one for Carter Hart, as he made 28 saves on 33 shots in the loss. That said, Hart was excellent in the final two periods after receiving virtually no help in front of the net in the first period. Hart will once again be in goal for the Flyers on Saturday, looking for his first win on the road since Nov. 1.
Antti Raanta has received a bulk of the starts since Darcy Kuemper went down with injury. Raanta has won his last two starts, making 38 saves on 39 shots against St. Louis on Dec. 31 and stopping 26 of 28 shots against Anaheim on Thursday.
Flyers Projected Lineup
Injuries: Nolan Patrick (migrane disorder, out indefinitely), Oskar Lindblom (Ewing's sarcoma, out for season)
Scratches: Robert Hagg (healthy), Chris Stewart (healthy), Mikhail Vorobyev (healthy)
Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
28 Claude Giroux | 14 Sean Couturier | 93 Jake Voracek |
25 James van Riemsdyk | 13 Kevin Hayes | 11 Travis Konecny |
49 Joel Farabee | 21 Scott Laughton | 18 Tyler Pitlick |
10 Andy Andreoff | 12 Michael Raffl | 62 Nicolas Aube-Kubel |
Defense | ||
9 Ivan Provorov | 15 Matt Niskanen | |
6 Travis Sanheim | 61 Justin Braun | |
53 Shayne Gostisbehere | 5 Phil Myers | |
Goalie | ||
79 Carter Hart | 37 Brian Elliott |
Lineup Notes
Nicolas Aube-Kubel returns to the lineup and Andy Andreoff will be back in the lineup as well. Both Chris Stewart and Mikhail Vorobyev come out.
Coyotes Projected Lineup
Injuries: Niklas Hjalmarsson, Darcy Kuemper
Scratches: Michael Grabner, Kyle Capobianco
Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
91 Taylor Hall | 18 Christian Dvorak | 83 Conor Garland |
9 Clayton Keller | 34 Carl Soderberg | 8 Nick Schmaltz |
67 Lawson Crouse | 21 Derek Stepan | 81 Phil Kessel |
13 Vinnie Hinostroza | 15 Brad Richardson | 36 Christian Fischer |
Defense | ||
23 Oliver Ekman-Larsson | 55 Jason Demers | |
6 Jakob Chychrun | 33 Alex Goligoski | |
42 Aaron Ness | 46 Ilya Lyubushkin | |
Goalie | ||
32 Antti Raanta | 31 Adin Hill |
Game Notes
- Power Play: Flyers (13th), Coyotes (14th)
- Penalty Kill: Flyers (14th), Coyotes (6th)
- Recent History vs. Coyotes
- Nov. 5, 2018 - Flyers 5, Coyotes 2 (at ARI)
- Nov. 8, 2018 - Flyers 5, Coyotes 4 (F/OT) (at PHI)
- Dec. 5, 2019 - Coyotes 3, Flyers 1 (at PHI)
- Flyers Leaders vs. Coyotes
- Claude Giroux - 17 GP, 7 G, 10 A, 17 P
- Shayne Gostisbehere - 8 GP, 2 G, 6 A, 8 P
- Kevin Hayes - 11 GP, 4 G, 6 A, 10 P
- Sean Couturier - 15 GP, 4 G, 9 A, 13 P
- Milestone Watch
- Shayne Gostisbehere needs two points to reach 200 for his career.
Where to Watch
TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Kevin Durso is Flyers insider for 97.3 ESPN and Flyers editor for SportsTalkPhilly.com. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.