Flyers-Red Wings: Game 26 Preview
Thanksgiving is considered the point in the schedule that many teams use as a benchmark. The teams that are in the playoff picture at Thanksgiving, usually a little past the quarter-point of the schedule, are the ones most likely to make the playoffs.
The Flyers reached that mark with a 13-7-5 record through 25 games, sitting in the second wildcard spot with a four-point lead on Montreal, tied with Carolina for the first wildcard and one point back of Pittsburgh for third place in the Metropolitan Division.
The Flyers are also closing out a busy month of November with two games remaining in a 16-game schedule. They have points in 12 of 14 games so far with a 8-2-4 record so far and their 20 points in the month is the second-most in the NHL and tops in the Eastern Conference.
It starts with the Flyers annual Black Friday game, this year against the Detroit Red Wings, who enter the game coming off a 6-0 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs and with just one goal in their last three games. They have also lost seven straight games and have a 3-9-2 record this month.
Game time is at 4 p.m.
Team Leaders
Philadelphia Flyers | GP | G | A | P | Detroit Red Wings | GP | G | A | P |
Travis Konecny | 25 | 8 | 16 | 24 | Anthony Mantha | 25 | 12 | 11 | 23 |
Sean Couturier | 25 | 7 | 11 | 18 | Tyler Bertuzzi | 27 | 10 | 12 | 22 |
Claude Giroux | 25 | 8 | 10 | 18 | Dylan Larkin | 27 | 6 | 10 | 16 |
Oskar Lindblom | 25 | 9 | 7 | 16 | Andreas Athanasiou | 25 | 5 | 9 | 14 |
Jake Voracek | 25 | 6 | 10 | 16 | Filip Hronek | 25 | 5 | 8 | 13 |
Player to Watch | |
11 Travis Konecny | 72 Andreas Athanasiou |
Last 5 Games: 0 G, 5 A, 5 P, -2 | Last 5 Games: 0 G, 3 A, 3 P, -4 |
Projected Goalie Matchup | |
79 Carter Hart | 31 Calvin Pickard |
16 GP, 7-5-3, 2.54 GAA, .900 SV% | 0 GP, 0-0-0, -.-- GAA, .--- SV% |
The Flyers will split goalie duties between Carter Hart and Brian Elliott this weekend with Hart getting the first start on Friday afternoon against Detroit. Hart was not very busy in his last start against Vancouver, but did stop 16 of 17 shots faced in the win.
The Red Wings are going through a lot in goal. Jimmy Howard started on Wednesday with Jonathan Bernier on the shelf with the flu. Howard suffered a "mid-body injury" in the first period, forcing Bernier into action. The team called up former Flyers goalie Calvin Pickard on Thursday and he will get his first start in the NHL this season on Friday against his former team.
Flyers Projected Lineup
Injuries: Nolan Patrick
Scratches: Chris Stewart, Phil Myers
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 | |
53 Shayne Gostisbehere | 8 Robert Hagg | |
Goalie | ||
79 Carter Hart | 37 Brian Elliott |
Lineup Notes
Shayne Gostisbehere gets back in the lineup for the Flyers after three games as a healthy scratch. Phil Myers will come out of the lineup.
Red Wings Projected Lineup
Injuries: Danny Dekeyser, Justin Abdelkader, Trevor Daley, Anthony Mantha, Adam Erne, Mike Green
Scratches: Alex Biega
Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
59 Tyler Bertuzzi | 71 Dylan Larkin | 14 Robby Fabbri |
43 Darren Helm | 51 Valtteri Filppula | 11 Filip Zadina |
41 Luke Glendening | 81 Frans Nielsen | 72 Andreas Athanasiou |
67 Taro Hirose | 70 Christoffer Ehn | 29 Brendan Perlini |
Defense | ||
22 Patrik Nemeth | 17 Filip Hronek | |
21 Dennis Cholowski | 20 Dylan McIlrath | |
52 Jonathan Ericsson | 74 Madison Bowey | |
Goalie | ||
31 Calvin Pickard | 45 Jonathan Bernier |
Game Notes
- Power Play: Flyers (11th), Red Wings (28th)
- Penalty Kill: Flyers (3rd), Red Wings (31st)
- Recent History vs. Red Wings
- Dec. 18, 2018 - Flyers 3, Red Wings 2 (at PHI)
- Feb. 16, 2019 - Flyers 6, Red Wings 5 (F/OT) (at PHI)
- Feb. 17, 2019 - Flyers 3, Red Wings 1 (at DET)
- Flyers Leaders vs. Red Wings
- Claude Giroux - 23 GP, 7 G, 19 A, 26 P
- Sean Couturier - 19 GP, 6 G, 10 A, 16 P
- Jake Voracek - 36 GP, 7 G, 18 A, 25 P
- Oskar Lindblom - 4 GP, 2 G, 1 A, 3 P
- Carter Hart - 3 GP, 3-0-0, 2.65 GAA, .918 SV%
- Milestone Watch
- Kevin Hayes needs two goals to reach 100 for his career.
Where to Watch
TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic/97.3 ESPN
Kevin Durso is Flyers insider for 97.3 ESPN and Flyers editor for SportsTalkPhilly.com. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.