Flyers Game Day: March 28 @ Red Wings

Bill Meltzer’s Flyers blog is powered by Phans of Philly, by Lights On Electric, by New Balance of Mount Laurel, by Cover All Exteriors, and our newest sponsors, The Mens and Boys Store and Carl’s Cards and Collectibles.

Rick Tocchet’s Philadelphia Flyers (35-24-10) are in the Motor City on Saturday night to take on Todd McLellan’s Detroit Red Wings (39-25-8). In a rare scheduling quirk, this is the first game of the season series between the two Eastern Conference teams.

Game time on Saturday is 8:00 p.m. EDT. The game will be nationally televised on ABC.

With 11 games remaining in the regular season schedule, the Flyers will play the Red Wings frequently over the rest of the campaign. After Saturday’s game in Detroit, the teams will face off again on April 2 at Xfinity Mobile Arena and then again back at Little Caesars Arena on April 9.

Saturday’s game is a virtual must-win for both teams — but especially for the Flyers — if they are to stay in the hunt for an Eastern Conference playoff spot. 

The Red Wings opened their current back-to-back set with a 5-2 road win over the Buffalo Sabres on Friday. Detroit broke loose for three goals in the first period to put themselves in the driver’s seat. Alex DeBrincat led the way on Saturday with a power play goal (36th) and two assists.

Philadelphia enters Saturday’s game coming off a comfortable 5-1 home win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday. The Flyers scored in the opening minute of the game and held a 2-0 lead by the 2:33 mark.

Entering Saturday’s game, the Flyers have two different potential avenues into the playoffs. In order to finish third in the Metropolitan Division, Philadelphia would have to make up a six-point gap (five standings points plus a n extra point to overcome a tiebreaker disadvantage) between themselves and the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Flyers would also have to pass the New York Islanders (five points plus a tiebreaker disadvantage) in the process.

If the Flyers (82 standings points) are unable to do that, they could still get into the playoffs via a wildcard berth. That would require passing three teams: the Red Wings (86 points), the Ottawa Senators (86 points) and Islanders (87 points) in total points.

Realistically — although not mathematically — the Flyers need a regulation win over the Red Wings on Saturday and a victory by any means (regulation, overtime or shootout) against the Dallas Stars on Sunday.

Where to watch

Time and broadcast: 8:00 p.m. EDT on ABC
Listen online: FlyersRadio 24/7
RAV4 keys to the game for Philadelphia: click here
In-game watch party (Maher Media): click here

Leading scorers: Flyers (through 70 games)

Travis Konecny — 60 points (25g, 35a)
Trevor Zegras — 57 points (22g, 35a)
Owen Tippett — 44 points (24g, 20a)
Christian Dvorak — 44 points (15g, 29a)
Noah Cates — 40 points (16g, 24a)
Matvei Michkov — 38 points (16g, 22a)
Travis Sanheim — 31 points (8g, 23a)
Sean Couturier — 30 points (8g, 22a)
Jamie Drysdale — 28 points (8g, 20a)
Cam York — 25 points (4g, 21a) in 63 games
Nikita Grebenkin — 14 points (4g, 10a) in 54 games

Goaltender stats

Dan Vladar — 44 GP, 23-12-7, 2.43 GAA, .907 SV%
Samuel Ersson — 29 GP, 12-10-5, 3.20 GAA, .867 SV%
Aleksei Kolosov — 4 GP, 0-2-0, 4.00 GAA, .830 SV%

Flyers Lineup

The Flyers had an off day on Friday ahead of the weekend back-to-back set against the Red Wings and Dallas Stars. Lineups will be updated on Saturday afternoon. The combinations below reflect Thursday’s lines against Chicago.

Alex Bump – Christian Dvorak – Travis Konecny
Denver Barkey– Trevor Zegras – Owen Tippett
Carl Grundstrom – Noah Cates – Matvei Michkov
Sean Couturier – Luke Glendening – Garnet Hathaway

Travis Sanheim – Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York – Jamie Drysdale
Nick Seeler – Emil Andrae

Dan Vladar
[Samuel Ersson]

Scratches: Noah Juulsen (Day to day), Nikita Grebenkin (upper body), Garrett Wilson (healthy).

Flyers Daily: Weekend Preview

Phantoms Fall from a Playoff Spot

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (27-30-6) dropped out of a Calder Cup playoffs spot, at least temporarily on Friday night. John Snowden’s team suffered a costly 5-3 home loss to the Springfield Thunderbirds (26-29-8) at the PPL Center in Allentown. Via regulation wins tiebreaker, the loss dropped the Phantoms into seventh place in the American Hockey League’s Atlantic Division.

The Phantoms spent the majority of the night chasing the game. They recovered from deficits of 1-0 and 2-1 to tie the match at 2-2 in the third period. Unfortunately, the Thunderbirds responded with three successive goals in a 4:28 span to pull away for good.

Anthony Richard (18th goal of the season), Zayde Wisdom (11th) and Oscar Eklind (9th) scored in a losing cause for the Phantoms. In his AHL debut, Cole Knuble assisted on the Richard goal. Aleksei Kolosov stopped 27 of 32 shots in a losing cause. Defenseman David Jiricek assisted on Wisdom’s tying goal. However, Jiricek was also out on the ice for four of Springfield’s five goals, along with partner Helge Grans.

The Phantoms went 0-for-3 on the power play. They were 4-for-4 on the penalty kill; one of the few bright spots from the critical loss. With 214 goals allowed this season, Lehigh Valley ranks tied for 27th defensively in the 32-team league.