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Rick Tocchet’s Philadelphia Flyers (30-23-11) are in St. Paul on Thursday to take on John Hynes’ Minnesota Wild (38-16-11). This is the second and final game of the season series between the teams.
The Flyers have 18 games remaining in their schedule: eight at home and 10 on the road. On Wednesday, the team bounced back from Monday’s debacle against the Rangers with a very solid 4-1 win over the Washington Capitals.
Owen Tippett led the way offensively and in transition. Apart from notching an empty-net goal and assist, Tippett made positive things happen all game. Meanwhile, on his 29th birthday, Travis Konecny scored his 24th goal of the season.Trevor Zegras (22nd) turned a go-and-go with Tippett into the game-winning goal. Jamie Drysdale added a big insurance tally on a toe drag and shoot play above the circles.
Philadelphia has won five of its last seven games. Meanwhile, the Wild had the night off on Wednesday. The previous night, they shut down the Utah Mammoth in a 5-0 shutout victory. The team is 3-0-1 since opening the month with a home loss to the St. Louis Blues.
Minnesota has a significant fatigue factor edge heading into this game. The Flyers are not just playing the second half of a back-to-back set. It’s Philly’s fourth game in six nights. The Wild are a rested team. Since beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-1 at home on March 3, Hynes’ team has had three game nights and five rest nights. They’ve been back at home since Monday of the current week.
Thursday’s game marks Bobby Brink’s first game against his former club. The Flyers traded Brink to the Wild on March 6 in exchange for defense prospect David Jiricek.
Where to watch
Time and broadcast: 8:00 p.m. EDT on NBCSP
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 64 games)
Travis Konecny — 58 points (24g, 34a) in 60 games
Trevor Zegras — 53 points (22g, 31a)
Owen Tippett — 39 points (21g, 18a)
Christian Dvorak — 38 points (13g, 25a)
Noah Cates — 34 points (12g, 22a)
Matvei Michkov — 33 points (16g, 17a)
Sean Couturier — 29 points (7g, 22a)
Jamie Drysdale — 27 points (7g, 20a)
Travis Sanheim — 27 points (6g, 21a)
Cam York — 24 points (4g, 20a) in 57 games
Nikita Grebenkin — 14 points (4g, 10a) in 50 games
Goaltender stats
Dan Vladar — 39 GP, 20-11-6, 2.52 GAA, .903 SV%
Samuel Ersson — 27 GP, 10-10-5, 3.30 GAA, .863 SV%
Aleksei Kolosov — 4 GP, 0-2-0, 4.00 GAA, .830 SV%
Projected Flyers Lineup (subject to change)
Dan Vladar will get the start in Minnesota on Thursday. The team will not hold a morning skate. The projected lineup below is based off Wednesday’s combinations against the Capitals.
Alex Bump — Christian Dvorak — Travis Konecny
Denver Barkey — Noah Cates — Matvei Michkov
Carl Grundstrom — Trevor Zegras — Owen Tippett
Nikita Grebenkin — Sean Couturier — Luke Glendening
Travis Sanheim — Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York — Jamie Drydale
Nick Seeler — Noah Juulsen
Samuel Ersson
[Dan Vladar]
Scratches: Emil Andrae (healthy), Garnet Hathaway (healthy).
