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Rick Tocchet’s Philadelphia Flyers (32-23-12) are right back in action on Thursday as they visit D.J. Smith’s Los Angeles Kings (28-24-15). The Flyers bring a five-game road winning streak into Thursday’s match.
On Wednesday, the Flyers earned a 3-2 overtime road win over the Anaheim Ducks. Noah Cates (13th) goal of the season rescued the victory in OT after Philly was unable to protect a 2-0 lead. Luke Glendening (1st goal as a Flyer, 1st of the season) and Owen Tippett (23rd) scored in regulation.Dan Vladar earned the win in net with a stellar 34-save performance. Additionally the team in front of him blocked 19 shots.
The Kings were idle on Wednesday night after returning home from a road trip. On Monday, LA skated to a 4-1 road win over the New York Rangers.Drew Doughty (5th), Mikey Anderson (4th), Alex Laferriere (PPG, 17th) and Trevor Moore (ENG, 9th) scored for the Kings. Darcy Kuemper earned the win in goal with 21 saves.
Thursday’s game is the second and final meeting of the two-game season series between Philadelphia and Los Angeles. On January 31 at Xfinity Mobile Arena, Adrian Kempe staked LA to a 2-0 lead with a pair of first period goals. The Flyers pushed back for second and third period tallies by Trevor Zegras (PPG) and Travis Konecny. In overtime, Quinton Byfield won the game for the Kings.
Where to watch
Time and broadcast: 10:30 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 67 games)
Travis Konecny — 58 points (24g, 34a) in 63 games
Trevor Zegras — 54 points (22g, 32a)
Owen Tippett — 41 points (23g, 18a)
Christian Dvorak — 39 points (13g, 26a)
Noah Cates — 35 points (13g, 22a)
Matvei Michkov — 34 points (16g, 18a)
Sean Couturier — 29 points (7g, 22a)
Travis Sanheim — 29 points (6g, 23a)
Jamie Drysdale — 27 points (7g, 20a)
Cam York — 25 points (4g, 21a) in 60 games
Nikita Grebenkin — 14 points (4g, 10a) in 53 games
Goaltender stats
Dan Vladar — 42 GP, 22-11-7, 2.44 GAA, .907 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
The Flyers will not hold a morning skate in Los Angeles. Samuel Ersson will get the start in goal. The rest of the lineup below is based off Wednesday’s combinations in Anaheim.
Alex Bump – Christian Dvorak – Travis Konecny
Nikita Grebenkin – Trevor Zegras – Owen Tippett
Denver Barkey – Noah Cates – Matvei Michkov
Luke Glendening – Sean Couturier – Garnet Hathaway
Travis Sanheim – Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York – Jamie Drysdale
Nick Seeler – Emil Andrae
Samuel Ersson
[Dan Vladar]
Scratchesr: Carl Grundstrom (healthy), Garrett Wilson (healthy), Noah Juulsen (healthy).
Flyers Daily: Ducks Recap, Kings Preview
Phantoms Update: Lehigh Valley Beats Bruins
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms knocked off the top team in the AHL this season on Wednesday night. John Snowden’s squad (27-27-6) earned a 6-3 win over the Providence Bruins (45-13-1) at the PPL Center. A two-goal outburst in an 11-second span proved crucial.
Lane Pederson led the way offensively with a three-point (1G, 2A) game including his 22nd tally of the season. David Jiricek (2nd Phantoms goal) also had a multi-point game. Ex-Bruin Brett Harrison also notched his second second goal for Lehigh Valley.
Meanwhile, Snowden experimented with a positional switch for Christian Kyrou. The career-long defenseman made his debut as a winger and scored his 9th goal of the season on a breakaway.
Additionally, Phil Tomasino chipped in two assists. He is on a five-game point streak (1g, 5a). Oscar Eklind scored his 7th goal of the season. Finally, Anthony Richard (17th) added an empty netter.
Aleksei Kolosov stopped 28 of 31 shot the earn the win in goal. At the other end of the ice, Moichael DiPietro had a rare off night. The reigning Baz Bastien Award (AHL goalie of the year) winner entered Wednesday’s game with a league-best 1.80 goals against average and .936 save percentage.
“I thought we played, I’d sayn 57-58 solid minutes,” Snowden said in his postgame press conference.
“I thought, for the most part, the first period, we were excellent. We’re on top of them. We made it hard for him. I thought we got some good sequences in the O-Zone against a very, very, very good defensive team. I thought we were just above them everywhere. We didn’t really get them, let them get their speed going up the rink. Second period, we did a lot of the same thing.”
Former Phantoms forward Alexis Gendron received a video tribute on the scoreboard during the game. Subsequently, he produced a pair of primary assists for Providence in a losing cause.
Up next for the Phantoms
Lehigh Valley returns to action this weekend in North Carolina with a pair of afternoon matchups against the Charlotte Checkers on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. and Sunday at 1:00 p.m. EDT. The Phantoms return to PPL Center on March 27 against the Springfield Thunderbirds. The weekend homestand continues on Saturday, March 28 against the rival Hershey Bears.
