The 21-21-and-4 Detroit Red Wings have lost 2 straight and 3 of their past 4 games heading into Tuesday night’s game against the 21-20-and-6 Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night (7 PM EST start on FanDuel SportsNet Detroit/NBC Sports Philadelphia/Sportsnet One/97.1 FM).
Philadelphia is obviously one of the opponents Detroit needs to leapfrog in order to earn a Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference standings, and it’s going to be tough to slow the Flyers’ momentum. They’ve gone 4-0-and-1 in their past 5 games, most recently winning a 3-1 decision over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday.
The AP’s game preview gives us “just the statistical facts“…
BOTTOM LINE: The Philadelphia Flyers and the Detroit Red Wings square off in Eastern Conference action.
Philadelphia has a 10-11-1 record at home and a 21-20-6 record overall. The Flyers have a 5-9-1 record in games they have more penalties than their opponent.
Detroit has a 21-21-4 record overall and a 9-10-2 record on the road. The Red Wings have a 3-6-2 record in games their opponents serve fewer penalty minutes.
Tuesday’s game is the third meeting between these teams this season. The Red Wings won 6-4 in the last meeting.
TOP PERFORMERS: Travis Konecny has 21 goals and 33 assists for the Flyers. Morgan Frost has four goals and three assists over the last 10 games.
Dylan Larkin has 20 goals and 22 assists for the Red Wings. Patrick Kane has scored five goals with nine assists over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Flyers: 5-3-2, averaging 3.1 goals, 5.3 assists, 3.1 penalties and 6.8 penalty minutes while giving up 2.2 goals per game.
Red Wings: 7-3-0, averaging 3.7 goals, 6.8 assists, 2.2 penalties and 4.4 penalty minutes while giving up 3.1 goals per game.
While Field Level Media affords us the pulse of the Flyers’ locker room…
Philadelphia enters with some momentum after going 4-0-1 in its previous five games — most recently, a 3-1 victory in New Jersey on Saturday. Bobby Brink scored the go-ahead goal in the third period, while Samuel Ersson needed to make only 12 saves to earn the victory.
“We do such a good job of blocking shots, of getting sticks on pucks — I cannot complain that we’re good at defending,” Ersson said. “It’s just up to me to stay sharp and be ready mentally for when that shot comes.”
Flyers coach John Tortorella was pleased with his team’s ability to limit the Devils’ odd-man rush attempts, which certainly will be a focal point of the team’s defensive game plan against the Red Wings.
“I think it’s a huge part of what we’re trying to do as a team because that’s the way we have to play. We just can’t get into run-and-guns with other teams,” Tortorella said.
Philadelphia’s other goal scorers Saturday were Matvei Michkov, who scored on a breakaway in the second period, and Travis Konecny, who deposited an empty-netter to seal the win. Michkov has 14 goals but has not scored in back-to-back games since Thanksgiving.
“He has got a lot of offensive skill,” Flyers captain Sean Couturier said. “He’ll bury those (wide-open chances) a lot of times.”
This is the third and final matchup between the teams this season. Scott Laughton scored all four Philadelphia goals in a 4-1 victory on Dec. 12 before Detroit returned the favor with a 6-4 win six days later as Kane scored to break a third-period tie.
And NHL.com’s Adam Kimelman posted a Flyers practice update from Monday afternoon:
Ryan Poehling (upper body) was placed on injured reserve by the Flyers on Monday.
The forward was injured on a hit by Islanders forward Maxim Tsyplakov during the first period of Philadelphia’s 5-3 win Thursday and missed a 3-1 victory at the New Jersey Devils on Saturday.
Tsyplakov received a three-game suspension from the NHL Department of Player Safety for an illegal check to the head.
“That type of situation with a head injury, there’s ups and downs, day to day,” coach John Tortorella said. “Haven’t checked in with Tommy [Alva, head athletic trainer] today, but I’m not sure what the timetable is. Those things I leave up to Tommy and ‘Poehls’ and they’ll come to me. I think each day he’s getting better.”
Forward Scott Laughton missed practice Monday. Tortorella said he was unsure if Laughton would be available to play against the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; FDSNDET, NBCSP, SN1).
The Flyers recalled forward Rodrigo Abols from Lehigh Valley of the AHL on Monday. The 29-year-old could make his NHL debut; he has has 19 points (nine goals, 10 assists) in 34 AHL games.
“Just keep my game simple,” Abols said after practice Monday. “It’s a dream come true get an opportunity to play here, so make the most of it and use the strengths that I have and see from there.” — Adam Kimelman
Wayne Fish of Flying Fish hockey reports that Abols will play on Tuesday, as did Philadelphia Hockey Now’s William James and Philadelphia Sports Network’s Christopher Babos, who reports that John Tortorella told the media that he’s shaking up his ranking of the Flyers’ goaltenders, deeming Ivan Fedotov the back-up to Samuel Ersson instead of Aleksei Kolosov.
I’m not a John Tortorella fan, but if you can’t get enough of the Flyers’ coach, here’s his 11:56 press conference from today…
And here’s Rodrigo Abols:
