Philadelphia Flyers vs. Ducks Preview: No AMac, no problem?
The Philadelphia Flyers enter tonight’s game riding high after an impressive win against the Edmonton McDavids. Unfortunately – or fortunately depending on who you ask – Andrew MacDonald was injured and will be out 4-6 weeks. That means some new look pairings this evening.
Ducks Forwards
The Ducks have six forwards with two goals apiece (talk about a communist approach to goal scoring). Andrew Cogliano (50.26 Corsi For%) leads all Ducks’ forwards in points with 6. Ryan Getzlaf (43.10 CF%) was out with an injury the last time these two played. With the new look Flyers’ defense, it will be interesting to see who draws the Getzlaf assignment. My money will be on the Gudas and Gostisbehere pairing.
Ducks Defense
Another player who was absent from the first meeting between these clubs was Hampus Lindholm. Anaheim will be glad to get back a defenseman since injury claimed Cam Fowler (49.23 CF%) in their Saturday tilt against the Canadiens. No Ducks defenseman has a CF% above 50% and is still looking for their first 5v5 goal of the season.
In net for the Ducks will be 24-year old John Gibson. He sports a .932 save percentage, good for 6th in the NHL. He has yet to give up more than 2 goals in a game this season.
Philadelphia Flyers
Three things about the Flyers you need to know:
- Andrew MacDonald is out 4-6 weeks.
No one likes to see a guy get injured, and as much grief as I’ve given AMac, I would never wish an injury on a guy. It’s evident by the “A” on his sweater that he’s not only well-liked by his teammates but respected by them.
That being said, Ivan Provorov (46.67 CF%) is now free of him as a partner, and hopefully, we’ll get to see him do some different things, especially in the offensive zone. Robert Hagg (45.33 CF%) gets the privilege to play alongside the Flyers best defenseman this evening.
- Ghost in fine offensive form.
Shayne Gostisbehere (47.90 CF%) has 8 points in his last 5 games. This recent stretch of scoring has him 1st on the Flyers with 11 points. For everybody that was down on Ghost last year, he’s proving that he’s just as dynamic as he was in 2015.
Every time I’ve been able to catch a Flyers game this season I look forward to seeing Shayne tiptoe the blue line like a tightrope performer. The awareness to not only toe the blue line but to also keep the puck in the zone is mesmerizing. So happy he’s having a strong start to the season.
- Scott Laughton proving he belongs.
After being relegated to the Phantoms last year Laughton has embraced his 4th line role with the Flyers this season. This was evidenced in Dave Hakstol’s willingness to play Laughton’s line against Conor McDavid in the Flyers 2-1 win Saturday.
Laughton was able to use his size to create problems for McDavid. Relegating the phenom to only 2 shots against in 6 minutes of shared ice time.
Next: How Andrew MacDonald's injury affects the Flyers
Projected Lines
Forwards
28 Giroux – 14 Couturier – 93 Voracek
40 Weal – 51 Filppula – 17 Simmonds
15 Lehtera – 19 Patrick – 11 Konecny
20 Leier – 21 Laughton – 12 Raffl
Defensemen
9 Provorov – 8 Hagg
53 Gostisbehere – 3 Gudas
23 Manning – 6 Sanheim
Goalie
37 Elliot
Go Flyers! Boo Ducks