Minnesota Wants Top Spot in West, Can Flyers Spoil?
By Scott Cole
The last time these two teams faced off against each other, they couldn’t keep their fists off each other. The Flyers and Wild engaged in several fights in the first and second periods, including one that caused former Flyer Zack MacEwen to break his jaw.
Well, MacEwen is gone now, but the fighting spirit remains. The Flyers are playing the role of spoiler, and just enjoyed a nice thwomping on the Florida Panthers on Tuesday by topping them 6-3. Next up are the Wild. Minnesota is competing for the top playoff seed with Dallas, Edmonton, Vegas, Los Angeles, and Colorado. It will be a photo finish to the wire. Can the Flyers play the role of spoiler again?
Philadelphia Flyers
Record: 26-32-12 (64 points, 7th in Metro)
In the game against Florida, Travis Sanheim had a two-goal game. It was the fifth multi-goal game of his career. He also has three goals in his last four games. Another Flyer who has been hot was Joel Farabee who has scored in three straight games after not finding the net in 26 straight.
Recent call-up Egor Zamula registered two assists in his first game back. Tyson Foerster, also a recent call up, had two assists as well. This is a good sign for some of the young call ups.
There were also some scuffles as former Flyer Radko Gudas threw down with newer Flyer Brendan Lemieux. So, if the Wild want to get wild, we could have a fun night in front of a rabid home crowd. And a night of good fights in front of the home crowd might give the Philly fans something to cheer about.
The Flyers have also had a good week. They toppled Buffalo, almost beat Carolina, and then had the victory over Florida. As this homestand continues, they can continue to show the growth of their youngsters. They are again going with seven defenders to give Zamula a good workout.
Flyers Projected Lineup
Joel Farabee — Noah Cates — Owen Tippett
James van Riemsdyk — Kevin Hayes — Wade Allison
Brendan Lemieux — Morgan Frost — Tyson Foerster
Nicolas Deslauriers — Scott Laughton
Ivan Provorov — Cam York
Travis Sanheim — Rasmus Ristolainen
Nick Seeler — Tony DeAngelo
Egor Zamula
Carter Hart
Minnesota Wild
Record: 41-22-9 (90 points, 2nd in Central)
As stated above, the Wild are fighting with five other teams for the top spot in the West. The means that they are motivated and will be coming to play. Lately, they have defeated Washington and New Jersey after falling to Boston. When the Flyers played them earlier, they settled for a 3-2 overtime loss.
Minnesota is a good defensive team, giving up the third fewest goals. For a team like Philadelphia, that could bode danger as the Flyers are 30th in goals scored. However, they have picked up the tempo lately, scoring 15 goals in their last three games. If the Flyers can stay hot, they might be able to take advantage of Minnesota.
Projected Lineup
Marcus Foligno — Ryan Hartman — Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Johansson — Joel Eriksson Ek — Matt Boldy
Brandon Duhaime — Frederick Gaudreau — Oskar Sundqvist
Mason Shaw — Connor Dewar — Ryan Reaves
Jake Middleton — Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin — Matt Dumba
John Klingberg — Alex Goligoski
Marc-Andre Fleury
Where, When, and How to Watch/Listen
Time: 6:30 PM
Where: Wells Fargo Center
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 FM
Live Stream: FuboTV
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