Flyers at Avalanche, Game 27: Notes, Lineups, and How to Watch
- The Flyers come into Saturday night's game having won three in a row.
- The Avalanche have lost three of their first four games to start the month of December.
- Nathan MacKinnon comes in with a 10-game point streak, the seventh time he has posted one in his career.
Fresh off their third straight victory, the Philadelphia Flyers will make their way to Colorado to visit the Avalanche for the first time this season. It's the second game of a three-game road trip where things will finish off in Nashville on Tuesday.
The Flyers and Avalanche split the two-game season series last year. A struggling Philadelphia team managed to hold off a last-second charge from Colorado to come out with the 5-3 victory on Dec. 5. It was only their second win in the past 14 games. Just over a week later, it was the Avalanche who had to hold off a late surge from Philadelphia. Three unanswered goals gave Colorado the 3-2 win on Dec. 13.
After Saturday's game, the two teams will meet on Jan. 20 at the Wells Fargo Center.
Philadelphia Flyers
It's been said and will continue to be said. The Flyers are a scrappy bunch and have a belief in each other that they can win most games. Sean Couturier said it best after the Flyers took down a hot Arizona Coyotes team. They are going to be hard to play against and will use their aggressive style to take teams down.
Travis Konecny is the engine that makes the Flyers run this season. He has six points in his last five games and has a team-leading three shorthanded goals. Learning how to penalty kill last season, he has given Philadelphia a speedy weapon. Konecny is almost halfway to a new career high in goals, and with the pace he's on, he should easily exceed it. He is giving the Flyers a lot to think about regarding his future with the team.
They will have their hands full against the Avalanche's bevy of talent. With Ryan Poehling still under the weather, the Flyers will be changing things around and going with 11 forwards and seven defensemen. Olle Lycksell, who made his season debut against Arizona, will check out of the lineup, while Marc Staal will come back in.
Flyers Projected Lineup
Tyson Foerster - Sean Couturier - Travis Konecny
Joel Farabee - Scott Laughton - Cam Atkinson
Owen Tippett - Morgan Frost - Bobby Brink
Nic Deslauriers - Garnet Hathaway
Cam York - Travis Sanheim
Nick Seeler - Sean Walker
Marc Staal - Rasmus Ristolainen
Egor Zamula
Carter Hart
Colorado Avalanche
Despite struggling in December, the Avalanche sit in first place in the Central. But the Stars and Jets are right on their heels. They will need to start picking up their play. They certainly have the talent to make it happen.
Starting at the top, Nathan MacKinnon is off to a fast start and has registered 16 points during his 10-game point streak. Five of those have been multi-point outings. He also had a five-game point streak before that but was held pointless against the Stars on Nov. 18 before starting a new streak. He leads the Avalanche with 36 points. Mikko Rantanen is the team leader in goals with 12, though he hasn't scored in eight games. He does have six assists in that span.
Per usual, Cale Makar leads the way on the backend. He has seven goals and 34 points in 24 games. He doesn't have a point in the last two games, tied for the longest he has gone without a point this season. Most of his points have come in the last 14 games, where he has 23 points. Devon Toews, who posted career numbers two seasons ago, has a respectable 14 points in 26 games.
Alexandar Georgiev has been the man in the net for the Avalanche. He has appeared in 22 of the team's 26 games. His numbers aren't bad, as he's posting a 2.86 GAA and a .902 SV% this season. Ivan Prosvetov doesn't have much experience in the league, so it's not surprising to see the Avalanche rely so heavily on the veteran Georgiev. But it'll be the rookie getting the start against the Flyers. He has a 2.45 GAA and a .919 SV% in six games.
Avalanche Projected Lineup
Jonathan Drouin - Nathan MacKinnon - Mikko Rantanen
Valeri Nichushkin - Ryan Johansen - Tomas Tatar
Miles Wood -- Ross Colton -- Logan O’Connor
Kurtis MacDermid - Andrew Cogliano - Joel Kiviranta
Devon Toews - Cale Makar
Bowen Byram - Josh Manson
Jack Johnson - Sam Malinksi
Ivan Prosvetov
When, Where, and How to Watch/Listen
Time: 9:00 PM
Where: Ball Arena
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Live Stream: FuboTV
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