Flyers at Wild, Game 42: Notes, Lineups, and How to Watch
On the road for their last extended road trip, the Philadelphia Flyers will begin with a matchup against the Minnesota Wild.
This is the second of two meetings between the two teams. The Flyers comfortably dispelled them back on Oct. 26. They scored three unanswered goals en route to a 6-2 victory. Minnesota did make it close with two goals in 1:30 before Philadelphia pulled away with two more goals. Nic Deslauiers and Pat Maroon set fireworks off to start the game by dropping the gloves two seconds into the game.
Philadelphia Flyers
With Jamie Drysdale's addition, the Flyers now have a surplus of defensemen. Using seven defensemen in a game isn't sustainable down the stretch and is something Philadelphia will have to figure out. It will be a tough decision to make and will have to be done on a game-by-game basis. They will continue to roll 11/7 until they figure out what to do.
With that move, Bobby Brink is out of the lineup. It isn't a shock, as his ice time had been declining over the last few games. In two of the four most recent games, he dropped down to less than 10 minutes. He has also been benched during the third period as well. Brink has no points in his last five games. It's not uncommon for a young player to experience growing pains. It's expected to happen.
Speaking to Brink's struggles, the Flyers need to get scoring from other sources. Minnesota is giving up 3.30 goals per game, which is 22nd in the league. Now would be an ideal time to get the likes of Cam Atkinson and Joel Farabee going. Atkinson, now in a 25-game drought, has come close a handful of times to scoring. One goal to break the drought could go a long way for him. And while Farabee has looked sharp on a line with Sean Couturier and Travis Konecny, he has gone seven games without a goal and has just one in his last 12 games.
Flyers Projected Lineup
Joel Farabee - Sean Couturier - Travis Konecny
Owen Tippett - Morgan Frost - Cam Atkinson
Tyson Foerster - Scott Laughton - Garnet Hathaway
Ryan Poehling - Nicolas Deslauriers
Travis Sanheim - Jamie Drysdale
Cam York - Sean Walker
Nick Seeler - Rasmus Ristolainen
Egor Zamula
Carter Hart
Minnesota Wild
The Wild have dealt with injuries to some of their top players this season. Kirill Kaprizov has missed the last six games after suffering an upper-body injury on Dec. 30. It came at a bad time as the Russian forward had six goals and 11 points in a six-game point streak. Jonas Brodin has been out since Dec. 8 after his upper-body injury. And lastly, goaltender Filip Gustavsson will miss his seventh straight game with a lower-body injury. All three skated on Friday, while the latter two could be back as soon as tomorrow.
Despite missing time, Kaprizov still leads the Wild with 34 points and is third in goals (13). Joel Eriksson Ek holds the team lead in goals with 15, though he has an eight-game goalless drought. He has just two points in those games, but they have come in his last three games. It's Matt Boldy who sits right behind him with 14 goals. He has three goals and five points in his most recent two games.
The Flyers are expected to see veteran Marc-Andre Fleury in the net. It's been a tough season for the 39-year-old. He has a 3.12 GAA and a .892 SV% this season.
Wild Projected Lineup
Matt Boldy - Ryan Hartman - Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Johansson - Joel Eriksson Ek - Marcus Foligno
Pat Maroon - Marco Rossi - Frederick Gaudreau
Brandon Duhaime - Connor Dewar - Adam Raska
Jake Middleton - Brock Faber
Alex Goligoski - Zach Bogosian
Jon Merrill - Dakota Mermis
Marc-Andre Fleury
When, Where, and How to Watch/Listen
Time: *:00 PM
Where: Wells Fargo Center
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia+
Radio: 93.3 WMMR
Live Stream: FuboTV
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