5 THINGS: Flyers @ Flames

In the third game of a four-game western road trip, John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (22-25-10) are in Alberta on Monday afternoon to take on Darryl Sutter's Calgary Flames (26-19-11). Game time at the Scotiabank Saddledome is 4:00 p.m. ET.

GAME NOTES
The game will be televised on NBCSP. The radio broadcast is on 97.5 The Fanatic with an online simulcast on Flyers Radio 24/7.
This is the second and final meeting between the teams this season, and the lone game in Calgary. On Nov. 21 at the Wells Fargo Center, the Flames defeated the Flyers by a 5-2 score.
In the first period, Calgary grabbed a 2-0 lead on goals by Jonathan Huberdeau and Dillon Dube. Blake Coleman assisted on both tallies. One shift after the Dube goal, a Tanner Laczynski deflection (1st NHL goal) narrowed the gap.
Ramus Andersson made it 3-1 Calgary at 3:29 of the second period on a shot that deflected in off the stick of Flyers forward Joel Farabee. At 8:03, Joel Farabee collected an Andrew Mangiapane turnover in the Flames' zone and scored. Coleman restored a two-goal lead with an empty net goal. Trevor Lewis then added an additional empty-net goal with 36.5 seconds left.
In a losing cause, Carter Hart stopped 24 of 27 shots. Jacob Markström denied 23 of 25 shots at the other end. The Flyers went 0-for-3 on the power play. The Flamers were 0-for-2.
The Flyers enter Monday's winless in their last four games (0-3-1), with three straight losses in regulation. On Saturday, the Flyers sustained a 6-2 road loss to the Vancouver Canucks. Scott Laughton (13th) and Morgan Frost (PPG, 11th) scored in a losing cause for the Flyers. Hart stopped 17 of 21 shots. The final two Vancouver goals were shorthanded empty net goals by Elias Pettersson.
The Flames are playing the third and final game of a three-game homestand. On Saturday, the Flames skated to a 3-2 overtime win against the New York Rangers. Goals by Mangiapane (12th) and Nazem Kadri (21st) built a 2-0 lead in the first period. New York chipped away with tallies by Vladimir Tarasenko late in the second period and Alexis Lafreniere (power play) to tie the game at 12:48 of the third period. In sudden death overtime, Mikael Backlund (11th) won the game for Calgary on a 4-on-3 power play deflection goal. Backlund had two points (1g, 1a) in the game, while Jonathan Huberdeau had two assists. Markström made 18 saves on 20 shots to earn the victory.
Here are five things to watch in Monday afternoon's game.
1. Open Call for 'Scoring Committee' Members
From a goal-scoring standpoint, the Flyers' 2022-23 season has been like a trek through the desert with a brief discovery of an oasis midway through the journey. Over the course of the campaign, Philadelphia's scoring has trended in this pattern:
* Pre-Dec. 17: 31 games, 2.37 goals per game (30th in the NHL).
* Dec. 17 to Jan. 19: 15 games, 3.60 GPG ( tied for 7th in the NHL).
* Since Jan. 19: 12 games, 2.08 GPG (31st in the NHL).
Before the season began, Tortorella stressed the importance of the Flyers getting "scoring by committee" since there are no prolific individual goal-scorers on the roster. For much of the first half the season, however, two players carried the offense for Philadelphia: Travis Konecny and Kevin Hayes.
However, in the middle segment of the campaign (specifically during the 15-game uptick), the Flyers had offensive surges from the likes of Laughton, Owen Tippett, Frost, and James van Riemsdyk. More recently, the goal-scoring has dried up again and, this time, it's encompassed virtually the entire roster.
Over the last 12 games, defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen (1g, 7a) is the Flyers' leading scorer with eight points. He is followed by Hayes (4g, 3a) and Noah Cates (3g, 4a) with seven points. Frost (2g, 4a), Tippett (2g, 4a) and Ivan Provorov (1g, 5a) each have six points. Laughton (2g, 3a), Tony DeAngelo (2g, 3a) have five points in the 12-game span. Konecny (2g, 2a) has four points. JVR (2g, 1a) has three points. Wade Allison (1g, 1a), Patrick Brown (1g, 1a) and Cam York (0g, 2a) have two points. Joel Farabee (0g, 1a) and Travis Sanheim (0g, 1a) have only one point apiece in the last dozen games, as does Nicolas Deslauriers (1g, 0a).
In the Flyers' last game, they had a golden opportunity to break loose offensively against Vancouver: the NHL's 31st-ranked team in goals against average (4.02). The Canucks also had a rookie goalie in net, playing just his second game in the NHL and struggling with tracking the puck. As such, it was quite disappointing that the Flyers mustered just two goals on 37 shots on net against the Canucks.
Calgary enters Monday's game ranked 15th in the NHL in team GAA (3.02). The Flames have averaged 3.14 goals per game. Overall for the 2022-23 season, the Flyers rank 28th at 2.67 goals per game.
2. Ersson in net for Philly?
With the Flyers in the midst of playing three games in four nights, Samuel Ersson will get one of the starts on the current road trip. Although Hart typically gets the first game of back-to-back sets, there is a strong possibility the Sherwood Park, Alberta, native will get his start of the season against his hometown Oilers.
It's been a tough road trip for the Flyers' goalies in the back-to-back 6-2 losses to the Kraken and Canucks. The goalie play has not been bad, in and of itself, but Hart and Ersson have been unable to stop the bleeding.
In the Seattle game, Hart was pulled after 31:26 after the Kraken scored their fourth goal on 19 shots. Ersson went the rest of the way. He stopped 9 of 11 shots. Both Hart and Ersson yielded a goal on the respective first shot on net each one faced.
In Vancouver, Hart played quite well for two-plus periods. He had all but zero chance of stopping any of Vancouver's first three goals: two wicked deflection goals and a back-door tap-in near the post with Philly outnumbered down low in their defensive zone. The fourth Vancouver goal, however, was a backbreaker: a rare giveaway by Cates and a bad rebound allowed by Hart that ended up in the net for a 4-2 Canucks' lead. Overall, Hart stopped 17 of 21 shots against the Canucks before being pulled for an extra attacker as the Flyers went on a disastrous 6-on-4 power play that saw them cough up two shorthanded ENGs.
For the season, Ersson has appeared in eight games (six starts). He is 5-0-0 to date with a 2.50 goals against average, .913 save percentage and one shutout. Hart is 16-17-9 with a 2.88 save percentage, .911 save percentage and one shutout.
3. Situational play
The Flyers are a teamwide minus-10 (102 GF/ 112 GA) at 5-on-5 this season. The Flames are plus-13 (122 GF/ 109 GA) at 5-on-5. Philly ranks 30th on the power play (27-for-166, 16.3 percent) while Calgary ranks 24th (34-for-178, 19.4 percent).
At 5-on-5, the Flames have been an excellent puck-possession team. Calgary ranks second in the NHL in shot attempt differential (56.74 percent) at 5-on-5 while the Flyers have slipped back to 25th (47.36 percent) after creeping upwards in mid-December to mid-January. In terms of expected goal shares, the Flames rank third at 54.71 percent and the Flyers rank 24th at 47.01 percent.
Philadelphia's penalty kill had been a team strength in December and January but has had some slip-ups again lately. For the season, the Flyers rank 23rd in the NHL at 76.3 percent (38 PPGA on 160 opportunities). One of the NHL's top PK clubs over the course of the current season, the Flames rank 8th at 81.4 percent (37 PPGA on 199 opportunities). On the flip side, the Flyers have scored 10 shorthanded goals (2nd most in the NHL) while the Flames have scored six (8th). Philly has given up seven shorthanded goals (25th) while Calgary has yielded three (ranked 5th-best).
Statistically, Calgary is slightly above the break-even point in their first-period goal differential (60 GF/ 56 GA) while the Flyers have struggled mightily to score in first periods (45 GF/ 57 GA). Second periods have the Flames' best (61 GF/ 47A). While second periods were a massive trouble spot for the Flyers last season, Philly has basically broken even (51 GF/ 52 GA) in second periods. The Flames' weakest frames this season have been third periods (51 GF/ 59 GA) while the Flyers are minus-nine (55 GF/ 64 GA). On a related late-game note, the Flyers have given up 14 empty-net goals this season while scoring seven with the opposition net vacant. Calgary has scored nine and allowed seven.
In games decided in 3-on-3 overtime, the Flyers are 1-9. The Flames are 4-8.

4. Flyers line play
Dating back to the final two games before the NHL All-Star break, Tortorella has done a lot of line-combination juggling both between games and within games. This has primarily been in response to the renewed downturn in Flyers goal output, although it was initially due to injuries to Zack MacEwen (broken jaw, still on IR) and Allison (one game missed). Before that, the Flyers exclusively went with the same four forward lines and the same three defensive pairs for five straight weeks.
It should be noted, however, that Tortorella believed the long-running combinations had gone stale over the latter portion of their uninterrupted run. Some of the combinations were subsequently reunited briefly but with only modest (or no discernable) bumps in creating scoring chances.
After the first period of last Thursday's debacle in Seattle, Tortorella radically mixed up the line combinations over the final 40 minutes. Many different combinations saw time together although Tortorella eventually shortened the bench a bit and more regularly sent out whatever combos he felt were working a little better than others. The blended lines with frequent in-game juggling method of personnel management carried over into Saturday's game in Vancouver.
In Vancouver, the Flyers went with 11 forwards and 13 defensemen, with veteran defenseman Justin Braun rejoining the starting lineup and forwards Kieffer Bellows and Olle Lycksell sitting out as healthy scratches. The Flyers did not practice on Sunday, due to facing a back-to-back set in Calgary and Edmonton the next two nights.
The lines below reflect the combinations that started Saturday's game and the most commonly used combos as the game progressed. The starting and subsequent combos against the Flames are fluid and subject to change.
44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 49 Noah Cates - 11 Travis Konecny
13 Kevin Hayes - 21 Scott Laughton - Owen Tippett
86 Joel Farabee - 48 Morgan Frost - 38 Patrick Brown
25 James van Riemsdyk - [rotating centers] - 57 Wade Allison
9 Ivan Provorov - 6 Travis Sanheim
45 Cam York - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
24 Nick Seeler - 77 Tony DeAngelo
61 Justin Braun
33 Samuel Ersson
79 Carter Hart
Over the latter portion of the Vancouver game, the primary combinations were Hayes-Laughton-Tippett, JVR-Frost-Konecny, and Deslauriers (or JVR)-Cates-Allison, and Farabee-(rotating centers)-Brown.
PP1: Tippett, Frost, Konecny, Hayes, DeAngelo
PP2: JVR, Laughton, Farabee, York, Ristolainen
Available to play (DND in Vancouver): 20 Kieffer Bellows, 62 Olle Lycksell.
5. Behind Enemy Lines: Calgary Flames
The Flames are 2-2-1 over their last five games and 5-3-2 in their last 10. The club has posted a 15-10-2 record on home ice this season, compared to an 11-9-9 record on the road.
Elias Lindholm leads Calgary in scoring this season with 49 points (16g, 33a) in 54 games played. His is followed by Tyler Toffoli with a team-leading 22 goals among his 48 points, Nazem Kadri with 21 goals and 41 points, Huberdeau with 38 points (10g, 28a), Backlund with 36 points (11g, 25a) and defenseman Rasmus Andersson (7g, 29a).
Andersson paces the team in average ice time (24:31), followed by fellow defenseman Noah Hanafin (22:34). Defenseman Nikita Zadorov and veteran winger Milan Lucic respectively lead the team in credited hits with 126 for Zadorov and 122 for Lucic. Defenseman MacKenzie Weegar has been credited with 119 hits and 80 blocked shots.
In net, Markström has appeared in 37 games (15-13-7, 2.90 GAA, .891 save percentage). Backup Dan Vladar has played in 21 matches (11-6-4, 2.84 GAA, .899 SV%).
29 Dillon Dube - 28 Elias Lindholm - 73 Tyler Toffoli
49 Jakob Pelletier - 91 Nazem Kadri - 10 Jonathan Huberdeau
88 Andrew Mangiapane - 11 Mikael Backlund - 20 Blake Coleman
17 Milan Lucic - 22 Trevor Lewis - 24 Brett Ritchie
55 Noah Hanifin - 4 Rasmus Andersson
52 MacKenzie Weegar - 8 Chris Tanev
16 Nikita Zadorov - 48 Dennis Gilbert
25 Jacob Markström
80 Dan Vladar
PP1: Lindholm, Backlund, Dube, Toffoli, Andersson
PP2: Mangiapane, Kadri, Pelletier, Huberdeau, Hanafin