5 THINGS: Flyers @ Golden Knights

GAME NOTES
Interim head coach Mike Yeo's Philadelphia Flyers (8-12-4) are in Las Vegas on Friday night to take on Peter DeBoer's Vegas Golden Knights (15-10-0). Game time at T-Mobile Arena is 10:00 p.m. ET (NBCSP, 97.5 The Fanatic).

This is the first of two meetings between the inter-conference teams this season and the only one in Las Vegas. The scene shifts to the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on March 8.
The Flyers enter this game mired in a 10-game winless streak (0-8-2) including six straight losses in regulation. Friday's game in Vegas is the team's fourth game in six nights. It's been a nightmarish week so far.
On Sunday, a rested Flyers team was on the business end of a 7-1 buzzsaw from the Tampa Bay Lightning. The next day, the organization relieved head coach Alain Vigneault and assistant Michel Therrien of their duties. That night, with interim coach Yeo at the helm, the Flyers were on the wrong end of a 7-5 score against the visiting Colorado Avalanche. On Wednesday, the Flyers got shut out in Newark by the New Jersey Devils, 3-0.
Vegas is a rested team. They are in the third game of a four-game homestand and have only played twice dating back to Dec. 4. The Golden Knights are 2-0-0 on the current homestand, defeating the Calgary Flames by a 3-2 score on Sunday and then coming back from behind to beat the Dallas Stars by a 5-4 count on Wednesday. The back-to-back wins lifted the team to a 6-4-0 record over its last 10 games.
Here are five things to watch in Friday's game:
1. Five-man unit cohesion.
The Flyers are coming off a low-energy performance in New Jersey on Wednesday; a game where the team was shut out for the fourth time this season. The Flyers were limited to 25 shots and mustered only two high-danger chances all night.
When coaches and players refer to a team's process, they are talking about the game-within-the-game details that typically make the difference between maximizing the chance to win or facing an uphill climb all game: retrievals, breakouts, good gaps and puck support, good body and stick positioning on defensive assignments, navigating/ defending the neutral zone, offensive zone entries or chip-ins with speed, establishing a forecheck, making accurate passes, and getting pucks and attackers in the prime real estate areas below and between the faceoff dots.
Teams with a winning process inevitably show cohesion as five-man units and players keep their feet moving. Being "hard to play against" is not only a matter of physical play, although that's one element. It's also about defending and attacking in layers. When the gaps get too big or when players get stationary, the team becomes much easier to attack and defend. Puck possession differentials and, more importantly, shot quality and difficulty for goaltender are steeped in these elements.
The Flyers' process, from Nov. 2019 until the pandemic-cause pause to the 2019-20 regular season, was excellent. They've had enormous difficulty recovering it ever since, despite a slew of roster changes this past offseason. It didn't happen last season and, after an overall promising start to the 2021-22 season, has regressed again.
Yeo's ascension to interim head coach status came during a week where a 5-in-7 game schedule precludes holding any practices. Additionally, the Flyers are still working out details on rounding out the revised assistant coaching staff. Lehigh Valley Phantoms head coach Ian Laperriere filled in as an assistant on Monday against Colorado. Development coach Nick Schultz filled in on Wednesday in Newark.
In Monday's match against Colorado, the five goals the Flyers scored represented the first time since Oct. 27 the team managed to score more than three goals in a game. Unfortunately, the Flyers also yielded 50 shots and seven goals on the same night.
In Wednesday's game in Newark, the Flyers struggled at times once again in the defensive zone and especially struggled in the neutral and offensive zones. The own-zone coverages and recoveries were improved relative to the previous two games where they allowed a combined 14 goals, but that was a low bar to clear. The Devils still were able at times to take advantage of turnovers, scrambled coverages and gaping passing lanes.
For the Flyers to end their losing streak and inch back toward the winning track, the process needs to be fixed first. There's a lot of work to be done.
2. Cates and Connauton.
With Joel Farabee (shoulder) being placed on injured reserve on Thursday, the Flyers recalled Jackson Cates from the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Cates dressed in four NHL games for the Flyers last season (0g, 1a) as a fourth-line forward after turning professional and being signed by Philadelphia after his junior year at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. This season, after being one of the last cuts from the Flyers during NHL training camp, he has dressed in 18 games in the American Hockey League for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (2g, 3a).
With the Phantoms this season, Cates has primarily seen fourth-line and penalty killing duties. Both of his goals this season have been shorthanded tallies, including a perfectly executed shorthanded breakaway for his first career professional goal.
On Tuesday of this week, the Flyers claimed veteran defenseman Kevin Connauton off waivers from the Florida Panthers. Both Cates and Connauton could be in the Flyers' lineup against the Golden Knights. The Flyers had a travel day on Thursday but will have a morning skate at T-Mobile Arena on Friday. The lineup and line combinations should become clear at that point.
3. Inside the Numbers.
Vegas has been inconsistent at times this season, and have actually yielded more 5-on-5 goals than the Flyers this season (although not over their respective last 10 games). The Flyers, who got off a strong start in this area but have fallen off a cliff since game 13, have given up 51 goals at 5-on-5. The Golden Knights have yielded 56; an area DeBoer has mentioned as something the team needs to improve significantly.
In terms of goals scored at 5-on-5, however, it's no contest. Vegas has scored 62 times with teams at full strength: a whopping 24 more goals than Philly has mustered at 5-on-5.
Even with Monday's 5-goal performance, the Flyers are tied for being the NHL's lowest scoring team overall since Oct. 28. Over their last 19 games, the Flyers have scored at an anemic 1.74 GPG pace; tied with the Arizona Coyotes for the lowest output in that span. The Flyers have a team 3.42 GAA in that span. Arizona's is 3.26, giving the Flyers the dubious distinction of the NHL's worst GF/GA differential since Oct. 28.
The Flyers have given up a shorthanded goal to opposing teams in two of the last three games. It's imperative to avoid turnovers and shorthanded counterattacks by Vegas, who lead the NHL with a half-dozen shorties to date this season.

4. Behind Enemy Lines: Vegas Golden Knights
The Golden Knights are no strangers when it comes to making splashy trades and free agent signings. The team is on the wait for Jack Eichel to rehab following neck surgery. For several months, his $10 million AAV contract will be on long-term injured reserve.
The Golden Knights also have defenseman Alec Martinez ($5.25 million) and ex-Flyers center Nolan Patrick (four games played this season, $1.2 million cap hit) on IR. Patrick has recently been back on the ice for his new team.
Mark Stone, arguably the team's top all-around hockey player, has returned to the lineup from injury and has posted 15 points in 13 games (3g, 12a). Max Pacioretty (seven goals and 12 points in eight games) has also returned. Stone scored twice in the win over Dallas. Pacioretty assisted on Stone's game-tying goal and then scored the winning tally.
Even during the absences of Stone and Pacioretty, the Golden Knights spread the wealth around offensively. The team boasts 10 players who have tallied 12 points or more this season. By comparison, the Flyers only have four players (Claude Giroux, Cam Atkinson, the slumping Sean Couturier and Travis Konecny) with 12-plus points.
Overall, Chandler Stephenson leads the Golden Knights with 22 points (9g, 13a). Jonathan Marchessault paces the goal-scoring department with 11 markers; one more than Riley Smith. The team's biggest-name acquisition a year ago, defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, leads the squad in ice time with an average 25:25 TOI and has posted 16 points (4g, 12a).
In net, Robin Lehner has made 20 appearances (10-9-0 record, 3.10 GAA, .906 SV%) while former Winnipeg backup Laurent Brossoit (5-1-0, 2.41 GAA, .921 SV%) has made seven appearances.
5. Players to Watch: Giroux and Pacioretty
Flyers captain Claude Giroux's 15 points (5g, 10a) in the last 19 games easily tops the Flyers' overall scoring lead in that span. Via goal or assist, he's individually figured in 45.45 percent of the last 33 goals the Flyers have scored in that span. The team needs more players stepping up. Too many nights over the last month, it's been Giroux or nothing.
Max Pacioretty has been a thorn in many teams' sides over the years, whether as a member of the Montreal Canadiens or the Golden Knights. Compared to many opposing clubs, the Flyers have gone a relatively good job of containing Pacioretty over the years (six goals and 19 points in 29 career games). Nevertheless, he's a dangerous player when close to the net and the Flyers have had issues recently with deflection goals and tap-ins scored by forwards given free reign down low.