5 THINGS: Flyers @ Hurricanes
John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (24-29-11) are in Raleigh on Thursday to take on Rod Brind'Amour's Carolina Hurricanes (42-12-18) at PNC Arena
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 third of four meetings this season between the teams and the second and final game in Carolina. The season series will conclude at the Wells Fargo Center on March 18. The Flyers are 1-0-1 to date against the Hurricanes.
On Oct. 29 in Philadelphia, the Hurricanes claimed a 4-3 overtime win.
A fluky goal by Jordan Staal gave the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead at 5:27 of the first period. Jordan Martinook made it 2-0 at 15;04. In the second period, the Flyers generated closely spaced back-to-back goals by Nicolas Deslauriers and Owen Tippett (PPG) to tie the game at 7:18. Wade Allison gave the Flyers a 3-2 lead at 5:09 of the third period. With 2:05 left in the third period, Martin Necas tied it at 3-3. Brent Burns netted the game winner in the final minute of overtime.Carter Hart sustained his first loss of the season (5-0-1 at the time) but made 34 saves on 38 shots. Antti Raanta denied 26 of 29 Flyers' shots.
On Dec. 23 in Raleigh, a late Flyers rally fell short as Carolina won a wild 6-5 game.
The Flyers had a couple prime chances early in the first period and then ran into a buzzsaw. Jesper Fast made it 1-0 Carolina at 3:57. After Travis Sanheim temporarily tied the game at 11:03, Carolina got goals from Necas (PPG) and a second tally by Fast to take a 3-1 lead to the first intermission. In the second period, Tony DeAngelo briefly got the Flyers back within 3-2 but Carolina responded with goals by Andrei Svechnikov and Martinook made it 5-2. Late in the second period, Jesperi Kotkaniemi (PPG) created a 6-2 bulge for Carolina. In the third period, a point shot by Nick Seeler and then back-to-back shorthanded goals by Scott Laughton and Travis Konecny cut the deficit to 6-5. The Flyers had several chances to pull even but no further scoring ensued. Samuel Ersson made his NHL debut in goal for the Flyers. He lasted just 27:58, allowing five goals on 22 shots. Hart came in to relieve Ersson and stopped six of seven shots in 9:54 before he had to leave with an injury on the Kotkaniemi goal sequence. Ersson returned to the net to finish out the game. He made eight saves in the third period to finish with 25 stops on 30 shots. Raanta earned the win. He made 26 saves on 31 shots overall.
The Flyers, who are 2-7-1 in their last 10 games, enter tonight's game coming off a
5-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday in the first match of the current road trip. Morgan Frost (12th goal of the season) and Brendan Lemieux (1st of the season and 1st as a Flyer) scored in a losing cause. Carter Hart stopped 34 of 39 shots.
The Hurricanes, 8-2-0 in their last 10 games, sweated out a 4-3 (3-2) shootout road win over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday evening. Jesperi Kotkaniemi netted the winning goal in the skills competition. In regulation, the Hurricanes overcame an early 2-0 deficit and a first-period injury to goaltender Raanta (eight saves on 10 shots). Frederik Andersen (13 saves on 14 shots) went the final 45 minutes of regulation and overtime before prevailing in the shootout. Jaccob Slavin (5th goal of the season), Brady Skej (12th) and Fast (8th) scored in regulation for the Canes.
Here are five things to watch in tonight's game:
1. Sanheim needs a big game
Tonight, Flyers offensive defenseman DeAngelo will serve the first game of a two-game suspension by the NHL for spearing Tampa Bay's Corey Perry in the third period of Tuesday's game. It is imperative for struggling Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim to effectively join the attack to help create desperately needed offense.The same goes for Cam York, Ivan Provorov and even Rasmus Ristolainen.
With the exception of a solid stretch in November to early December -- a team when the team as a whole was scuffling for wins but Sanheim individually was generally playing well -- Sanheim has rarely looked like the defenseman who won the Barry Ashbee Trophy last season. Whether by the old-fashioned eye test or underlying stats, Sanheim has had a rough season.
Little has come instinctively of late for Sanheim. He's been fighting the puck at times, getting beaten in coverages and puck battles and not using his fleet feet nearly as well as he's capable of doing. His confidence level seems to be at its lowest point since he was a 21-year-old NHL rookie.
From an offensive contribution standpoint, Sanheim has been ice cold for months. For the 2023 calendar year, Sanheim has a mere two points (0g, 2a) in 26 games. Some of this may have been due to spending a few weeks with DeAngelo as his main blueline partner and trying to take on more of a defensive role. However, it's been some time since the two defensemen were separated again onto different pairings. Sanheim's up-ice contributions have still remained sporadic.
If Sanheim isn't using his feet effectively and making intelligent pinches, he's missing one of the main assets he brings. There have been moments -- a shift here and there, even one whole game at home against Edmonton -- where Sanheim looked like the player who has twice had 30-plus point seasons in the NHL despite limited power play time. But those have fleeting.
Defensively, Sanheim is never going to be a bruiser despite his tall frame. He's more of a containment defender than a shutdown guy who dramatically kills plays. He relies on his stick and maintaining tight gaps before moving the puck up the ice efficiently-- areas where he was pretty effective last season overall and several weeks earlier this season. For the most part, especially recently, Sanheim's own zone play has been uneven.
When the Flyers were in Calgary on Feb. 20, Tortorella attempted to motivate Sanheim by making him a healthy scratch. Sanheim played his junior hockey in the Saddledome for the WHL's Calgary Hitmen and had family members in attendance for the recent Flyers vs. Flames game. This was the second time this season that Tortorella pushed that particular motivation button with a Flyers player. Back on Nov. 2, Tortorella did the same with young forward Morgan Frost in Toronto with the player's parents and friends in the stands.
On Tuesday of this week, Tortorella benched Sanheim and Joel Farabee for the duration of the second period. In both cases, the Flyers players had taken unnecessary minor penalties (two by Farabee, one by Sanheim) in the first period. Specific to Sanheim, the defenseman had an especially rough shift in the defensive zone leading up to the penalty.
Both Sanheim and Farabee had a couple good shifts in the third period of the Tampa game. However, Tortorella said after the game that he was uncertain of what comes next with the two players after Farabee's ice time was temporarily cut significantly and Sanheim sat out a game.
DeAngelo's suspension had the unintentional effect of giving Sanheim two more opportunities -- tonight's match in Raleigh and Saturday's tilt in Pittsburgh against the Penguins -- to reset his game while playing his normal number of minutes.
2. Farabee's in the same boat
Farabee sat out the second period on Tuesday after taking a pair of offensive zone penalties -- one for hooking, the latter a retaliatory infraction after he'd received an unpenalized hit to the head and ran at the first Tampa player he could line up to receive payback -- that ended up as Tampa power play goals.
Earlier in the first period, Farabee earned a nice primary assist. Farabee gained entry into the offensive zone, made a tape-to-tape pass across the ice to Frost and picked up an apple from the resulting goal. Farabee was -- and still is -- in dire need of point production, so that was an encouraging sign before the penalties ruined his night. In the third period, Farabee hit the post on a good scoring chance.
Farabee has no goals and two assists in the 13 games since the All-Star break. In fact, his drought pre-dates the break and goes all the way back to Jan. 16: two points in his last 21 games.Farabee's last goal was 24 games ago, in Buffalo on Jan. 9.
Farabee generated three shots on goal in the game against the Rangers last Wednesday, including one notable scoring chance. He also was noticeably forechecking with more jam and, correspondingly, winning more battles. He built off that performance with an excellent game against Detroit on Sunday. Farabee had three separate Grade A scoring chances (one even a Grade A+ on which goalie Ville Husso made a phenomenal save after seeming to be dead-to-rights on the play). Farabee attempted seven shots and put four on net.
The assist on Frost's goal on Tuesday was seemingly the next step in Farabee's progression toward breaking out of his long dry spell offensively.The fact that he had some good shifts in the third period including another near goal, hopefully, showed that the one-period benching did not send the player back to square one again. Additionally, the Flyers could really use a strong performance from Farabee against the Hurricanes in particular. When Farabee is on his game, he's one of the relatively few Flyers who matches up well to the way Carolina plays. That version of Farabee is still greatly needed by the Flyers in both the immediate and longer-term futures.
3. Pacing and puck management
The Flyers have actually had some offensive success against Carolina this season, scoring a combined eight goals in the first eight meetings. Unfortunately, the Flyers have allowed 10 goals.
Since the NHL All-Star break, goals have been exceptionally hard for the Flyers to come by. They are next-to-last in the NHL with 1.92 goals per game in their 13 games since Feb. 1.For the season as a whole, the Flyers rank 29th leaguewide at 2.61 goals per game.
The 6-5 outcome against Carolina in the final game before the leaguewide Christmas holiday break overlapped a nearly month-long offensive uptick for the Flyers from mid-December to mid-January where the team scored at 3.60 goals per game pace. Both before and after that temporary surge, the Flyers have been near the bottom of the NHL offensively.
Statistically, the Hurricanes are the NHL's best puck-possession team at 5-on-5 and also boast outstanding team speed. They do plenty of dump-ins, including the cross-corner variety, because the Hurricanes are especially adept at being first to the puck or feasting off turnovers.
No team in the NHL has a more favorable shot attempt share (60.11 percent) or expected goals share (60.41 percent) at 5-on-5 than Brind'Amour's Hurricanes. The Hurricanes as a team are plus-39 (138 goals for, 99 goals against) in their goal differential at 5-on-5.
As such, it is absolutely vital that the Flyers (ranked 25th in shot attempt share and 25th in expected goals) not get repeatedly hemmed in their own zone. It's equally important to avoid turnovers through the neutral zone or up high in the attack zone with players trapped on the wrong side of the puck.
Carolina is also adept at gaining instant possession via faceoff wins. The Hurricanes are in the NHL's top five in faceoff percentage (53.4 percent) while the Flyers rank last in the NHL at 45.4 percent. For practical purposes, this means that Philly is probably going to have to work especially hard after the drop of the puck to being able to gain -- and keep -- possession.
The Hurricanes boast the NHL's second-lowest team goals against average (2.52) this season. This is largely because the Hurricanes have the puck so often and allow the fewest opposing shots on goal per game (26.0). They capably make opposing teams start out in their end zone. Carolina has received competent but not spectacular goaltending.
4. Flyers line play
Of late, the Flyers have often been using an 11-forward/ 7 defenseman starting lineup. With DeAngelo's suspension, the Flyers will likely go back to 12F/6D barring the recall of a defenseman from the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms (such as Ronnie Attard or the previously recalled Egor Zamula).
With 11 forwards in the lineup, Owen TIppett has been regularly double-shifting. He's skated not only with Frost and Farabee but seeing time two shifts later on the fourth line centered by Tanner Laczynski and on Kevin Hayes' line.Even in a 12F/6D lineup, Tippett figures to continue to receive extensive ice time.
Who would the 12th forward be? The default is Kieffer Bellows. Alternatively, the Flyers could recall a forward from the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Thursday. Optons include AHL All-Star Game participant Tyson Foerster (still awaiting his NHL debut0 or previously recalled players such as Olle Lycksell, Max Willman or Jackson Cates.
The Flyers' bottom-ranked power play went 0-for-3 in Tampa Bay. However, they generated some good entries (a rarity this season) and puck movement. They also tried some more strategic tweaks in that half, such as Frost being primarily stationed in the bumper spot rather than the half wall or out near the point. Recently, Ristolainen has regularly been deployed netfront. With personnel moving around in the two power play units, things could change again in Carolina.
Default Flyers lineup (based off last game, subject to change)
86 Joel Farabee - 48 Morgan Frost - 74 Owen Tippett
25 James van Riemsdyk - 13 Kevin Hayes - 57 Wade Allison
21 Scott Laughton - 49 Noah Cates - 22 Brendan Lemieux
44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 58 Tanner Laczynski - [20 Kieffer Bellows or other[
9 Ivan Provorov - 45 Cam York
6 Travis Sanheim - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
24 Nick Seeler - 61 Justin Braun
79 Carter Hart
32 Felix Sandström
PP1: Tippett, Laughton, Hayes, Ristolainen, York
PP2: Frost, JVR, Cates, Farabee, Provorov
5. Behind Enemy Lines: Carolina Hurricanes
Carolina forwards Necas (25 goals, 59 points), Sebastian Aho (27 goals, 55 points in 55 games) and Andrei Svechnikov (22 goals, 54 points) have all passed the 20-goal and 50-point milestones this season with 20 games remaining in the regular season schedule. Veteran roving defenseman Brent Burns (12 goals, 38 points) has added his seventh 50-plus season to his NHL career resume.
Just before the NHL trade deadline, the Hurricanes added former Flyers offensive defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere (12 goals,35 points) to the team in a trade with the Arizona Coyotes. In his first three games with the Hurricanes, he has scored two goals and added two assists. However, "Ghost" had a bit of a tough game against Montreal, and will look to get right back on the beam against his original team on Thursday.
Enigmatic forward Jesse Puljujärvi was acquired last week from the Edmonton Oilers. Puljujärvi could make his Hurricanes debut against the Flyers tonight.
With Raanta getting injured in Tuesday's game against the Canadiens, the Hurricanes recalled 23-year-old goalie Pyotr Kochetkov from the AHL's Chicago Wolves on an emergency basis. Kochetkov has spent much of the 2022-23 season in the NHL with the Hurricanes, posting a 10-4-5 record, 2.33 goals-against average and .913 save percentage in 19 NHL games. He's played 20 games in the AHL this season. Anderson, meanwhile, has played in 23 games this season for the Hurricanes (16-6-0, 2.35 GAA, .906 SV%, one shutout).
The Hurricanes will hold a morning skate at PNC Arena on Tuesday. The lineup below is what Carolina featured on Tuesday against the Canadiens, but will change against the Flyers if Puljujärvi is in the lineup.
37 Andrei Svechnikov - 20 Sebastian Aho - 24 Seth Jarvis
86 Teuvo Teräväinen - 82 Jesperi Kotkaniemi - 88 Martin Necas
48 Jordan Martinook - 11 Jordan Staal - 71 Jesper Fast
23 Stefan Noesen - 26 Paul Stastny - 21 Derek Stepan
74 Jaccob Slavin - 8 Brent Burns
76 Brady Skej - 22 Brett Pesce
41 Shayne Gostisbehere - 5 Jalen Chatfield
31 Frederick Andersen
52 Pyotr Kochetkov