5 THINGS: Flyers @ Red Wings

Playing their fourth game in six nights, John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (19-20-7) are in Motown on Saturday evening to take on Derek Lalonde's Detroit Red Wings (19-17-8). Game time at Little Caesars Arena is 7:00 p.m. ET.

GAME NOTES
The game will be televised on NBCSP. The radio broadcast is on 93.3 WMMR with an online simulcast on Flyers Radio 24/7.
This is the first of three meetings this season between the team, and the lone game in Detroit. The Flyers and Red Wings will rematch at the Wells Fargo Center on March 5 and the afternoon of March 25.
The Flyers are 8-3-0 in their last 11 games but are coming off a disappointing 4-1 home loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday. The Flyers statistically outplayed the Blackhawks and also avoided taking any penalties but were slightly out of sync for most of the game. A first period goal by Morgan Frost (10th) stood as the lone Philadelphia goal. Carter Hart stopped 25 of 28 shots in a losing cause.
The Red Wings are 2-2-1 in their last five games and 4-5-1 over their last 10 matches. The team enters this game coming off a 3-2 road win on Thursday against the Vegas Golden Knights. Ville Husso delivered a 33-save performance for the winning side. Lucas Raymond (14th) opened the scoring in the first period. Second period goals by Dominik Kubalik (PPG, 14th) and Joe Velano (6th) built a 3-1 lead. The Red Wings held on in the third period to win by one goal. Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin earned his 26th assist and 41st point of the season on Raymond's goal.
Here are five things to watch in this game:
1. Strike early
If the Flyers are to win in Detroit, the most straightforward path goes through establishing an early advantage. Neither team has been especially good in exiting the first period with a lead. The Red Wings have been outscored by 15 goals in first periods (32 GF to 47 GA) while the Flyers have been outscored by nine (37 GF to 46 GA).
Statistically, second periods are the only one in which the Flyers -- who were the NHL's worst second period a season ago -- have outscored opponents (44 GF to 41 GA). The Red Wings have been outscored by six goals (45 GF to 51 GA) in the second period.
By the time the game gets to the third period, however, the season-long stat trend shifts to favoring Detroit. The Red Wings have scored 12 more goals than they've allowed in the third period (57 GF to 45 GA) while the Flyers are in the red by nine goals (46 GF to 55 GA).
When leading (13-0-2) or tied (4-2-3) entering the third period, the Red Wings are a combined 17-2-5. The team's third period scoring prowess this season has also enabled them to come away with one or two points in five of the 20 games in which they entered the third period trailing (2-15-3).
The Flyers are 14-0-1 when they take a lead into the third period but a comparatively disappointing 3-4-6 when they go into the final regulation stanza in the "win a period, win the game" scenario of being tied at the second intermission. When trailing after the first period, the Flyers are 4-10-4. If trailing at the end of the second period: the Flyers are 2-16-0.
Bottom line: The Flyers likely need to put themselves in the driver's seat in the opening 20 minutes if possible and certainly by the end of the first 40 minutes. After that, season history to date suggests the Red Wings are the likelier team to win the third period on the scoreboard.

2. Generate chances off the forecheck
The Flyers were shut out three games ago in Boston and held to one goal by Chicago on Thursday. However, the larger trend over the Flyers' last 18 games is that they've had a decided uptick in their offensive output compared to the first 28 games of the season.
There are many reasons for the scoring increase, but two key factors have been: 1) Cleaner breakouts and playing quicker. This has led to an increase in opportunities off the rush, including chances for the D to jump into the play. 2) Winning more small-area battles, making plays in tight spaces, and scoring more grinding goals off the forecheck or on low-to-high plays with traffic in front.
Tortorella said after Thursday's game that he felt the Flyers got away from the second area in the game against Chicago.
"I think we have to realize that. I think sometimes against good teams when you start scoring off the rush and you start scoring some goals like we have, you forget about what it is for us. We're a forechecking team and I think we forgot that a little bit [against Chicago]. When we got to the third period and we knew we had to push, we were down there. Needed it to happen in the first and second," Tortorella said.
Heading into Detroit, the Flyers will look to reestablish their forecheck and small-area execution in general, because those are the plays that create opportunities at the net. Even Frost's highlight-reel between the legs goal from along the goal line on Tuesday against Arnaheim came about via James van Riemsdyk's forechecking work behind the net and extended puck possession by Philadelphia leading up to the eventual tally.
3. The Konecny Factor
Although he did not earn a spot in the upcoming NHL All-Star Game, the entire NHL is well aware that Travis Konecny has been having a career year this season. He's never gone more than back-to-back games without a point, and even that has only happened twice the entire season.
Konecny's recent 10-game point streak in which he racked up 20 points (10g, 10a) understandably drew a lot of attention. Opponents increasingly key on containing Konecny. There are also the inevitable ebbs and flows of puck luck.
Last game against Chicago, Konecny got a bit unlucky on the offensive side of the puck. A 2-on-1 opportunity resulted in a narrowly missed shot. He generated six shots on goal in 11 shot attempts (four misses, one blocked attempt) and made a play off a takeaway. At the end of the night, though, he finished without a point.
Nights like those will happen, and there's no cause for concern as long as the chances keep coming. It is, however, worth noting that Konecny has gone without a point in three of the Flyers' last four games. The exception was his two-assist night (including a shorthanded helper on Rasmus Ristolainen's first goal of the season) against Anaheim.
A productive night for Konecny in Detroit would increase the chances of the Flyers avoiding back-to-back losses for the first time since the final two games prior to the leaguewide holiday break. For the season, Konecny leads the Flyers with 24 goals and 48 points in 48 games.
Below is the Flyers scoring leaderboard over the team's last 18 games.

4. Flyers Line Play
The Flyers held an optional morning skate at Little Caesars Arena at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday morning.
On Friday, the Flyers assigned goaltending prospect Samuel Ersson to the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms. He was in net for the Phantoms on Friday evening, and stopped 28 of 30 shots on goal in a 5-2 win over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Felix Sandström, who completed a voluntary seven-game conditioning assignment to the Phantoms on Wednesday, is back with the parent team. Sandström would require waivers to loan to the Phantoms, while Ersson is waiver-exempt.
The Flyers have consistently gone with the same starting line combinations for the last month. However, in both the 6-0 shutout loss in Boston on Monday and the 4-1 home loss to Chicago on Thursday, Tortorella did fairly extensive line combination juggling. At Saturday's morning skate, the Flyers reverted to their now-familiar arrangement of 12 forwards and six defensemen. The extra skaters were, once again, defenseman Justin Braun and winger Kieffer Bellows.
Projected lineup
86 Joel Farabee - 49 Noah Cates - 11 Travis Konecny
25 James van Riemsdyk - 48 Morgan Frost - 74 Owen Tippett
13 Kevin Hayes - 21 Scott Laughton - 57 Wade Allison
44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 38 Patrick Brown - 17 Zack MacEwen
9 Ivan Provorov - 45 Cam York
6 Travis Sanheim - 77 Tony DeAngelo
24 Nick Seeler - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
79 Carter Hart
[32 Felix Sandström]
PP1: Tippett, Laughton, Konecny, Farabee, DeAngelo.
PP2: Hayes, Frost, JVR, Cates, York.
Extras: 61 Justin Braun, 20 Kieffer Bellows
5. Behind Enemy Lines: Detroit Red Wings
The Red Wings bring an 11-9-3 home record on the season. The team's over Vegas snapped a three-game winless spell (0-2-1). Saturday's game is the Red Wings' fourth in six nights: the exact same as the Flyers. There is no on-paper "fatigue factor" edge for either club.
Entering Saturday's game, Larkin (15g, 26a, 41 points), Kubalik (14g, 18a, 32 points) and defenseman Filip Hronek (7g, 25a, 32 points) are Detroit's three leading scorers. Raymond has 31 points (14g, 17a) and veteran David Perron (14g, 16a, 30 points) has posted 30.
Twenty-one-year-old defenseman Mortiz Seider (3g, 17a, 20 points) has very high long-term upside, enjoyed a stellar rookie season in 2021-22 and logs large-scale ice time for Lalonde's team in tough matchups. His stats are down a bit from his rookie pace and he's had occasional hiccups when trying to do too much, but Seider is already the keystone to his club's blueline corps. His play, overall, has been stronger than his stats would look.
Twenty-two-year-old rookie Jonatan Berggren spent part of the season in the AHL with Grand Rapids but has found some NHL success since his recall. The Swedish forward has posted seven goals and 17 points overall in 31 games with the Red Wings. He's cooled off a bit as of late but Berggren exited the Christmas break with points in six of eight games (three goals, three assists).
In net, Husso has played in 31 games (15-10-5, 3.06 GAA, .900 save percentage, three shutouts). Magnus Hellberg has appeared in eight games (3-3-1, 2.70 GAA, .897 save percentage).
Projected lineup per Anser Khan of MLIVE.com (subject to change)
81 Dominik Kubalik - 71 Dylan Larkin - 23 Lucas Raymond
27 Michael Rassmussen - 18 Andrew Copp - 57 David Perron
73 Adam Erne - 24 Pius Suter - 14 Robby Fabbri
52 Jonatan Berggren - 90 Joe Veleno - 70 Oskar Sundqvist
96 Jake Walman - 53 Moritz Seider
8 Ben Chiarot - 17 Filip Hronek
2 Olli Määttä - 82 Jordan Oesterle
35 Ville Husso
45 Magnus Hellberg
PP1: Perron, Larkin, Raymond. Berggren, Seider
PP2: Sundqvist, Veleno, Fabbri, Kubalik, Hronek
Extras: 38 Robert Hägg, 28 Gustav Lindström, 59 Tyler Bertuzzi (day-to-day, lower body).