5 THINGS: Flyers vs. Flames

Winless in their last six games, John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (7-7-4) are home on Monday to take on Darryl Sutter's Calgary Flames (8-7-2) on Hockey Fights Cancer Night at the Wells Fargo Center. Game time is 7:00 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 first of two meetings this season between the inter-conference clubs. The Flyers and Flames will rematch on Feb. 20 at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary.
The Flyers enter this game coming off a 5-4 (1-0) overtime road loss to the Montreal Canadiens. Philadelphia was 1.9 seconds away from a regulation win when Cole Caufield's second goal of the game forced overtime. Owen Tippett scored twice for the Flyers, who also got a goal apiece from Travis Sanheim and Kevin Hayes. Philadelphia is 0-4-2 over its last six games and went 0-1-2 during their just completed three-game road trip to Columbus, Boston and Montreal.
Here are five things to watch in this game:
1. Working around injuries
Injuries cannot be used as an excuse for losing. That said, the Flyers are one of the NHL's most-injured riddled teams. In the last two games, Travis Konecny (suspected right hand injury) and Scott Laughton (suspected head injury) joined the likes of Sean Couturier (back surgery, IR), Cam Atkinson (upper body, out indefinitely), James van Riemsdyk (surgery to repair a broken left index finger, IR), Wade Allison (oblique strain and hip pointer, IR) and Ryan Ellis (LTIR, likely out for the season).
Last game, the Flyers moved Morgan Frost up to the top line with Tippett and Joel Farabee on his wings. Kevin Hayes skated on a line with Max Willman and Patrick Brown (who is two games removed from being activated from IR). Kieffer Bellows returned to the lineup in a fourth-line role.
With Laughton seemingly unlikely to be available to play tonight and Konecny undergoing further evaluation to determine a treatment plan, the Flyers could make some roster adjustments. Tanner Laczynski had back-to-back strong games for the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms this past weekend, skating on the farm team's first line. He notched a breakaway goal, two assists and a shootout-winning goal. Laczynski was not in the Phantoms' lineup on Sunday in Springfield; a potential hint that he's slated for a recall to the Flyers. Laczynski (No. 58) also offers the versatility of being able to play either wing or center with Laughton out. In terms of dealing with Konecny's absence on right wing, there is also the option of keeping Bellows in the lineup or recalling a winger from the Phantoms.
The Flyers have a 10:30 a.m. morning skate at the Wells Fargo Center. Roster adjustments and line combinations will become clearer at that time. A potential lineup is below:
86 Joel Farabee - 48 Morgan Frost - 74 Owen Tippett
13 Kevin Hayes - 49 Noah Cates.- 17 Zack MacEwen
71 Max Willman - 38 Patrick Brown - 58 Tanner Laczynski
44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 23 Lukas Sedlak - 20 Kieffer Bellows
9 Ivan Provorov - 77 Tony DeAngelo
6 Travis Sanheim - 61 Justin Braun
24 Nick Seeler - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
79 Carter Hart
32 Felix Sandström
PP1: DeAngelo, Cates, Hayes, Tippett, Frost.
PP2: Provorov, MacEwen, Farabee, TBD, Sanheim
2. Finishing touch needed: Frost and Farabee
Frost has not lacked for scoring chances this season -- including four clear-cut breakaways, a partial breakaway and no fewer than five other scoring chances from the "home plate" area below and between the faceoff dots -- but has not scored a goal since notching five-on-five and empty net goals on opening night against New Jersey. Within the last two games, Frost has had a breakaway, an opportunity at the doorstep and a turnaround shot from center slot. He was the second shooter in the shootout in Montreal, beating goalie Jake Allen but putting the shot off the inside of the right post and then the inside of the left post.
In terms of setting up plays, Frost has been on the playmaking end of no fewer than six Philadelphia scoring chances over the last four games dating back to the third period of the Dallas game on Nov. 13, but he has only one assist to show for it. However, Frost cleanly won an offensive zone faceoff in the third period of the Boston game that resulted seconds later in a Tippett goal. Frost's faceoff win was the first of four touches that ended in the goal and did not qualify for an assist.
Likewise, goals have been hard for Farabee to come by of late. He has three assists in his last five games, including a secondary assist on Tippett's first goal in the Montreal game. He has seven shots on goal in that span. However, it's been nine games since Farabee scored in Toronto on Nov. 2, and he has just one goal and five assists over the last 11 games.
Given how injury-decimated the Flyers lineup is right now, it's not enough for Farabee and Frost to have scoring chances. Pucks need to start going in the net, for the good of the team as well as their own self-confidence.
On the positive side, Frost leads the Flyers in takeaways to giveaways ratio (11 credited takeaways vs. four charged giveaways) and takeaways per 60 minutes of ice time (2.90 per 60). Not known as a physical player, Frost has pushed himself out of his comfort zone this season and has been credited with 23 hits in 17 games (6.07 hits per 60; ninth among Flyers forwards). After leading the team in faceoff percent (60.4 percent) during the preseason, Frost has struggled in the circle (42.2 percent) since the regular season started. While Frost otherwise had a strong all-around game against Montreal, he was an anemic 1-for-10 on faceoffs.
Farabee has been charged with 18 giveaways and credited with five takeaways. He has room to improve in both areas. Last season, in 63 games played, Farabee had more takeaways (25) than giveaways (23). Keep in mind that Farabee underwent major surgery -- cervical disc replacement surgery in his neck -- during the offseason. While he has had some games this season where he's played to the high level he's shown in substantial portions of previous seasons, Farabee is not yet back to his "A" game. Uncharacteristically, Farabee only has two multi-point games to date this season including a three-point night (1g, 2a) in Nashville on Oct. 22. His single-game high for shots on goal was five shots in the Flyers' home win over Florida back on Oct. 19.
Tippett has found an offensive groove and is playing with sky-high confidence offensively. If his current linemates can start turning chances into goals, the Flyers will be at least a little better positioned to withstand the upper-lineup attrition. It can't all fall on Hayes, Tippett and Tony DeAngelo.
3. Discipline and special teams
The Flyers' struggling penalty kill looked somewhat better in the Montreal game, limiting the Canadiens to a 5-on-3 goal among three power plays for the Habs. It should also be noted that, while a 6-on-5 is not officially a special teams situation, a late-game closeout attempt has some similarities to a PK, and the Flyers' failed in that regard. Some of it was bad luck (such as MacEwen breaking his stick) but inability to clear the puck and losing stick or body position in the lanes cannot be chalked up to mere bad luck.
During the current six-game winless streak, the Flyers have run into problems at times with taking needless penalties. Most recently, a blatant and unnecessary cross-checking penalty with the team already shorthanded put the Flyers down on the aforementioned two-man disadvantage.
Two weeks ago, Tortorella noted that no team can afford to compete against two opponents simultaneously: the adversary in the other uniform and one's self-created issues. The Flyers can ill-afford to create added hardships on themselves.
4. Flyers need some magic from Hart
Carter Hart has played better during the team's six-game skid -- in which he's started five games --- than the statistics would suggest. He's often been hung out to dry in recent games and also fallen victim to a couple of deflections that went in off of Flyers teammates. That said, there have also been times where the Flyers could have used just one more save from Hart -- none bigger than the Montreal tying goal at 19:58 of the third period on Saturday -- or a stop on a chance that wasn't easy but also not unstoppable.
With the Flyers playing four games in the next six nights, Felix Sandström will get at least one start this week.
5. Behind Enemy Lines: Calgary Flames
Tonight's game is the third game of a six-game eastern time zone road trip for the Flames. Calgary dropped a 4-2 decision to the Tampa Bay Lightning last Thursday (Nov. 17) and then bounced back for a 5-4 (2-1) victory in a five-round shootout against the Florida Panthers on Saturday. After playing in Philadelphia, the Flames have games against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday, the Washington Capitals on Black Friday afternoon, and the Carolina Hurricanes on late Saturday afternoon.
In Sunrise, Adam Ruzicka scored twice in regulation. tallying at even strength and on the power play. Calgary led 2-0 early in the second period on a Nikita Zadorov goal. After the Panthers pushed back to forge 2-2 and 3-3 ties, Calgary forged ahead yet again courtesy of Blake Coleman. Elias Lindholm collected a pair of assists in regulation, while Mikael Backlund set up the Coleman goal. Former Flames left winger Matthew Tkachuk forced overtime. In the ensuing skills competition after a scoreless OT, ex-Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau successfully converted his attempt in the bottom of the second round to knot the shootout at 1-1. Finally, Rasmus Andersson netted the winning goal in the fifth round. Victorious goaltender Jacob Markström stopped 31 of 35 shots through 65 minutes of hockey before going 4-for-5 in the shootout.
The Flames' schedule in November is rather odd. The current trip is actually the team's second eastern trip this month. Earlier in November, the Flames made a three-games-in-four-nights trip to play the New York Islanders (4-3 overtime loss), New Jersey Devils (3-2 loss) and Boston Bruins (3-1 loss). After briefly returning home and winning games against the Winnipeg Jets (3-2) and LA Kings (6-5), the Flames embarked upon their present six-game string of away games. Note: come February, the Flames will travel to the Eastern time zone again for a four-game trip that includes matches against the New York Rangers and Buffalo Sabres.
Entering Monday's game, Lindholm leads the Flames with 16 points (6g, 10a) in 16 games. He is followed by veteran center Nazem Kadri's 15 points (8g, 7a), 13 points apiece by Tyler Toffoli (6g, 7a) and defenseman Andersson (1g, 12a). Andersson leads the Flames in ice time, averaging 24:45 per game. Veteran two-way forward Backlund has posted nine points (5g, 4a), Ruzicka has eight points (4g, 4a) in just eight games played to date. After compiling a 115-point season last year for Florida, Huberdeau is off to a comparatively slower start since his arrival in Calgary with two goals, six assists and eight points in 14 games. Brett Richie has tallied four goals and 40 credited hits thus far in 2022-23.
Acquired along with Huberdeau from Florida, minutes-eating defenseman Mackenzie Weeger has averaged 21:33 of ice time per game and chipped in four points (0g, 4a). He's been credited with 38 hits and blocked 28 shot attempts. Zadorov leads the Calgary blueline with 51 credited hits,is tied for seventh among NHL defensemen with his four goals scored to date and has averaged 20:28 of ice time. Noah Hanifin, half of the top pairing with Andersson, has averaged 22:47 of ice time and chipped in six points (1g, 5a) thus far.
Veteran goalie Markström had a tremendous season in 2021-22. He is off to a so-so start this season by his standards, going 7-4-2 but with a pedestrian 3.11 goals against average and .887 save percentage to date in 14 starts. In three starts and one relief appearance, backup goalie Dan Vladar is 1-3-0 with a 3.33 GAA and .881 save percentage.
Entering this game, the Flames have a composite 101.4 rating on special teams: 21.4 percent on the power play (ranked 15th in the NHL) and 80.0 percent (ranked 12th) on the penalty kill. The Flyers,by comparison, have fallen in a rut on special teams after a promising start. Philly comes into this game with a mediocre 90.3 special teams rating: 16.7 percent on the power play (28th) and 73.7 percent (27th) on the penalty kill.
The Flames, of course, no longer have Johnny Gaudreau or Tkachuk on the club. The team enters this game ranked 17th in the NHL offensively, averaging 3.06 goals per game versus a 3.41 team goals against average. However,the Flames remain a club that is not shy about putting rubber at the net. The club ranks 4th in the NHL with a 55.08 percent shot attempt (Corsi) share and ranks 11th in their share of high-danger scoring chances generated (53.04 percent). Although the Flyers have gradually been improving their shares of puck possession and shot quality, they still come into this game ranked 27th in teamwide Corsi (44.86 percent) and remain likelier to give up a high-danger scoring chance than to generate one of their own (ranked 28th at 43.11 high-danger share).
On the injury front, the Flames are relatively healthy at present compared to many other clubs. Oliver Kylington (personal leave) and Michael Stone (undisclosed) are on injured reserve.
Potential starting lineup (subject to change)
63 Adam Ruzicka - 28 Elias Lindholm - 73 Tyler Toffoli
29 Dillon Dube - 91 Nazem Kadri - 88 Andrew Mangiapane
10 Jonathan Huberdeau - 11 Mikael Backlund - 20 Blake Coleman
17 Milan Lucic - 22 Trevor Lewis - 24 Brett Richie
55 Noah Hanifin - 4 Rasmus Andersson
16 Nikita Zadorov - 52 Mackenzie Weegar
48 Dennis Gilbert - 8 Chris Tanev
25 Jacob Markström
80 Dan Vladar