The Flyers get a brief reprieve from their home ice troubles as they travel to Detroit.
The Philadelphia Flyers and Detroit Red Wings will meet for the third and final time this season as the Flyers look to rectify the struggles in their playing that have them currently on a three-game losing streak.
It's been a rocky few days for the Flyers organization, as it was recently announced that goalie Carter Hart would be taking an indefinite leave of absence, with many speculating that he is one of the five players being asked to surrender to Ontario police as part of the ongoing Hockey Canada sexual assault case (the players have not been publicly identified, so there is no confirmation as to whether Hart is indeed involved).
Off-ice issues aside, the Flyers have been suffering from a bad case of "playing well, and oftentimes being the better team for the majority of the game, but not having the scoreboard reflect it." They've had the misfortune of being on the receiving end of some world-class opposition performances, such as the displays Colorado Avalanche's Nathan MacKinnon or the Tampa Bay Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy.
They've had some breakout performances of their own in January—including the likes of Morgan Frost, Joel Farabee, and recent addition Jamie Drysdale (who was not spotted at the Flyers' Jan. 25 morning skate, per Jackie Spiegel of The Philadelphia Inquirer)—but one of the most glaring issues the Flyers have been facing is the fact that they haven't been able to capitalize on their numerous scoring chances. Frost in particular has shown a stellar ability to maneuver himself into positions other players would never think of and put together a smart, creative pass, only for it to not find the back of the net. Fixing the finishing alone could put the Flyers ahead earlier on in the game and keep them in the game across three periods.
The Red Wings are coming into this game on a 5-4 loss to the Dallas Stars on Jan. 23, but had an impressive 7-1-1 record before then. The Flyers could face another outstanding goalie performance with how well Alex Lyon has been performing lately, but the entire Red Wings team ranks near the bottom of the league in expected goals, which could take some pressure off of the Flyers offense after a run of high-scoring games.
Flyers Projected Lines:
Forwards:
Foerster - Couturier - Konecny
Farabee - Frost - Atkinson
Lycksell - Laughton - Hathaway
Cates - Poehling
Defense:
York - Sanheim
Staal - Ristolainen
Seeler - Walker
Zamula
Ersson
Red Wings Projected Lines:
Forwards:
Perron - Larkin - Raymond
DeBrincat - Compher - Fabbri
Rasmussen - Copp - Fischer
Kostin - Veleno - Sprong
Defense:
Walman - Seider
Maata - Petry
Gostisbehere - Holl
Lyon
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Related: An In-Depth Look at Morgan Frost's Redemption Arc
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