Flyers

Flyers-Blues: Game 81 Preview

Kevin Durso Sports Editor

Published04 Apr 2019

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(Photo: Kate Frese)

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor

There are just two games left on the Flyers schedule, including one final game away from home which the Flyers will play on Thursday.

Just like on Tuesday, there is a lot at stake for the opponent. Dallas had a chance to clinch a playoff spot in Tuesday's game and did convincingly. The St. Louis Blues lost in a shootout on Wednesday night to Chicago, moving them to within a point of the Central Division lead with two games to play for all three teams locked in the battle for the title. Nashville and Winnipeg both sit one point ahead and both will be in action on Thursday night as well, leaving a lot of room for shuffling in the standings with this game.

Game time is at 8 p.m.

Team Leaders

Philadelphia Flyers	GP	G	A	P	St. Louis Blues	GP	G	A	P
Claude Giroux	80	21	61	82	Ryan O'Reilly	80	27	47	74
Sean Couturier	78	32	42	74	Vladimir Tarasenko	74	32	32	64
Jake Voracek	76	20	45	65	Brayden Schenn	70	15	36	51
Travis Konecny	80	23	25	48	David Perron	55	22	22	44
James van Riemsdyk	64	26	20	46	Tyler Bozak	71	13	24	37

Player to Watch
93 Jake Voracek	10 Brayden Schenn
Last 5 Games: 1 G, 1 A, 2 P, -6	Last 5 Games: 0 G, 3 A, 3 P, -1

Jake Voracek has just three points in the last nine games since a six-game points streak where he picked up 12 points.

It hasn't been the best season for former Flyer Brayden Schenn, who has just 15 goals, his lowest total since scoring 18 with the Flyers in 2014-15. Schenn does have a goal against his former team already this season in St. Louis' 3-0 win over the Flyers in January.

Goalie Matchup
37 Brian Elliott	50 Jordan Binnington
25 GP, 11-10-1, 2.81 GAA, .912 SV%	30 GP, 22-5-1, 1.85 GAA, .928 SV%

Brian Elliott makes what could be his final start as a Flyer against his former team in St. Louis. Elliott has started just two games since March 11, allowing seven goals to Toronto on March 15 and three goals to Washington on March 24, both losses.

The Blues rookie sensation in goal has been Jordan Binnington. Binnington's storybook season starts against the Flyers on Jan. 7, when he made his first NHL start and made 25 saves in a shutout win. He has made 27 starts since, winning 21 of them, including posting four more shutouts. He has won six of his last seven starts, allowing three goals or less in all seven starts.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Injuries: Michal Neuvirth

Scratches: Justin Bailey, Andrew MacDonald, Cam Talbot

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
28 Claude Giroux	14 Sean Couturier	11 Travis Konecny
25 James van Riemsdyk	21 Scott Laughton	93 Jake Voracek
23 Oskar Lindblom	19 Nolan Patrick	38 Ryan Hartman
12 Michael Raffl	44 Phil Varone
Defense
9 Ivan Provorov	6 Travis Sanheim
53 Shayne Gostisbehere	61 Phil Myers
8 Robert Hagg	3 Radko Gudas	5 Sam Morin
Goalie
37 Brian Elliott

Lineup Notes

Corban Knight cleared waivers and is expected to be sent to the Phantoms after the road trip is completed. He will not play in Thursday's game. The Flyers will dress seven defensemen with Justin Bailey also coming out of the lineup. Knight did skate in place of Nolan Patrick during the morning skate and there has been no update yet as to why Patrick was not on the ice. It's assumed it was maintenance for now, but there is always a chance there is a different reason he did not skate.

Blues Projected Lineup

Injuries: Sammy Blais, Joel Edmundson

Scratches: Mackenzie MacEachern, Robby Fabbri, Michael Del Zotto

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
10 Brayden Schenn	90 Ryan O'Reilly	91 Vladimir Tarasenko
17 Jaden Schwartz	70 Oskar Sundqvist	57 David Perron
7 Patrick Maroon	21 Tyler Bozak	18 Robert Thomas
12 Zach Sanford	49 Ivan Barbashev	20 Alex Steen
Defense
29 Vince Dunn	27 Alex Pietrangelo
19 Jay Bouwmeester	55 Colton Parayko
4 Carl Gunnarsson	41 Robert Bortuzzo
Goalie
50 Jordan Binnington

Game Notes

Power Play: Flyers (T-22nd, 28th on road), Blues (15th, 21st at home)
Penalty Kill: Flyers (25th, T-24th on road), Blues (7th, T-25th at home)
Recent History vs. Blues
- Jan. 7, 2019 – Blues 3, Flyers 0 (at PHI)
Flyers Leaders vs. Blues
- Shayne Gostisbehere – 5 GP, 0 G, 4 A, 4 P
- Claude Giroux – 15 GP, 3 G, 8 A, 11 P
- Travis Konecny – 5 GP, 0 G, 3 A, 3 P
- Brian Elliott – 6 GP, 5-1-0, 2.30 GAA, .918 SV%