Flyers

Flyers-Sabres: Game 27 Preview

Kevin Durso Sports Editor

Published08 Dec 2018

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(Photo: Kate Frese)

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor

An extended road trip in early November helped the Flyers get on a bit of a hot streak. Perhaps another one will have the same effect.

The Flyers hit the road for the first of five games by facing the Buffalo Sabres, with the recent memory that their last trip to Buffalo was not a successful one.

Game time is at 1 p.m.

Team Leaders

Philadelphia Flyers	GP	G	A	P	Buffalo Sabres	GP	G	A	P
Claude Giroux	26	10	22	32	Jack Eichel	29	7	27	34
Jake Voracek	26	7	14	21	Jeff Skinner	29	20	9	29
Sean Couturier	26	10	10	20	Sam Reinhart	29	8	16	24
Travis Konecny	26	8	10	18	Jason Pominville	27	9	9	18
Wayne Simmonds	25	9	4	13	Rasmus Ristolainen	29	3	14	17

Player to Watch
28 Claude Giroux	53 Jeff Skinner
Last 5 Games: 2 G, 5 A, 7 P, E	Last 5 Games: 2 G, 1 A, 3 P, +6

As the Flyers captain goes, so does their captain. Claude Giroux has seven points in the last five games and looks to continue his recent stretch.

Jeff Skinner continues to light up the NHL with 20 goals on the season, but has cooled off a little bit with two goals and one assist in the last five games. Still, he's a Flyer killer, so he could easily heat back up in this one.

Goalie Matchup
41 Anthony Stolarz	72 Linus Ullmark
4 GP, 1-1-1, 3.19 GAA, .901 SV%	9 GP, 5-0-3, 2.71 GAA, .921 SV%

Anthony Stolarz figures to get another start, but with a back-to-back this weekend, nothing is certain. Stolarz was solid in Thursday's loss, keeping the Flyers in the game after allowing a weak goal early.

The Sabres announced that usual starter Carter Hutton is dealing with an injury, so Linus Ullmark gets the start in goal on Saturday. The Sabres have played well in front of Ullmark. He has a 5-0-3 record and 2.71 GAA.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Injuries: Brian Elliott, Sean Couturier, Corban Knight

Scratches: Phil Varone, Christian Folin

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
25 James van Riemsdyk	28 Claude Giroux	11 Travis Konecny
93 Jake Voracek	19 Nolan Patrick	17 Wayne Simmonds
12 Michael Raffl	21 Scott Laughton	22 Dale Weise
23 Oskar Lindblom	15 Jori Lehtera	40 Jordan Weal
Defense
9 Ivan Provorov	53 Shayne Gostisbehere
8 Robert Hagg	47 Andrew MacDonald
6 Travis Sanheim	3 Radko Gudas
Goalie
41 Anthony Stolarz

Lineup Notes

Sean Couturier is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Jordan Weal comes back into the lineup. The rest of the lines are shuffled due to Couturier's injury.

Sabres Projected Lineup

Injuries: Jason Pominville, Conor Sheary, Marco Scandella, Scott Wilson, Jake McCabe, Casey Nelson

Scratches: Remi Elie, Matt Tennyson

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
53 Jeff Skinner	9 Jack Eichel	23 Sam Reinhart
72 Tage Thompson	37 Casey Mittelstadt	21 Kyle Okposo
43 Conor Sheary	71 Evan Rodrigues	17 Vladimir Sobotka
10 Patrik Berglund	22 Johan Larsson	28 Zemgus Girgensons
Defense
24 Lawrence Pilut	55 Rasmus Ristolainen
26 Rasmus Dahlin	4 Zach Bogosian
82 Nathan Beaulieu	48 Matt Hunwick
Goalie
72 Sergei Bobrovsky

Game Notes

Power Play: Flyers (28th, 25th on road), Sabres (20th, 12th at home)
Penalty Kill: Flyers (30th, 28th on road), Sabres (15th, 9th at home)
Recent History vs. Sabres
- Dec. 14, 2017 – Flyers 2, Sabres 1 (at PHI)
- Dec. 22, 2017 – Sabres 4, Flyers 2 (at BUF)
- Jan. 7, 2018 – Flyers 4, Sabres 1 (at PHI)
- Nov. 21, 2018 – Sabres 4, Flyers 2 (at BUF)
Flyers Leaders vs. Sabres
- Claude Giroux – 34 GP, 6 G, 25 A, 31 P
- Jake Voracek – 27 GP, 3 G, 16 A, 19 P
- Sean Couturier – 20 GP, 4 G, 8 A, 12 P
Milestone Watch
- James van Riemsdyk needs three points to reach 400 in his career.