Flyers-Avalanche: Game 15 Preview

Team Leaders

Philadelphia Flyers	GP	G	A	P	Colorado Avalanche	GP	G	A	P
Sean Couturier	14	9	8	17	Mikko Rantanen	12	4	7	11
Claude Giroux	14	7	9	16	Nathan MacKinnon	12	3	7	10
Jake Voracek	14	2	14	16	Tyson Barrie	12	2	8	10
Shayne Gostisbehere	11	1	12	13	Sven Andrighetto	12	4	4	8
Wayne Simmonds	14	6	4	10	Gabriel Landeskog	12	4	4	8

 

Player to Watch
28 Claude Giroux	9 Matt Duchene
Last 5 Games: 2 G, 3 A, 5 P, +1	Last 5 Games: 0 G, 2 A, 2 P, -2

 

It's just 14 games into the season and Claude Giroux is already halfway to matching his goal total from the previous season. With 16 points in 14 games, Giroux is on pace for his best season since 2014-15. He also has averaged a point per game in 10 career games against the Avalanche, including six goals.

 

Matt Duchene has cooled off since starting off the season strong. Duchene had two goals and three assists in his first four games. He has one goal and two assists in eight games since. Duchene does have good career numbers against the Flyers, with four goals and three assists in 10 career games.

 

Goalie Matchup
30 Michal Neuvirth	1 Semyon Varlamov
2-3-0, 1.83 GAA, .941 SV%	5-3-1, 3.01 GAA, .914 SV%

Fresh off a shutout win on Thursday night in St. Louis, Michal Neuvirth is back between the pipes for Saturday's game against the Avalanche. Thursday's game was just Neuvirth's second win of the season, despite his 1.83 GAA.

Semyon Varlamov rebounded from a 7-0 loss to Vegas last Friday with a win over the Hurricanes on Thursday, making 57 saves. Varlamov started off the season 3-0 before dropping three of four starts ahead of the win against the Hurricanes on Thursday.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Injuries: Andrew MacDonald (lower-body, 4-6 weeks), Nolan Patrick (upper-body, day-to-day), Radko Gudas (upper-body, day-to-day)

Scratches: Matt Read, Will O'Neil

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
28 Claude Giroux	14 Sean Couturier	93 Jake Voracek
11 Travis Konecny	51 Valtteri Filppula	17 Wayne Simmonds
40 Jordan Weal	15 Jori Lehtera	22 Dale Weise
20 Taylor Leier	21 Scott Laughton	12 Michael Raffl
Defense
9 Ivan Provorov	8 Robert Hagg
53 Shayne Gostisbehere	23 Brandon Manning
6 Travis Sanheim	39 Mark Alt
Goalie
30 Michal Neuvirth

Lineup Notes

The Flyers forward lineup remains the same. Nolan Patrick is getting closer to return and skated on Saturday morning, but was wearing a non-contact jersey at Flyers practice. An extended break following Saturday's game should help in his potential return to the ice next week.

Shayne Gostisbehere skated on a pairing with Brandon Manning, indicating he will return to the lineup on Saturday night. Gostisbehere is being ruled a game-time decision. If Gostisbehere plays, Will O'Neil will serve as the healthy scratch with Mark Alt remaining in the lineup.

Avalanche Projected Lineup

Injuries: Tyson Jost, J.T. Compher, Colin Wilson, Rocco Grimaldi, Gabriel Bourque

Scratches: Chris Bigras

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
92 Gabriel Landeskog	29 Nathan MacKinnon	96 Mikko Rantanen
10 Sven Andrighetto	9 Matt Duchene	64 Nail Yakupov
83 Matt Nieto	34 Carl Soderberg	14 Blake Comeau
24 A.J. Greer	13 Alexander Kerfoot	94 Andrei Mironov
Defense
12 Patrik Nemeth	6 Erik Johnson
44 Mark Barberio	4 Tyson Barrie
16 Nikita Zadorov	54 Anton Lindholm
Goalie
1 Semyon Varlamov

Game Notes

• Power Play: Flyers (T-8th, 11th at home), Avalanche (16th, 30th on road)
• Penalty Kill: Flyers (22nd, 13th at home), Avalanche (T-13th, 26th on road) 
• Recent History vs. Avalanche
  • Dec. 14, 2016 – Flyers 4, Avalanche 3
  • Feb. 28, 2017 – Flyers 4, Avalanche 0
• Flyers Leaders vs. Avalanche
  • Claude Giroux – 10 GP, 6 G, 4 A, 10 P
  • Jake Voracek – 21 GP, 5 G, 10 A, 15 P
  • Jordan Weal – 1 GP, 1 G, 0 A, 1 P
  • Michal Neuvirth – 4 GP, 0-4-0, 3.53 GAA
• Milestone Watch
  • Shayne Gostisbehere needs two points to reach 100 in his career.

Where to Watch
TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic