Flyers-Kings: Game 40 Preview

Philadelphia Flyers	GP	G	A	P	Los Angeles Kings	GP	G	A	P
Travis Konecny	36	11	23	34	Anze Kopitar	41	15	20	35
Sean Couturier	39	10	20	30	Drew Doughty	41	6	19	25
Jake Voracek	39	8	21	29	Tyler Toffoli	40	10	12	22
Claude Giroux	39	11	16	27	Alex Iafallo	41	6	15	21
Kevin Hayes	39	12	11	23	Jeff Carter	41	12	8	20

 

Player to Watch
11 Travis Konecny	11 Anze Kopitar
Last 5 Games: 0 G, 5 A, 5 P, -2	Last 5 Games: 1 G, 2 A, 3 P, -2

 

Since returning from injury on Dec. 17, Travis Konecny has had no problem maintaining his pace in points. He has six assists in the six games since his return. He has, however, been stuck on 11 goals for the last six games, though he has come close to scoring. The newly-named All-Star sure seems due for one soon. 

 

Anze Kopitar has been the Kings' leader in goals and points this season with 15 goals and 35 points, but has been in a bit of a slump lately. LA's All-Star had a two-point game against the Canucks on Dec. 28 after getting just two points in the previous five games.

 

Projected Goalie Matchup
37 Brian Elliott	32 Jonathan Quick
18 GP, 9-4-2, 2.88 GAA, .906 SV%	27 GP, 10-15-2, 3.05 GAA, .893 SV%

After a really rough start in Winnipeg and a win in Ottawa where he allowed four goals, Brian Elliott bounced back in a big way, picking up the win in Anaheim on Sunday making 27 saves on 28 shots. He will be back in goal for the final game of 2019 on Tuesday in Los Angeles.

No starter has been officially named for the Kings, but it can be assumed that Jonathan Quick will be in goal for LA on Tuesday. Quick enters Tuesday's game having lost three straight starts, including the last game on Saturday against the Canucks where he allowed three goals on 26 shots. Quick does have excellent numbers against the Flyers, posting a 9-3-1 record with a 1.61 GAA and .946 save percentage in 14 games.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Injuries: Nolan Patrick (migrane disorder, out indefinitely), Oskar Lindblom (Ewing's sarcoma, out for season)

Scratches: Phil Myers (healthy), Chris Stewart (healthy)

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
28 Claude Giroux	14 Sean Couturier	93 Jake Voracek
25 James van Riemsdyk	13 Kevin Hayes	11 Travis Konecny
12 Michael Raffl	21 Scott Laughton	18 Tyler Pitlick
49 Joel Farabee	24 Mikhail Vorobyev	62 Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Defense
9 Ivan Provorov	15 Matt Niskanen
6 Travis Sanheim	61 Justin Braun
8 Robert Hagg	53 Shayne Gostisbehere
Goalie
37 Brian Elliott	79 Carter Hart

Lineup Notes

No official word on the lineup just yet, but morning skate line rushes showed that Scott Laughton appears to be returning to action, skating on the third line with Michael Raffl on the third line with Tyler Pitlick. 

Kings Projected Lineup

Injuries: Alec Martinez, Dustin Brown, Trevor Lewis, Derek Forbort

Scratches: Joakim Ryan 

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
19 Alex Iafallo	11 Anze Kopitar	73 Tyler Toffoli
9 Adrian Kempe	46 Blake Lizotte	51 Austin Wagner
74 Nikolai Prokhorkin	77 Jeff Carter	29 Martin Frk
13 Kyle Clifford	10 Mike Amadio	64 Matt Luff
Defense
26 Sean Walker	8 Drew Doughty
15 Ben Hutton	3 Matt Roy
56 Kurtis MacDermid	34 Kale Clague
Goalie
32 Jonathan Quick	36 Jack Campbell

Game Notes

• Power Play: Flyers (13th), Kings (30th)
• Penalty Kill: Flyers (6th), Kings (29th)
• Recent History vs. Kings
  • Nov. 1, 2018 – Flyers 5, Kings 2 (at LA)
  • Feb. 7, 2019 – Kings 3, Flyers 2 (F/SO) (at PHI)
• Flyers Leaders vs. Kings
  • Claude Giroux – 17 GP, 4 G, 10 A, 14 P
  • Kevin Hayes – 9 GP, 5 G, 2 A, 7 P
  • Jake Voracek – 25 GP, 6 G, 11 A, 17 P
  • Brian Elliott – 17 GP, 6-7-2, 2.34 GAA, .918 SV%
• Milestone Watch
  • Shayne Gostisbehere needs two points to reach 200 for his career.

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