After a 1-4-1 road trip in which they allowed 5.4 goals per game in their five losses, the Flyers are glad to return to their happy place, the Wells Fargo Center.
For a couple of reasons. For one, they have the NHL’s highest home winning percentage (.789) entering Wednesday’s nationally televised game against powerful Washington. For another, they get a chance to spend time with teammate Oskar Lindblom, who has started his cancer treatments at Penn.
“I talked to him a little bit during the holidays,” captain Claude Giroux said the other day. “He’s positive and has lots of support — not just from us as a hockey team, but his family and his girlfriend. We’re looking forward to seeing him again.”
The Flyers were 17-8-5 with Lindblom in the lineup this season; they are 5-7-1 without him. Lindblom, 23, shared the team’s lead with 11 goals when he was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare bone cancer, and he will miss the rest of the season.
The Flyers will be trying to rebound from a road trip in which they were outscored, 28-16, and lost their last four games. They were outscored in the first period, 15-5, during the season-high six-game journey.
“Overall, it was a disappointing trip, but we’ve been good at home, so we’re excited to get home,” defenseman Matt Niskanen, a former Capital, said after Tuesday’s 5-4 overtime loss in Carolina.
The Flyers are 3-17-4 in their last five holiday road trips; they play those games on the road because Disney on Ice is held at the Wells Fargo Center.
The Flyers will play six of their next seven games at home, and they’ll face some strong opponents, starting with Wednesday’s matchup against Alex Ovechkin (26 goals, tied for third in the NHL) and the Capitals, who lead the league with 65 points.
Ovechkin scored twice in the Caps’ 6-1 win Tuesday over visiting Ottawa, giving him 684 career goals and tying him with Teemu Selanne for 11th on the NHL’s all-time list.
With the Flyers down to six defensemen because Justin Braun is sidelined by a groin injury, they recalled Mark Friedman from the Phantoms on Wednesday and sent winger Andy Andreoff to the AHL team.
Friedman, 24, selected by the Flyers in the third round of the 2014 draft, made his NHL debut in last season’s final game. He had two goals and eight assists in 28 games with the Phantoms this season.
Niskanen, who has helped Ivan Provorov improve his play, was acquired in the offseason deal that sent Radko Gudas to the Caps.
Niskanen, 33, has 17 points (five goals, 12 assists) and a minus-3 rating in 42 games. Gudas, 29, has 14 points (two goals, 12 assists) and a team-best plus-20 rating for the much stronger Caps.
Carter Hart, who is 11-1-2 at home, will face the Capitals and is expected to be opposed by Braden Holtby. ... Brian Elliott was banged up making a save Tuesday and needed treatment after the game. ... In their Nov. 13 meeting at the Wells Fargo Center, Washington edged the Flyers in a shootout, 2-1. Hart made 35 saves in that game. ... The Flyers are 13-2-4 at home with a plus-35 goal differential; they are 9-13-2 on the road with a minus-31 goal differential . ... After scoring eight goals in his previous 13 games, James van Riemsdyk went goal-less during the six-game trip. ... After their win over the Flyers, the Hurricanes announced they had signed Justin “Mr. Game 7” Williams, 38, who was an unrestricted free agent. He got a $700,000 contract and can earn an additional $1.3 million in bonuses. ... The Flyers have won four straight at home, outscoring opponents, 19-6, in that span.
"Happy" - Google News
January 09, 2020 at 12:23AM
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After awful road trip, Flyers happy to return home and eager to spend time with Oskar Lindblom - The Philadelphia Inquirer
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