In the final game of a six-game homestand, Rick Tocchet's Philadelphia Flyers (16-9-4) will host Rod Brind'Amour's Carolina Hurricanes (19-9-2). The game marks the start of a home-and-home set between the teams.
Game time at Xfinity Mobile Arena is 7:00 p.m. EST. The game will be televised on NBCSP.
The Flyers enter this game coming off a 3-2 overtime loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday. Philly played Vegas evenly at 5-on-5 for the most part, and pushed back from 1-0 (first period) and 2-1 (second period) deficits. Trevor Zegras (11th goal of the season) and Noah Juulsen (1st) scored in regulation.
Carolina is 9-4-1 on the road to date and 6-4-0 over the last 10 games. On Thursday, Brind'Amour's club earned a 3-2 (1-0) road shootout win against the Washington Capitals. As with the Flyers, Carolina recorded from 1-0 (2nd period) and 2-1 (third period) deficits. Nikolaj Ehlers (7th) and Logan Stankoven (6th) scored in regulation. Seth Jarvis netted the shootout winner.
Here are the RAV4 Things to watch on Saturday in Philly.
1. Konecny bounceback
Travis Konecny will look for quick redemption on Saturday. His overtime turnover on a flubbed outlet pass led to the winning overtime goal by Vegas forward Mark Stone. Typically, Konecny bounces back strongly in the next game after he's unhappy with his previous outing.
Thursday's game snapped a five-game point streak (two goals, five assists, seven points, plus-four) for Konency. Overall, he's second on the Flyers with 25 points (8g, 17a) in 29 games.
2. Flyers power play
The Flyers went 0-for-3 on the power play on Thursday night. They generated just one shot on goal in the process. On the Flyers' third and final power play of the game, with the score tied in the third period, the coaches juggled personnel. Noah Cates and Bobby Brink went to the first unit, and Matvei Michkov and Owen Tippett came off.
For the season, the Flyers have slipped to 23rd in the NHL in power play success (17.3 percent). Over the last month (13) games, the PP has only connected on four of 32 opportunities (12.5 percent).
3. Flyers penalty kill
The Philadelphia penalty kill was outstanding over the season's first six weeks but has hit a snag over the last month. In the last 13 games, the Flyers have yielded 11 opposing power play goals on 37 opportunities (70.3 percent PK efficiency).
Carolina has also had some issues on the PK the last four weeks, allowing eight opposing power play goals on 30 PK opportunities (73.3 percent success).
4. Puck possession game
On a year-in and year-out basis, the Hurricanes have been an elite puck possession team under Brind'Amour. That's the case again this season. The Hurricanes are the NHL's stingiest team in terms of both quantity and quality of opposing chances allowed. That's because Carolina usually controls the puck.
The Flyers will have to be smart about how they manage the puck against Carolina. Over the last month, the Hurricanes have allowed a miniscule 21.6 opposing shots per game, while generating 33.7 of their own (2nd in the NHL). For the season as a whole, the Hurricanes put an average of 33.5 shots on goal (2nd) and have allowed just 24.3 percent (best in the league).
In terms of shot quality, the Hurricanes lead the Eastern Conference and trail only Colorado (57.84%) leaguewide in terms of expected goal share (56.51%). The Flyers are in the middle of the pack, at roughly a break-even measurement at 5-on-5 (51.34% high-danger chances, 49.1% expected goals share).
