Philadelphia Flyers
Flyers-Predators preview: Nashville out for a payback
The Philadelphia Flyers will try to contain two of the league’s hottest players — left winger Filip Forsberg and defenseman Roman Josi — when they play Sunday in Nashville.
Good luck with that.
Forsberg has a career-high 36 goals, including nine in his last nine games. Josi, a strong Norris Trophy candidate as the league’s top defenseman, has a career-best 79 points (18-61) and a plus-19 rating in 63 games. Over his last 12 games, he has a staggering 26 points, including 22 assists, and a plus-12 rating.
On March 17, the Flyers scored an emotional 5-4 win over the Predators in what was Claude Giroux’s final game with the Orange and Black.
The Flyers (21-33-11) are 1-2 on their five-game road trip, which concludes Tuesday in Minnesota.
Nashville (37-24-4), fighting for a Western Conference playoff spot, has lost two straight, both by 6-1 scores to Los Angeles and Vegas.
Storylines
The Flyers will try to bounce back from a 6-3 whipping Friday in Colorado, the NHL’s best team. They were playing on consecutive nights and looked sluggish; then again, the Avs make a lot of teams look slow.
Nashville will be attempting to pay back the Flyers for their recent loss at the Wells Fargo Center.
Flyers’ projected lineup
Line 1: Joel Farabee centering James van Riemsdyk and Cam Atkinson.
Line 2: Kevin Hayes centering Oskar Lindblom and Travis Konecny.
Line 3: Morgan Frost centering Hayden Hodgson and Owen Tippett.
Line 4: Patrick Brown centering Max Willman, and Zack MacEwen.
Defense: Ivan Provorov and Cam York; Travis Sanheim and Rasmus Ristolainen, Keith Yandle and Nick Seeler.
Goalie: Martin Jones.
Numbers Dept.
The Flyers have the NHL’s worst power play (13.2%), while the Preds are No. 6 (24.6%).
Philly is averaging 2.57 goals per game (31st), and Nashville is averaging 3.23 (11th).
Who’s hot?
For Nashville, see above.
Kevin Hayes has 10 points (4-6) in his last seven games for the Flyers.
Projected goalie matchup
Jones (3.30 GAA, .903 save percentage) is expected to face Juuse Saros (2.55, .921).
How to watch
NBC Sports Philadelphia+, 6 p.m.
How to bet
Money line (FanDuel)
Flyers: plus-225.
Preds: minus-280.
Prediction
Predators 4, Flyers 3.
Prediction record: 23-8.
