Philadelphia Flyers

Flyers at Wild, Game 50: Lines, Notes & How to Watch

Published

1 year ago

January 26, 2023

Sam Carchidi

Minnesota star Kirill Kaprizov is stopped by Flyers goalie Carter Hart in a game last season. Photo: AP.

The Philadelphia Flyers will try to continue their road magic Thursday when they face the Minnesota Wild.

Philly is 6-1 in its last seven away games. The Flyers (20-21-8) are 5-1-2 in road games against Western Conference teams this season.

Minnesota (25-17-4) is no pushover, but it has lost three straight in regulation for the first time since the first three games of the season. And its five-on-five game has dropped precipitously from last year.

The Wild are led by Kirill “The Thrill” Kaprizov, 25, who has points in 15 of his last 19 games. The dynamic left winger has 27 goals and 57 points in 46 games.

Not bad for a fifth round selection in the 2015 draft. That pick was made by Chuck Fletcher, who was then the Wild’s general manager and now has that position with the Philadelphia Flyers.

It was probably the shrewdest pick he and his assistant, Brent Flahr (now Fletcher’s right-hand man in Philadelphia), ever made.

Flyers’ expected lineup

Van Riemsdyk-Frost-Tippett

Farabee-Cates-Konecny

Hayes-Laughton-Allison

Desalauriers-Brown-MacEwen

Defense

Provorov-York

Sanheim-DeAngelo

Seeler-Ristolainen

Goalie

Hart (14-14-7; 2.97 GAA, .908 SP)

Wild’s expected lineup

Kaprizov-Steel-Zuccarello

Duhaime-Gaudreau-Boldy

Greenway-Eriksson Ek-Foligno

Shaw-Dewar-Reaves

Defense

Middleton-Spurgeon

Brodin-Dumba

Merrill-Addison

Goalie

Fleury (14-10-3; 2.95, .903)

Breakaways

Kaprizov has 13 power-play goals, one away from a personal best set last year. … Former University of Minnesota-Duluth standout Noah Cates is returning home; the Flyers’ center has 19 points (6-13) in 49 games and has played well defensively. … Minny has fallen out of a playoff spot and is one point behind Calgary but has to games in hand. … The Flyers have a league-high nine shorthanded goals. … Minnesota is 14-5-1 when scoring at least one PP goal. … Hayes has 14 points (8-6) over the last 12 games. … Eriksson Ek has 10 points (5-5) over his last 10 games. … In three career appearances vs. Minnesota, Hart is 1-2 with a 4.01 GAA and .884 save percentage. … Former Flyer Ryan Hartman was scratched for the Wild. He had a career season in 2021-22, but has been hindered by injuries and penalty issues this season. … This is the first of two meetings between the teams; the Philadelphia Flyers will host the Wild on March 23.