Within the fifth recreation of a six-game homestand, Rick Tocchet’s Philadelphia Flyers (16-9-3) will host Bruce Cassidy’s Vegas Golden Knights (14-9-6). That is the primary of two conferences between the interconference groups and the lone recreation in Philadelphia.
Sport time at Xfinity Cell Area is 7:00 p.m. EST. The sport can be nationally televised on ESPN.
The Flyers enter this recreation coming off a stable 4-1 win over the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night. Christian Dvorak (seventh aim of the season), Carl Grundstrom (1st), Noah Cates (seventh) and Travis Konecny (ENG, eighth) scored for Philly. Dan Vladar (17 saves) earned the win in aim with a number of key saves.
Vegas is 7-2-5 on the highway to this point and 5-2-3 over the past 10 video games. Thursday’s match is the fourth of a five-game highway journey. The Golden Knights are 2-0-1 on the journey to this point.
On Tuesday, Cassidy’s membership earned one level in a 5-4 (1-0) shootout loss to the New York Islanders. Pavel Dorofeyev’s aim (twelfth) at 19:46 of the third interval pressured extra time. First interval objectives by Noah Hanafin (2nd) and Mitch Marner (sixth) constructed an early 2-0 lead earlier than the match changed into a seesaw contest. Vegas later trailed by scores of 3-2 and 4-3.
Listed below are the RAV4 Issues to look at on Thursday in Philly.
1. Transition recreation
The Golden Knights are one of many NHL’s greatest and heaviest groups, particularly on their blue line. It is onerous to outgrind Vegas if the sport turns into a contest of muscle. Nevertheless, if an opponent can assault with tempo, particularly in transition, Vegas is a bit more weak.
2. Particular groups
The Flyers have slipped out of the NHL’s top-10 penalty killing groups this season. They’re at the moment eleventh at 81.8 p.c effectivity. Philly went 2-for-2 towards San Jose on Tuesday.
The Vegas energy play is formidable. The Golden Knights enter this recreation ranked seventh within the league at 23.9 p.c effectivity.
In the meantime, the Flyers energy play ranks twenty second at a 17.9 p.c success charge. The Vegas PK ranks sixteenth at 80.8 p.c effectivity.
3. Couturier and 200-foot play
Tocchet nonetheless depends closely on crew captain Sean Couturier to set the tone for enjoying a accountable recreation on each side of the puck. The Flyers additionally want him to win the vast majority of his faceoffs. In opposition to the likes of Jack Eichel, Mitch Marner and Co., lapses in consideration to element may be deadly. Couturier, whether or not he will get on the rating sheet or not, remains to be a significant piece of the puzzle in video games towards prime opponents like Vegas.
4. Shot and probability suppression
They don’t seem to be infallible however the Flyers have tremendously improved in these areas this season. In the meantime, solely the Carolina Hurricanes (Philly’s subsequent opponent after Vegas) has allowed fewer pictures per recreation than the Golden Knights. Vegas will make the Flyers work for his or her shot alternatives. Philly, in flip, wants to ensure they get pucks on web when there is a lane and be equally stingy in minimizing time and area for Vegas.
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