The Philadelphia Flyers host the Minnesota Wild amid a three-game points streak.
A sect of the Flyers’ fanbase will accept losing if it helps inch the franchise closer to the ‘Connor Bedard Sweepstakes.’ The team will not. Most of the prospects under-25 put their names on the stat sheet in a 6-3 victory versus the Florida Panthers.
Tonight will be the fifth game of a seven-game homestand for Philadelphia. Can they keep the point streak alive with consecutive victories at the Wells Fargo Center?
Minnesota Wild (41-22-8)
Winners of two straight, the Minnesota Wild hold an overtime victory against the New Jersey Devils, 2-1. The Wild deadlock for the top ranking in the NHL Central Division with the Dallas Stars, both with 90pts.
Matt Boldy (23G, 29A) scored the game-winner with :02 left in the overtime period on Tuesday. Boldy took five shots on goal against the Devils, scoring backhanded in overtime. In a recent matchup versus the Philadelphia Flyers, Boldy was especially dangerous. On January 26th, in a 3-2 victory, Boldy accounted for both Minnesota goals during regulation, then a secondary assist on the overtime game-winner by Mats Zuccarello.
Marc-Andre Fleury (23-13-3, 2.83GAA, 90.8%SV) will start between the pipes for the Wild. He had the night off in New Jersey, where Filip Gustavsson earned a win. When these clubs first dueled this season, Fleury did claim bragging rights versus Carter Hart, saving 28/30 shots on goal.
Here’s the tentative lineup for the Minnesota Wild:
Foligno-Hartman-Zuccarello
Johansson-Eriksson Ek-Boldy
Duhaime-Gaudreau-Sundqvist
Shaw-Dewar-Reaves
Brodin-Dumba
Middleton-Goligoski
Merrill-Klingberg
Fleury
(Gustavsson)
Philadelphia Flyers (26-32-12)
Say what you will about the Philadelphia Flyers, but they’re playing hard against formidable opponents. They’ve split versus the Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche, Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, New Jersey Devils, and Winnipeg Jets, then won the season series versus the Florida Panthers.
Owen Tippett (21G, 18A) is one of the most improved skaters in the NHL. He put a couple of quality shots on goal versus the Panthers but got cute on an empty-net odd-man rush. The Minnesota Wild did a solid job taking away high-quality shooting lanes in January, but Tippett improved without the puck, creating scoring chances due to his play in the neutral zone.
James van Riemsdyk (10G, 15A) helped in the defensive zone, refining the finer details en route to the win over Florida. He had two scoring chances, one during even-strength play and the other on the powerplay, but no conversions. His takeaway in the second period sparked a scoring spree by the Flyers, beginning with Scott Laughton, then Travis Sanheim, and finishing with Ivan Provorov. In January, van Riemsdyk had decent scoring chances on the doorstep against Fleury but no goals.
Here’s the tentative lineup for the Philadelphia Flyers:
Farabee-Cates-Tippett
van Riemsdyk-Hayes-Allison
Lemieux-Frost-Foerster
Deslauriers-Laughton
Provorov-York
Sanheim-Ristolainen
Seeler-DeAngelo
Zamula
Hart
(Sandstrom)
Place Your Bets
Philadelphia Flyers moneyline (+125)
Minnesota Wild moneyline (-145)
Matt Boldy over .5pts (-155)
Owen Tippett anytime goal (+160)
Game Information
You can watch the Philadelphia Flyers host the Minnesota Wild on ESPN. The radio broadcast is available on 97.5 the Fanatic and Flyers Radio 24/7. The puck drops at 6:30pm.
(AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
