Philadelphia Flyers (11-12-2) vs. Nashville Predators (13-11-2)- Game Preview, Breakdown, Injury Report and Predictions

December 1st, 2013 by Kyle Lutz | Filed under Flyers, General, Hockey.

Philadelphia Flyers (11-12-2, 24 pts) at Nashville Predators (13-11-2, 28 pts)

8 p.m. EST | Bridgestone Arena | Nashville, Tenn.
TV: CSN Philly, FS Tennessee | Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Starting Goaltenders-
  Steve Mason- Phi. (8-8-2, 2.10, .933, 1 shutout) vs. Marek Mazanec- Nash. (5-4, 2.02, .934, 2 shutouts)

 

(John Geliebter-USA TODAY Sports)

The Flyers come back tonight, in Tennessee, back on the road again, for a mid-west showdown between two fairly evenly matched teams; based on win-loss records at least. The Flyers won a close one, 2-1, vs. Winnipeg yesterday morning, in a rare 11:00 AM start on Black Friday, while Nashville lost 3-0 vs. Edmonton a couple nights ago.

As of recent, Philadelphia has been fairly hot, except in games at Florida (which is ironic), going 7-2-1 within their last 10 games, while Nashville has been more of an average team the last 10, going 5-5 in the process, even though they maintain –slightly– a better W-L record so far this season than Philly does.

Coming into tonight’s game, offensively, both teams have been poor and rank in the bottom half of the league in goals-per-game: Nashville’s ranked 23, and Philadelphia’s ranked 26th, respectively. Philadelphia is 20th with 742, while the Preds are just behind, with 732 shots, which ranks them 23rd in the league.

As for defense and goaltending, Philadelphia ranks way better in save percentage — 7th overall with 92.2, compared to 19th (91.0) — and better in GAA as well. They’re ranked 10th in goals-against-average with 2.39, while Nashville ranks 18th with an average of 2.67.

Philadelphia ranks first overall in penalty minutes with 428, while the Predators are further down the list, ranked 16th with 289.

One of Nashville’s strengths is their special teams efficiency. They rank within the top 10 in the league in both special teams categories, including eighth on the man-advantage, with a percentage of 21.0, and ninth on the penalty kill, at 84.5%. They’re one of only a few teams to accomplish this feat thus far. Detroit, Pittsburgh and Montreal are the only other teams thus far this season to do so.

Philadelphia’s special-teams’ units, on the other hand, have been a cause for concern so far. They rank 23rd on the Power Play with 15.6%, and 16th on the PK at 82.5%, although they’ve been a lot better, form and percentage wise, as of late. Within their past three games, they’ve gone 10-12 on the PK; a percentage of 83.3. This includes a 6-6, perfect performance last game vs. a speedy Jets’ team with a lot of offensive firepower. In that same time span, they’ve gone a little better on the power-play, going 2-10, even though they were 0-4 in that category vs. Winnipeg.

Nashville recently hasn’t had many power-play opportunities, in order to get on a roll (1/5 in their past three games), as they’ve only averaged 1.7 man-advantages in that time span above. If Philadelphia wants to win, they have to limit the amount of mistakes, and stupid penalties. Make Nashville work for their advantages, and even then, continue Nashville’s poor streak of offensive output, and put in the work offensively vs. a beat up Nashville defensive group.

The Predators have been successful defensively and on the penalty kill in that time span, going 6-6 on the latter.

Team leader, and Nashville’s 1998 1st-round (2nd overall) pick David Legwand is leading the team thus far this season in assists and points, with 15, and 20, respectively, while defenseman (and team captain) Shea Weber (who was highly touted by the Flyers a couple years ago) leads in goals (7), Patric Hornqvist leads in shots (70), Eric Nystrom in hits (63), Kevin Klein in blocked shots (58), Ryan Ellis in +/- with a +5, and Paul Gaustad in face-off wins and attempts with 273, and 441, respectively.

Newcomer, veteran center Matt Cullen has been solid all year in face offs, winning 58% of his draws, which ranks him 4th in the league in the category. Also of note, rookie, 4th-overall pick from last year’s draft, Seth Jones has had a solid season as well. He not only brings solid speed, hands and output (especially for the future) for Nashville, but a wicked shot as well.

Going for Nashville tonight, in his 10th straight start, is backup goaltender Marek Mazanec. He struggled in his last start, but overall has played very solidly in picking up the pieces since Pekka Rinne, the team’s starter, went down with a hip infection, that led to surgery being performed.

Another big loss in tonight’s game is Weber, who is out with an eye injury- one that he suffered on Thursday against Edmonton when he got hit by a puck to the face. Two of Nashville’s (big) six defenseman are out: Kevin Klein is also out with an undisclosed injury.

Starting tonight, the Flyers will begin a 39-day, 18-game stretch that will probably go a long way towards deciding how much of a contender they’ll actually be to make the playoffs this year. That stretch will include:

* 14 road games
* 10 games against Western Conference opponents
* Five divisional games, including three on the road
* Three games on the tail end of back-to-backs (including today)

Starting the road trip strong with a victory, or at least a point, is critical. Kimmo Timonen returns to Nashville tonight as well. It should be a good one.

Stat of the Day

The Flyers’ power-play unit has scored at least one goal in eight of their past nine games. Philadelphia also, defensively, is ranked the worst team (30th overall) in 1st-period goals against this season, with 11.

Keys to The Game

Philadelphia

-Keep the forecheck strong, especially with Nashville missing Weber and Klein
-Pressure the rookie goalie with a plethora of shots
-Play strong in the 1st-period, and build on it

Nashville

-Win the turnover battle
-Control the rebounds
-Win the face off battle

Player of the Game/Standout Star Prediction

Matt Read

Game Prediction

Philadelphia, 3-2

 

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