The Flyers will be playing for more than just two points Saturday night.
They'll be playing for Oskar Lindblom, their teammate who was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma. The news was announced Friday and has been followed by an outpouring of support for the 23-year-old (see story).
As they back Lindblom, the Flyers will try to move forward. Since the start of November, they've done a pretty good job of not leaving games empty-handed. The Flyers have earned at least a point in 16 of their last 20 contests, going 12-4-4.
On Saturday, the Flyers (17-9-5) will try to get back into the points column when they visit the Wild (15-12-5).
(Zack Hill/Philadelphia Flyers)
Let's get into the essentials:
NHL
• When: 7 p.m. ET with Flyers Pregame Live at 6:30 p.m. ET
• Where: Xcel Energy Center
• Broadcast: NBC Sports Philadelphia
• Live stream: NBCSportsPhiladelphia.com and the NBC Sports MyTeams app
• An example of how consistent the Flyers have been is that they haven't lost consecutive games in regulation since Oct. 27-29. They'll try to avoid doing so Saturday night after dropping to the Avalanche, 3-1, Wednesday night.
With head coach Alain Vigneault's constant emphasis on structure and possession, the Flyers have given themselves a chance most nights.
A positive for Vigneault and company heading into the matchup with the Wild: The Flyers are tied for second in the NHL with the fewest shots allowed per game (28.8), while Minnesota puts up the second-fewest shots per game (28.6).
The Flyers have a good chance to play on their terms tonight.
• Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher and assistant general manager Brent Flahr are back in their old stomping grounds.
Fletcher was the GM of the Wild from 2009 to 2018 and Flahr was his AGM from 2010 to 2018.
Fletcher's challenge in Philadelphia was similar to the one he faced in Minnesota and here's how he fared (see story).
• The Wild have played the fewest home games in the NHL (12) and the most on the road (20). Minnesota is 8-1-3 at home and 11-3-4 overall since Nov. 5 following a 4-9-1 start.
Projected lineup
Forwards
Claude Giroux-Sean Couturier-Jakub Voracek
James van Riemsdyk-Morgan Frost-Tyler Pitlick
Scott Laughton-Kevin Hayes-Joel Farabee
David Kase-Mikhail Vorobyev-Chris Stewart
Defensemen
Ivan Provorov-Matt Niskanen
Travis Sanheim-Justin Braun
Shayne Gostisbehere-Philippe Myers
Goalies
Carter Hart
Brian Elliott
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