Flyers (19-11-3) vs. Predators (13-12-5)
7 p.m. on CSN, CSNPhilly.com and the NBC Sports App; Pregame Live at 6:30
It was a fun ride.
The win streak ended at 10 games on Saturday, but the Flyers are ready to start a new one Monday night when they welcome the Nashville Predators to the Wells Fargo Center.
Here are five things you need to know for the matchup:
1. Back to square one
The Flyers’ run was their longest since Oct. 19-Nov. 17, 1985, when they won 13 games in a row.
The orange and black are ready to start over.
“You build up a 10-game winning streak, it’s pretty cool,” Wayne Simmonds said after Saturday’s 3-1 loss to the Stars. “It’s over with now and we've got to start again. You build on the positives you had during the streak.”
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In many ways, the Flyers made a statement — to themselves more so than anyone else.
“We’ve reset the bar a little bit for ourselves in terms of expectations — that we can beat anybody, we can go on a run and be competitive every night,” general manager Ron Hextall said Sunday (see story). “So we just need to continue on.
“I’m not sure you ever envision, in this day and age, a 10-game winning streak. They’re hard to come by. I think you expect your team to play better. I think we’ve got a good team and we do have expectations that are reasonable, but also, we expect to win. I don’t know if I say I expect a 10-game winning streak, but do you expect to win maybe 10 of 12 or 10 of 13? Yeah, I think that’s fair during times of the year.”
2. Knowing your strength
The man advantage is where the Flyers can really hurt you, but the power play has been missing the past three games. In that span, the Flyers are 0 for 8, marking just the second time they’ve gone three consecutive games without a man-advantage goal.
The Flyers still have four of the NHL’s top 12 power-play producers in Claude Giroux (15 points), Wayne Simmonds (14), Jakub Voracek (13) and Brayden Schenn (13), while remaining atop the league in man-advantage goals (28).
Considering they haven’t gone four straight games this season without a power-play marker, it would be surprising to see them come up empty against Nashville.
3. An old friend returns
Predators head man Peter Laviolette returns to Philadelphia, where he of course coached for parts of five seasons and led the Flyers to the 2010 Stanley Cup Final.
Laviolette hasn’t had much luck against the Flyers since being fired by organization three games into the 2013-14 season. Now in his third season with Nashville, Laviolette has lost four of five meetings (1-2-2) with the Flyers.
He’s led the Predators to the playoffs in his first two seasons, but in 2016-17, Nashville is currently in sixth place of the Central Division. The Predators have lost 11 of 14 road games, sport a 2-4-2 December record and will be without defenseman P.K. Subban (seven goals, 10 assists) because of an upper-body injury.
4. Keep an eye on ...
Flyers: Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere seems due for a goal. He has only one in his last 18 games. Last season, he scored an overtime winner at home against the Predators, one of his NHL rookie-record four such goals.
Predators: Winger Viktor Arvidsson just had a five-game point streak snapped, so he’ll want to get back on the score sheet. The 23-year-old has six points (two goals, four assists) over his past six games.
5. This and that
• Flyers goalie Steve Mason is 8-7-5 with a 2.40 goals-against average and .917 save percentage in 21 career games against the Predators.
• Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne is 3-2-2 with a 2.91 goals-against average and .906 save percentage in seven career games against the Flyers.
• The Predators are 2 for their last 31 on the power play.
• The Flyers have not lost at home since Nov. 25.