Jets at Flyers
Although the Philadelphia Flyers dropped the final contest of their four-game road trip (2-1-1), the team's fans can breathe a sigh of relief as captain Claude Giroux is expected to play in Monday's home game versus the Winnipeg Jets. Giroux, who is the team's leading scorer, exited Saturday's 2-1 loss to Arizona after his head hit the wall following a hit from Martin Hanzal.
The 28-year-old Giroux told reporters that he felt "pretty good" after the contest and went through concussion protocol while general manager Ron Hextall added that captain is "fine" on Sunday. Philadelphia, which is 10-3-2 in its last 15 games, is even in points with Detroit for the final wild-card spot - although it has a game in hand on the Red Wings. "We made some progress, and now we go home off this road trip in control of our destiny," Flyers coach Dave Hakstol told the media. "Just keep pushing forward." While Philadelphia is trying to do just that, Winnipeg was mathematically eliminated from postseason contention following Saturday's 3-2 setback to Buffalo.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, TSN3 (Winnipeg), CSN Philadelphia
ABOUT THE JETS (31-38-6): Blake Wheeler notched an assist on Saturday to extend his point streak to four games (one goal, four assists), but the 29-year-old has just one tally in 26 career meetings with Philadelphia. Mark Scheifele also recorded an assist on Saturday to secure his career-high 50th point, surpassing last season's total while increasing his point streak to three games (one goal, three assists). Ondrej Pavelec rebounded from a pair of pedestrian performances by turning aside 61 of 62 shots to win his last two outings.
ABOUT THE FLYERS (36-25-13): Philadelphia will play five of its final eight games at home, a comforting fact to goaltender Steve Mason. "We have a favorable schedule at home, where we've played well, and we have to take advantage of that," the 27-year-old Mason told Philly.com of the Flyers, who are 19-10-7 at the Wells Fargo Center this season. Mason is expected to make his 11th start in 12 outings against Winnipeg, versus which he owns a 4-0-1 career mark with one shutout and a 1.11 goals-against average.
OVERTIME
1. Philadelphia, which is just 3-for-27 on the power play in its last seven games, went 2-for-5 in its 3-0 road victory over Winnipeg on Nov. 7.
2. The Jets are 0-for-19 with the man advantage in their last seven contests and 1-for-36 in the past 12.
3. Flyers C Sean Couturier scored a goal versus Arizona to extend his point streak to four games (one goal, three assists).