Wild at Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers attempt to end a three-game winless streak when they begin a four-game homestand on Saturday against the Minnesota Wild. Philadelphia had its string of eight consecutive one-goal decisions come to a crashing halt Friday as it surrendered four goals in the third period en route to a 6-3 setback in Toronto.
Wayne Simmonds tallied twice in the loss to stop his five-game drought and raise his season total to eight, breaking a tie with Matt Read and Jakub Voracek for the team lead. Minnesota continues its four-game road trip in search of a sweep in Pennsylvania after posting a 4-2 triumph at Pittsburgh on Thursday. Eric Staal snapped a 2-2 tie early in the third period with his team-best fifth goal, capping a three-point performance and pulling even with defenseman Ryan Suter for the club lead in points with 11. The 32-year-old Staal has notched at least one point in six of his last seven contests.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN North Plus (Minnesota), CSN Philadelphia
ABOUT THE WILD (7-4-1): Charlie Coyle, who scored a career-high 21 goals last season, netted his fourth tally of 2016-17 on Thursday to halt his four-game drought. Erik Haula returned to the lineup against Pittsburgh after missing seven games with a foot injury and registered four shots while winning half of his 16 faceoffs in 14 minutes of ice time. Right wing Zack Mitchell made his NHL debut on Thursday, recording one shot and blocking another in 9:17 of action on 13 shifts.
ABOUT THE FLYERS (6-7-2): Claude Giroux continues to collect points as he has landed on the scoresheet in 13 of his 15 games this season. The captain enters Saturday with a three-game point streak after having his 10-game run come to an end on Nov. 3 against the New York Islanders. Roman Lyubimov was back in Philadelphia's lineup on Friday after a brief demotion to Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League, registering one shot and a minus-1 rating in 10:25 of ice time.
OVERTIME
1. The Wild registered a season-high 44 shots versus Pittsburgh, marking the first time they reached the 40-shot plateau since Feb. 9.
2. Simmonds leads the Flyers with five power-play goals and also has scored one of the team's two short-handers.
3. Minnesota is just 3-8-0 all-time in Philadelphia.