Flyers at Predators
The Philadelphia Flyers look to extend their season-high winning streak to five games when they visit the Nashville Predators on Sunday. The Flyers gave up the first goal before defeating Chicago 3-1 on Saturday afternoon without a point recorded by their top three scorers as 19-year-old rookie defenseman Ivan Provorov notched his second and third goals of the season.
“When you let a goal in, the worst thing you can do is get away from the game plan,” Philadelphia goaltender Steve Mason told reporters. “We stuck to ours, which I think is why we got the result. … Overall, I think our effort was high.” The Predators are 9-3-3 since the beginning of November and 7-0-2 in their last nine home games, but they coughed up a three-goal lead in the third period of a 5-4 overtime setback against New Jersey on Saturday. Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne, the NHL’s Player of the Month for November, gave up a season-high five goals against the Devils in the team's first game of December. “We need to learn from that one and hopefully never have to do it again,” Predators center Ryan Johansen told reporters.
TV: 6 p.m. ET, TVA, CSN Philadelphia, FSN Tennessee (Nashville)
ABOUT THE FLYERS (13-10-3): Wayne Simmonds (11 goals, 22 points), Jakub Voracek (eight, 22) and captain Claude Giroux (seven, 22) registered a combined 10 shots Saturday but came up empty on the scoresheet. Brayden Schenn did score, however, snapping his nine-game drought with his fourth goal of the season and second point in the last six contests. Brandon Manning returned to the lineup Saturday after missing three games with a concussion to replace fellow defenseman Radko Gudas, who was a late scratch due to illness.
ABOUT THE PREDATORS (11-8-4): Defenseman P.K. Subban notched his sixth goal of the season Saturday and tied Johansen and Filip Forsberg for the team lead with 16 points. Johansen had been on a torrid streak with four goals and three assists over his previous four contests, but the Devils held the talented center to one shot and no points. With leading goal scorer James Neal (upper body) out, the Predators need more players to step up, and rookie Kevin Fiala has recorded three goals in his last two games to give him five in 13 contests this season.
OVERTIME
1. Nashville claimed LW Reid Boucher off waivers from New Jersey on Saturday, but the 23-year-old did not play against his former team.
2. Mason won his third straight start Saturday and is 7-7-5 with a .916 save percentage in his career against Nashville.
3. The Flyers have won three straight meetings – two after regulation – and five of the last seven versus the Predators.