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NHL Preview: Minnesota Wild (3-2-1) at Philadelphia Flyers (3-2-1)

MINNESOTA WILD NOTES:

SERIES NOTES
PHILADELPHIA FLYERS
All-Time Wild Record: 12-15-3 (7-5-2 at Xcel Energy Center, 5-10-1 at Philadelphia)
2022-23: Minnesota went 1-0-1 against Philadelphia…The Wild earned a 3-2 overtime victory in the series-opening game at Xcel Energy Center (1/26) and fell 5-4 in a shootout at Wells Fargo Center (3/23)…LW Matt Boldy led the Wild with five points (4-1=5)…RW Mats Zuccarello posted three points (1-2=3)… LW Marcus Foligno (1-1=2) and C Joel Eriksson Ek (0-2=2) each had two points…G Marc-Andre Fleury was 1-0-1 with a 2.85 GAA and a .906 SV%…D Tony DeAngelo led Philadelphia with three points (1-2=3)…LW Noah Cates (1- 1=2), LW Joel Farabee (1-1=2) and D Rasmus Ristolainen (1-1=2) all had two points…G Carter Hart was 1-0-1 with a 3.31 GAA and a .851 SV%.

WILD LEADERS: Zuccarello leads the Wild with 20 points (5-15=20) in 31 matches against the Flyers…LW Marcus Johansson has 19 points (7-12=19) in 39 games…D Alex Goligoski owns 16 points (5-11=16) in 32 contests…LW Pat Maroon has 14 points (7-7=14) in 20 games.

WILD GOALIES: Fleury is 32-19-3 with a 2.87 GAA, a .902 SV% and three shutouts in 60 career games against Philadelphia…G Filip Gustavsson has not appeared in a game against Philadelphia.

FLYERS LEADERS: D Ryan Ellis (3-5=8, in 32 games) and RW Cam Atkinson (6-2=8, in 16 games) lead Philadelphia with eight points each against Minnesota…C Sean Couturier has seven points (5-2=7) in 24 games…C Scott Laughton owns six points (2-4=6) in 12 games.

FLYERS GOALIES: Hart is 2-2-1 with a 3.76 GAA and a .873 SV% in five starts against the Wild…G Felix Sandstrom has not faced Minnesota.

FAST FACTS: The Wild is 6-3-1 in its last 10 contests against the Flyers… Minnesota’s five goals on March 3, 2022, set a new team-high against Philadelphia…Minnesota has posted back-to-back shutouts twice against Philadelphia (last, 11/11-11/14/17)…The frst time was Feb. 10-12, 2003, which also marked the first back-to-back shutouts in team history…The Wild has shutout the Flyers five times in the 28 all-time meetings – tied for its most shutouts against an Eastern Conference team.

INJURIES
Matt Boldy: upper body
Freddy Gaudreau: upper body
Alex Goligoski: lower body
Jared Spurgeon: upper body

RECENT TRANSACTIONS
October 15 – October 25, 2023
10/25/23 Recalled F Jujhar Khaira from Iowa and placed D Jared Spurgeon on long-term injured reserve

10/23/23 Recalled D Daemon Hunt from Iowa

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

  • Minnesota recorded an 11-game road point streak (8-0-3) from 2/23/23 to 3/29/23, third-longest in franchise history and third-longest in the
    NHL during the 2022-23 season.
  • From Feb. 23 through the end of the 2022-23 season, the Wild was first in the NHL with a .927 road SV% and was third with a 2.53 road GAA.

ON THE POWER PLAY

  • Minnesota set the single-season franchise record for power-play percentage (21.4 pct), converting 54 for 252 power-play opportunities during the 2022-23 campaign.
  • The Wild converted 26.2 percent (33 of 126) of power-play opportunities at home this season, sixth-best in the NHL last season.

PENALTY KILLERS

  • The Wild recorded a streak of 27 consecutive successful penalty kills across 14 total games from 2/6/23 to 3/2/23. Did not allow a powerplay goal in 12 consecutive games from 2/8/23 – 2/28/23, the longest streak in the NHL this season, tied for the longest streak in franchise history and tied for the 13th-longest streak in the NHL’s Expansion Era (since 1967-68 season).
  • Allowed 20 opposing power-play goals on 118 opportunities (83.1 pct.) at home during the 2022-23 season, the seventh-best rate in the NHL.

COOL UNDER PRESSURE

  • Minnesota went 42-7-8 (.807) last season when obtaining a lead at any point in the game, the seventh-best point percentage in the NHL in such situations.
  • The Wild was 31-0-3 (.956) last season when leading through two periods, the third-best point percentage in the NHL.
  • Minnesota was 15-1-11 (.759) last season in games that became tied with less than five minutes left in regulation, tied for the fifth-most victories in the NHL.

LOCK-DOWN DEFENSE

  • Minnesota conceded less than two goals in 27 games during the 2022-23 season, second-most the NHL. The Wild holds a 24-1-2 record when allowing less than two goals.
  • In 56 games from Dec. 10 through the end of the season, the Wild posted a 2.43 GA/Gm average, the second-best mark in the NHL during that span.

SHORT (HANDED) KINGS

  • The Wild scored two shorthanded goals on the same first-period penalty kill at MTL (10/17), first from Brandon Duhaime at 9:20 and second from Connor Dewar at 9:45, marking the second time in franchise history scoring multiple SHGs on the same penalty kill, the third time in franchise history scoring two SHGs in the same period, and the sixth time in franchise history scoring multiple SHGs in a single game.
  • Minnesota currently ranks tied for fourth in the NHL with two shorthanded goals this season.
  • Minnesota ranked third in the NHL with 14 shorthanded goals (SHG) during the 2022-23 season.
  • The Wild scored its 14th SHG of the season at CHI (4/10), breaking the franchise’s previous single-season record set in the 2000-01 season.
  • Minnesota recorded two SHG in a single game twice a 10-day span (3/29 at COL, 4/8 vs. STL) after doing so only three times previously in franchise history

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS NOTES:

UPCOMING GAMES
DATE OPPONENT LOCATION TIME (ET) BROADCAST INFO.
Sat., Oct. 28 Anaheim Ducks Wells Fargo Center 1 p.m. NBCSP / 97.5 The Fanatic
Mon., Oct. 30 Carolina Hurricanes Wells Fargo Center 7 p.m. NBCSP / 97.5 The Fanatic
Wed., Nov. 1 Buffalo Sabres Wells Fargo Center 7 p.m. TNT / 97.5 The Fanatic

INJURY REPORT
PLAYER INJURY DATES GAMES MISSED
Rasmus Ristolainen (D) IR – undisclosed 10/9- 6
Marc Staal (D) upper body 10/21- 2
2023-24 TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 8

RECENT TRANSACTIONS
10/26 Loaned D Emil Andrae to Lehigh Valley (AHL) and recalled D Louie Belpedio and D Victor Mete from Phantoms

HEAD-TO-HEAD
FLYERS WILD
17-10-3 ALL-TIME RECORD 12-15-3
11-4-1 HOME 7-5-2
6-6-2 ROAD 5-10-1
1-3-1 LAST 5 MEETINGS 4-0-1
4-5-1 LAST 10 MEETINGS 6-3-1

86 GOALS SCORED 68
21.3% POWER PLAY 13.1%
86.9% PENALTY KILL 78.7%
Atkinson: 6-2=8 in 16 GP

TEAM SCORING LEADERS
Zuccarello: 5-15=20 in 31 GP
Couturier: 5-2=7 in 14 GP Johansson: 7-12=19 in 39 GP
Two players tied at 6 points Maroon: 7-7=14 in 20 GP
Hart: 2-2-1, 3.76 GAA, .873 SV% in 5 GP

TEAM GOALTENDERS
Fleury: 32-19-3, 2.87 GAA, .902 SV%, 3 SO in 60 GP
Ersson: Has not faced MIN Gustavsson: Has not faced PHI
Sandstrom: Has not faced MIN

2023-24 SEASON SERIES (ALL TIMES ET)
October 26 Wells Fargo Center 7:30 p.m.
January 12 Xcel Energy Center 8 p.m.

CAPITALIZING WHILE SHORTHANDED

  • The Flyers scored three shorthanded goals Oct. 21 at Dallas for the fourth time in team history to net three SHG in one contest, also, April 2, 1996 (at NYI), Jan. 13, 1985 (vs. CGY) and Dec. 15, 1983 (vs. WSH). Philadelphia became the first NHL team to score three SHG in one game since CGY did so on Nov. 25, 2018 (NHL Stats).
  • Travis Konecny scored two of those three SHG to become the seventh player in Flyers history to score multiple SHG in a game and first since
    Simon Gagne did so, Nov. 13, 2008.
  • The Flyers scored two SHG in one penalty kill, a span of 43 seconds. Per NHL Stats, the last time the Flyers scored two SHG in one penalty kill was April 18, 2006 vs. NYI while recording the eighth time in team history the Flyers scored two SHG in a span of 43 seconds-or-less. Franchise record is 26 seconds on Nov. 6, 1986 against NJD (Craven & Howe).
  • Sean Walker netted the game-tying fourth goal, third shortie of the contest for his second career SHG, both coming in back-to-back contests.
    Per NHL Stats, he became the third defenseman in team history to record a SHG in back-to-back games joining Mark Howe (3x, last, Nov. 4-6, 1986) and Jimmy Watson (March 25-27, 1979). He also become the fifth all-time defenseman to net his first and second career SHG in back-to-back games, joining Michal Rozsival (NYR, Nov. 17-19, 2007), Dick Redmond (BOS, Dec. 7-10, 1980), Mark Howe (HFD, March 19-21, 1980) & Jimmy Watson (PHI, March 25-27, 1979).
  • Philadelphia is 17-for-20 on the penalty kill this season (85.0%) and ranks T-1st in the NHL with four shorthanded goals.

VS. THE WEST

  • The Flyers continue their six-game stretch against Western Conference opponents Thursday (2-1-1). The longest streak against the West this season and longest such streak since a seven-game stretch, Feb. 9-21, 2023 (2-4-1).
  • Philadelphia went 14-13-5 against the Western Conference last season, including a 7-6-3 record against the Central Division.
  • The Flyers are 12-10-4 in the last 26 games against a Western Conference opponent.
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