Flyers’ week ahead includes four superior opponents, visit from Carolina’s magician
The Flyers have four games between now and Sunday starting with Carolina and Andrei Svechnikov, who recently scored a spectacular goal (video clip included).
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The Flyers will have four games this week, all against teams with better records. Two will be at home, two will be on the road, and all will be challenging.
Eight points will be at stake; getting six would be laudable. Here’s a look:
Game 14 - Tuesday, vs. Carolina (7 p.m., NBCSP)
About the Hurricanes: Winless in their last three road games, and first game away from PNC Arena since Oct. 24. ... Have scored at least one power-play goal in four consecutive games, going 5-for-12 in the span (.417). Andrei Svechnikov has two of the goals and an assist on another. Svechnikov had the hockey world buzzing last week with his lacrosse-style goal against Calgary. ... Goalie Petr Mrazek is 7-1, .915 overall, but he’s lost his last two road starts after shutting out the Kings in L.A. Mrazek was briefly with the Flyers two years ago. He’s 5-5-1, .900 in his career at the Wells Fargo Center with Detroit, Philadelphia and Carolina. ... The Hurricanes beat the Flyers in all four meetings last season.
» READ MORE: Carter Hart gets the start against the 'Canes
Where they stand: 9-4-1 for 19 points and in third place in the Metro, five points ahead of the Flyers, who’ve played one game fewer.
Game 15 - Thursday, vs. Montreal (7 p.m. NBCSP)
About the Canadiens: Last played on Saturday, losing at Dallas. Will host Boston on Tuesday before coming to Philadelphia. ... Montreal is in a 1-for-15 power-play drought and has failed to score in its last 10 chances. ... Former Flyer Nick Cousins signed over the summer. He has two goals and three assists in five games with the Habs. ... Carey Price is hockey’s highest-paid goalie at $15 million. He makes more than five times what Flyers goalies Brian Elliott ($2 million) and Carter Hart ($700,000) earn combined and takes up nearly 14% of the Canadiens’ cap space. Price is 5-9-1 in his career at the Wells Fargo Center.
Where they stand: 7-5-2 (16 points), fifth place in the Atlantic and two points ahead of the Flyers.
Game 16 - Saturday at Toronto (7 p.m. NBCSP)
About the Maple Leafs: Beat the Flyers on Sunday in a shootout that lasted 11 rounds, longest in Leafs history. ... Team captain John Tavares has missed the last seven games with a broken finger, but is expected back soon. . ... Morgan Rielly is second among defensemen with 12 assists. He came into the week with a four-game point streak. ... Toronto will host L.A. on Tuesday and Vegas on Thursday.
Where they stand: 7-5-3 (16 points), fourth place in the Atlantic and two points ahead of the Flyers, who’ve played two fewer games.
Game 17 - Sunday at Boston (7 p.m. NBCSP)
About the Bruins: Beat Pittsburgh on Monday night behind five points from Brad Marchand (2g, 3a), who has scored at least one point in 13 straight games. The season opener at Dallas was the only time he’s failed to hit the scoresheet. Marchand’s 28 points are second in the NHL to teammate David Pastrnak, who has 29. Pastrnak also leads the league with 14 goals. ... Through 14 games, the Bruins have just one loss in regulation: at Colorado, Oct. 10. Even in that game, they led 2-0. ... The Flyers were 2-1 against the Bruins last season, including an overtime win and a shutout loss up in Boston.
Where they stand: 11-1-2 (24 points), first in the Atlantic.
Special-teams report
Last week, Oct. 28-Nov. 3
The Flyers went 1-2-1, dumped by the Islanders, drilled by Pittsburgh, beating New Jersey in a shootout, losing to Toronto in a shootout,
Our Flyers’ three stars for the week: Ivan Provorov, Jake Vorecek, Oscar Lindblom.
This week in Flyers’ history
Nov. 4, 1967: The Flyers recorded the first significant victory in team history by stunning Montreal, 4-1. The game was also notable for Leon Rochefort, acquired from the Canadiens in the expansion draft, who notched the first hat trick in team history. It was the Flyers’ first win over an Original Six franchise. Bernie Parent, playing in just his second game as a Flyer, was brilliant in net. The only goal he allowed came on a 5-on-3 disadvantage. The Canadiens went on to win the Stanley Cup that season, posting a 12-1 record in the postseason.
Power move
Ivan Provorov already has set a career high with six power-play points, and we’re just barely into November. Provorov, who has replaced Shayne Gostisbehere at the point on the Flyers’ first power-play unit, has two goals and four assists. Here’s the Flyers’ scoring on the power play:
Quote of the week
“I can’t say I’ve ever had a stretch of three straight games where I’ve fallen and it ends up in the back of my net. Hopefully, I can figure that out here shortly.”