The Philadelphia Flyers are desperate for a win, but they won’t be getting any sympathy cards from the Chicago Blackhawks.
The Flyers will aim to snap a four-game losing streak Sunday when they visit the Blackhawks, who carry a seven-game slide into the interconference matchup.
Philadelphia (28-34-9, 65 points) finds itself in last place in the Metropolitan Division, while Chicago (20-41-9, 49) occupies the bottom spot in the Central Division. Offense has been a major issue for both squads of late, as the Blackhawks have scored only 10 goals during their seven-game skid, while the Flyers have four goals in the last four affairs.
Most recently, Philadelphia is coming off a 3-2 loss to the Dallas Stars on Saturday in which it rallied from a 2-0 deficit to force overtime. However, Dallas scored the decisive goal nine seconds into the extra session, dropping the Flyers to 0-2-1 on their current five-game road trip.
“We know where we’re at. We’re growing as a team still,” Philadelphia winger Travis Konecny said. “Regardless of the result, you’d rather see the flashes of what we’ve been doing right. We’ve been seeing that a lot, as of late. It’s a matter of that and keep it rolling into the next games.”
Konecny scored one of the goals for Philadelphia, snapping a 13-game goal drought that has left the team’s leading scorer (66 points) — and coach John Tortorella — searching for solutions on how to unlock the dynamic sniper.
“You could see it coming the last game. You could see (Konecny) was around the puck more,” Tortorella said. “Hits the crossbar, almost gets another one there, but he just looks quicker, he looks more reactive. When I see him more reactive, less thinking is going on. Hopefully he’ll feel good about that and keeps going.”
Konecny remains the team’s leader in both goals (23) and assists (43).
Tortorella likely will turn to Samuel Ersson in net on Sunday, even though the goaltender’s misplay led to the Stars’ overtime winner Saturday. Ivan Fedotov started in goal against Dallas but was pulled after allowing two goals on the first three shots he faced.
Meanwhile, Chicago is hoping to get off on the right foot in the opener of a five-game homestand. The Blackhawks fell 4-1 in St. Louis on Saturday as they managed only a short-handed goal by Ilya Mikheyev.
Chicago coach Anders Sorensen noted that “overall, I thought we competed hard and stuck with it for the most part.”
The Blackhawks were without defenseman Alec Martinez following a hard hit in the first period, and forward Jason Dickinson also exited early due to an undisclosed injury. Their statuses are unclear for Sunday’s contest.
Chicago has the second-lowest point total in the league (49) and the longest active skid in the NHL. The Blackhawks fell in Philadelphia, 3-2 in overtime, on Nov. 23 in the first meeting between the teams this season.
“It’s the nature of this time of the year, after trading guys away and having a young team,” Blackhawks defenseman Connor Murphy said. “You change your mindset to look at how we’re playing. Obviously, we want to win every game, but you do want to make sure your details and how you play as a team is in order, and then the wins come.”
–Field Level Media
