Looking for the numbers breakdown for how these two teams stack up? Look no further as we’ve got you covered.
Team scoring
Philadelphia is tops in the NHL in scoring with 165 goals while Chicago is fifth in the league with 154. The Flyers are led by Daniel Briere and his 25 goals. Chicago, likewise, is led by Patrick Sharp and his 25 goals. Sharp also leads the Blackhawks in points with 45 while Mike Richards leads Philly in overall points with 45 as well.
Goaltending
Corey Crawford will get the start for Chicago and he’s taken hold of the starting job and for good reason. He’s sporting a microscopic 2.08 goals against average and a robust .923 save percentage while rocking a 16-8-2 record this season. Off-season signing Marty Turco was brought in expected to be the starter but Crawford’s play has forced the issue demanded he get the start.
Sergei Bobrovsky will get the start for Philadelphia and the 20 year-old rookie has been outstanding this year for Philadelphia. He’s holding a 19-6-3 record and sporting a .918 save percentage and a 2.49 goals against average. If Bobrovsky runs into trouble, Brian Boucher has been a more-than-capable backup/spot-starter this year. Boucher’s gone 11-6-2 with a .916 save percentage and 2.41 goals against average.
Special teams
If the Flyers run into penalty trouble, they’ll have their hands full with Chicago. Chicago has the league’s best power play scoring at 25.4% clip. The Flyers, meanwhile, are quite average with the man advantage scoring 16.8% of the time, good for 19th in the league. Killing penalties, however, is more Philly’s strength than it is Chicago’s. The Flyers kill 82.4% of the power plays they face, a mark that’s good for 13th in the NHL. Chicago has some penalty kill issues as they’re 27th out of 30 teams killing penalties at a 77.7% rate. Perhaps the Blackhawks would like to stay out of the box themselves.
Scratches
Philadelphia will be without forward James van Riemsdyk who is out day-to-day with a lower body injury. The feisty Dan Carcillo takes his place in the lineup.
Chicago is going without forward Ryan Johnson and defensemen Nick Boynton, and John Scott. Check that, Jack Skille is out, John Scott takes his spot.
Streaks and standings
The Flyers come into today’s game winners of eight out of their last ten games but coming off a tough loss to New Jersey yesterday afternoon. The Flyers are currently in first place in the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference with 67 points. That point total ties them with Vancouver for the best record in the NHL.
Chicago comes in winners of two in a row and six out of their last eight. Their win over Detroit yesterday afternoon saw Tomas Kopecky score two goals. The Blackhawks have 56 points and sit in third place in the Central Division behind Detroit and Nashville. They’re seventh in the Western Conference just one point behind Phoenix for sixth and two points behind Anaheim and Nashville who are tied for fourth. Things are a bit tight in the West.
NHL Extra
If you’d like to ask James and I questions and get our thoughts on today’s game, you can join us for NHL Extra online and follow along with the action that way. To join us for NHL Extra click here. We’ll be kicking things off at 12:30 p.m.