Flyers at Blackhawks
8 p.m. on NBCSN
The Flyers aced Tuesday night’s test.
But how they fare over the next three games will be just as important, if not more, in determining where they stand at regular season’s end.
That three-game span starts tonight when the Flyers (33-23-12) visit the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks (41-23-6).
With a win, the Flyers will take over the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot.
Here are five things you need to know for the matchup:
1. Same energy?
In a 4-3 win over the Red Wings to move within one point of Detroit for the Eastern Conference’s final playoff seed, the Flyers came out possessed in the first period. It was historic, telling and set a precedent in a much-needed victory at the Wells Fargo Center.
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The question is, can the Flyers consistently start games with the same fervor? When they do, it can oftentimes be the difference like it was Tuesday night.
“That’s exactly what we wanted to do in the first period,” Wayne Simmonds said after the win. “We wanted to come out [with] fire and I think we did that.”
Starting with that pizzazz won’t be easy tonight given the Flyers are playing the second game of a back-to-back set in the building of a team that’s won three of the past six Stanley Cups.
2. Angry Blackhawks?
Are the Flyers running into Chicago at a good or bad time?
On one hand, the Blackhawks have lost three straight and four of their last five. In their last two games, they’ve been outscored 10-2, including a 5-0 blowout loss on home ice Monday.
On the other, Chicago has not lost four straight games this season and you better bet it will come in with an edge. The Blackhawks are also playing at home, where they’re a Western Conference-best 24-9-2. Chicago is also 25-8-4 overall when coming off one day's rest.
3. Raffl prize
Now signed to a multi-year extension, Michael Raffl is feeling comfortable again with the Flyers. As a result, the team is receiving the secondary punch from Raffl it became accustomed to last season.
“You can never be comfortable in this league, but it helped,” Raffl said of the deal. “I was a little rattled about (possibly) getting traded and stuff. I think it’s just normal and the monkey is off the back now. I feel pretty good.”
Raffl posted his second-career two-goal game to lead Tuesday’s charge, giving him four goals in his last five games. In his previous 28 contests, he scored just three markers.
With Jakub Voracek (lower-body injury) out the past eight games, the Flyers have needed an uptick in Raffl’s production.
4. Keep an eye on ...
Flyers: Sean Couturier has quietly put up 21 points (six goals, 15 assists) in his last 26 games for a plus-11 rating. His work on Chicago star Patrick Kane will be key. The Flyers are 27-13-8 with Couturier in the lineup this season.
Blackhawks: This is an easy one: Kane. The right winger leads the NHL in points with 89 (38 goals, 51 assists), and it’s not even close. Second is the Stars’ Jamie Benn with 77. And Kane has 39 points against the Eastern Conference this season, most by any Western Conference player.
5. This and that
• The Flyers are 7-1-1 in their last nine games.
• The Flyers are 5-2-0 in their last seven games against the Blackhawks.
• Claude Giroux has 508 career points and is one shy of passing Rick Tocchet for 13th on the Flyers’ all-time list.
• Shayne Gostisbehere leads all NHL defensemen in goals (0.94) and points (2.37) per 60 minutes.
• Blackhawks goalie Scott Darling is 4-0-0 with a 1.09 goals-against average at home this season. He has never faced the Flyers in his career.