Flyers (20-14-4) at Ducks (18-12-8)
8 p.m. on CSN/CSNPhilly.com and NBC Sports App; Pregame Live at 7:30
Losers of three straight, the Flyers look to ring in the New Year on a bright note in Anaheim and come back to the East Coast with a much-needed two points.
The Flyers drop the puck against the Ducks at 8 p.m. at Honda Center to close out a disastrous four-game road trip that started in Newark, New Jersey, and ends in Southern California.
Let's take a closer look at tonight's matchup.
1. Growing pains
The storyline before Friday's 2-0 shutout loss in San Jose came down before the game even started. Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol opted to healthy scratch rookie Travis Konecny.
Konecny has not scored in 22 games and Hakstol felt it was a good opportunity for the 19-year-old to gather his thoughts and regroup. Konecny is slated to play tonight in Anaheim.
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"[Konecny] will continue learning, continue growing, continue to develop," Hakstol said before Friday's game against the Sharks. "He'll watch the game and continue to learn and get better.
"He's been a good worker and I addressed it a week to 10 days ago. He continues to be very confident. Doing a lot of good things for us. It's a good night for him to take a step back."
Despite being in the midst of a long goal drought, Konecny has still created plays and generated opportunities. There was no question the Flyers missed his playmaking against the Sharks.
The timing of the benching was curious, as Konecny picked up two assists last Wednesday in a 6-3 loss to the St. Louis Blues. Friday's game was the first Konecny has missed this season.
Should it be a one-game benching as expected, look for Konecny to return to the second line on the left wing with Brayden Schenn at center and Wayne Simmonds at right wing.
2. Mase on the mend
If the Flyers are looking for any positives after their third straight loss Friday night, it appears starting goalie Steve Mason's hand injury does not appear to be too serious.
Mason was a full participant during Saturday's practice in Anaheim, but does not know if he will be able to play Sunday night against the Ducks at Honda Center.
The Flyers said Mason will wait until this morning to see how he feels before committing to play against Anaheim. If Mason feels fine, it is unclear whether he'll start against the Ducks.
Since Michal Neuvirth suffered a left knee injury Nov. 12, Mason has started 20 of the Flyers' last 22 games. Stolarz has made two starts and has appeared in four games.
The question Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol faces if Mason is healthy is whether to continue to roll with him, or give Stolarz another start. The safe play seems to roll with Stolarz against Anaheim regardless if Mason is healthy as a preventative measure.
3. Duck dynasty
Anaheim has owned the Flyers in recent years, winning its last seven meetings against the orange and black and is 10-0-2 in its last 12 games against Philadelphia.
The last time the Flyers came out victorious against the Ducks was a 4-3 overtime win back on Dec. 2, 2011, in Bruce Boudreau's debut as Anaheim's head coach after it fired Randy Carlyle. Since, Boudreau has been let go and Carlyle has been brought back as the Ducks' coach.
On the subject of streaks, the Flyers enter tonight's game on a three-game losing streak and five of their last six games after breaking out for a 10-game winning streak.
The Ducks, on the other hand, do not enter tonight's game playing well, either. Anaheim has lost four of its last five games, three of which have come in overtime. The Ducks are now 0-7 in five-minute overtimes, and 1-1 in shootouts this season. Something will break tonight.
4. Keep an eye on …
Flyers: Let's roll with Brayden Schenn, who finished December with seven goals. Schenn centers the second line with Simmonds and Konecny - if he draws back into the lineup - and has been a mainstay on the Flyers' top power-play unit, which has struggled as of late. He has 10 goals, which is tied for third on the team with Claude Giroux. In eight career games against the Ducks, however, Schenn has yet to find the back of the net.
Ducks: The 2016 portion of this season has not been kind to Corey Perry, who has just seven goals through 38 games and went goalless in November. He finished with three goals last month, but is starting to heat up with assists in three of his last four games. Perry had a two-goal game in October against the Flyers, and also picked up two assists last February against the orange and black. Perry often toes the line between clean and dirty, so he'll be active tonight.
5. This and that
• The Flyers have been shut out in two of their last three games, and have scored one or fewer goals in four of their last six games.
• Ducks projected starting goalie John Gibson is 12-9-7 with a 2.58 goals-against average and .908 save percentage. He has started eight of the Ducks' last 10 games.
• After going 0 for 2 in San Jose, the Flyers' power play is now one for its last 21. Anaheim has 11 PP goals in its last 10 games, and has the second-best PP unit in the NHL at 24.4 percent.
