The Flyers (8-7-1) will look to keep rolling Saturday afternoon when they host the Blackhawks (6-7-3) in Game 2 of their five-game homestand.
Let's look at the essentials:
• When: 1 p.m. ET with Flyers Pregame Live at 12:30 p.m.
• Where: Wells Fargo Center
• Broadcast: NBC Sports Philadelphia
• Live stream: NBCSportsPhiladelphia.com and the NBC Sports MyTeams app
• Following a 4-7-0 start that felt way worse than how the actual record looks, the Flyers have gone 4-0-1 over their last five games. Since Oct. 30, they're tied for second in the NHL with nine points and 21 goals, behind only the Lightning at 10 points and 26 markers.
It's early, but the Flyers have weathered the storm. They're just two points behind the Metropolitan Division-leading Blue Jackets and play seven of their next 10 games at home.
Oh, and big free-agent acquisition James van Riemsdyk (lower-body injury) could be returning next week.
Philadelphia Flyers
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• A few vital players have gotten going for the Flyers: Sean Couturier and Shayne Gostisbehere.
Over this five-game stretch, Couturier (two goals, three assists) and Gostisbehere (two goals, three assists) have five points apiece and are each a plus-2.
Couturier has one multi-point game thus far after owning six of them at this point last season. But he's looking more and more like his all-around self, playing a lot of hard minutes and making things happen in his first-line center role.
Gostisbehere has posted back-to-back multi-point games after having just one in his first 14 contests. In the Flyers' eight wins this season, the elusive blueliner has two goals and six assists, while in the eight losses, he has just one point and a minus-6 mark.
• The Blackhawks make their first trip to Philadelphia without Joel Quenneville as their bench boss since Oct. 30, 2006.
The three-time Stanley Cup winning head coach was fired Tuesday. Last season, Chicago missed the playoffs for the first time in his tenure. This season, the Blackhawks were off to a 6-6-3 start before dismissing Quenneville - a somewhat popular name in Philly right now (see story).
Overall, Chicago, now led by Jeremy Colliton, has lost six straight, a stretch in which it has been outscored 26-12.
The Blackhawks still have a guy named Patrick Kane, who is tied for the league lead in goals (12). He will likely receive a warm welcome from Flyers fans.
• Brian Elliott should be in net Saturday and he's played well over his last six games (five starts), going 4-2-0 with a 1.99 goals-against average and .924 save percentage.
Projected lineup
Forwards
Claude Giroux-Sean Couturier-Travis Konecny
Oskar Lindblom-Nolan Patrick-Jakub Voracek
Dale Weise-Jordan Weal-Wayne Simmonds
Scott Laughton-Jori Lehtera-Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Defensemen
Ivan Provorov-Robert Hagg
Shayne Gostisbehere-Christian Folin
Travis Sanheim-Radko Gudas
Goalies
Brian Elliott
Calvin Pickard
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