VOORHEES, N.J. - At this point, the Flyers are probably willing to try anything.
We should see that Monday night when the Flyers (16-23-6) host the Wild (22-19-3).
Let's look at the essentials:
• When: 7 p.m. ET with Flyers Pregame Live at 6:30 p.m.
• Where: Wells Fargo Center
• Broadcast: NBC Sports Philadelphia
• Live stream: NBCSportsPhiladelphia.com and the NBC Sports MyTeams app
• The Flyers' power play is 30th in the NHL at 12.8 percent, 0 for its last 14 and 12 for 113 since Oct. 13 (10.6 percent), worst in the league over that stretch.
So, some changes are coming.
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The Flyers will take Shayne Gostisbehere off the top unit and roll with a five-forward group for their PP1.
At Monday's morning skate, here were the personnel:
First unit
Claude Giroux, Sean Couturier, Jakub Voracek, Wayne Simmonds, James van Riemsdyk
Second unit
Gostisbehere, Ivan Provorov, Travis Konecny, Nolan Patrick, Oskar Lindblom
How rare is the first-unit look?
"I've never played with five forwards on the power play," Voracek said.
Flyers interim head coach Scott Gordon had to think back to when he coached the Providence Bruins, Boston's AHL affiliate, in 2004-05. There was a defenseman with the first group, but the look was unique and comparable to this situation.
"We did have a D in Providence, but he was in the slot and [Patrice] Bergeron was our point guy," Gordon said.
"So the D, he was nowhere near the blue line. That was probably one instance where it was a little bit different. But off the top of my head, no, I can't think of any [time]."
During morning skate, Voracek was controlling the point while Giroux had freedom to move from circle to circle, with Couturier opposite of him. Simmonds hovered near the middle and was crashing frequently where van Riemsdyk played net front.
Both Voracek and Gordon downplayed how drastic of a change this is for the Flyers.
Voracek mentioned how he has played the point most of his life, while Gordon said "the responsibilities are the same, it just gives you a different look when you're coming down the boards."
"I know it's the same story you guys are hearing: when we don't score, we're saying we're playing pretty well," Voracek said. "But during that stretch in the beginning of the season, we weren't playing well and that's why we didn't score. This time, last five, six, seven games, I would say we were moving it around pretty well, we got a lot of shots, good opportunities, we just didn't find the back of the net.
"But it's the same story every time, so I don't know why you guys are asking me because I'm going to give you the same answer."
On the second unit, Gostisbehere, usually the first-unit point man, played on the half wall opposite of Konecny, while Provorov ran the point with Patrick and Lindblom at the net.
"You keep doing something and you think it's going to get better, it gets a little crazy at that point," Gostisbhere said. "For us, if we change some things, get some different looks, it gives us a new feel, new look and helps us out a little bit, helps our confidence."
• The Flyers entered the week with the NHL's worst goal differential at minus-37 and the league's fewest points at 38. Since Dec. 27, the Flyers are 1-7-2 and have been outscored 35-19. Since Nov. 13, they are 7-16-5 and have been outscored 100-65.
• The Wild come in with a top-10 power play and penalty kill. Minnesota's man advantage is ninth at 22 percent, while the PK ranks fourth at 84.7 percent.
Following a five-game losing streak, the Wild have won five of their last eight and are currently in the Western Conference's second wild-card spot.
Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher general managed Minnesota from 2009 to 2018.
Projected lineup
Forwards
James van Riemsdyk-Claude Giroux-Travis Konecny
Oskar Lindblom-Sean Couturier-Jakub Voracek
Scott Laughton-Nolan Patrick-Wayne Simmonds
Michael Raffl-Phil Varone-Dale Weise
Defensemen
Ivan Provorov-Travis Sanheim
Shayne Gostisbehere-Andrew MacDonald
Robert Hagg-Radko Gudas
Goalies
Carter Hart
Mike McKenna
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