Just over a month since combining on a notable trade, the Calgary Flames and host Philadelphia Flyers square off Tuesday.
Philadelphia is 4-0-1 in its last five games as the team has begun to integrate Andrei Kuzmenko and Jakob Pelletier into its lineup. They came to the Flyers, along with a pair of draft picks, in exchange for Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee on Jan. 30.
Calgary is 3-5-2 since the deal and has yet to score more than three goals in any of those 10 games. The Flames have been particularly quiet offensively during their current 0-2-1 stretch, scoring just one time in the last three outings.
“You go through these stretches during the season when you get into ruts,” Calgary coach Ryan Huska said after Sunday’s 2-1 overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. “We’re in one offensively right now. But it will turn as long as the work and the compete is still there, and I saw that right until the end (Sunday).”
Nazem Kadri scored the only goal for the Flames, who are 1-2-1 on their current six-game road trip, which ends with stops in Philadelphia and Dallas.
“We fought right to the end,” Kadri said. “… We’d like to get two points, but it feels like we should have had two.”
Philadelphia came away with two points in its last game — an impressive 2-1 shootout win in Winnipeg in which Ivan Fedotov made 29 saves before stopping all three Jets attempts in the shootout.
Matvei Michkov’s nifty shootout tally proved to be the decisive goal for the Flyers, while Jamie Drysdale also scored a goal in regulation.
“(Fedotov) was outstanding playing against one of, or the best, goalie in the league, probably, in (Connor Hellebuyck),” Philadelphia coach John Tortorella said. “I thought everybody contributed.”
The Flyers now return home for a seven-game homestand, including challenging contests against Winnipeg, Tampa Bay and Carolina.
First up, though, is the matchup with Frost and Farabee, who have not enjoyed much success individually — or as a team, with the Flames — since coming over in the four-player trade.
“In the moment, you’re obviously sad to leave your teammates that you’ve been with … but at the same time, I think both of us probably needed a fresh start anyway,” Frost said shortly after the trade. “We’re in the hunt. Hopefully, we can come in and give the team a boost.”
To his point, that plan hasn’t come to fruition. Frost has two goals and an assist and is a minus-4 in 10 games with Calgary, while Farabee is a minus-3 and has registered just one goal with no assists.
Meanwhile, Kuzmenko has a goal, two assists and a minus-4 in five games with Philadelphia, while Pelletier has one assist in his four contests with the Flyers.
Kuzmenko, in particular, is an interesting piece for Philadelphia. They need his offense — both his scoring and his playmaking — but they also might deal him again before the trade deadline if an opportunity presents itself.
“I’ll act accordingly as we go through this, and the organization will act accordingly as we watch this,” Tortorella said initially, regarding Kuzmenko’s stint in orange and black. “It’s a bit of an audition of, what are you, can you help us, (and) do you want to help us? … And, we’ll make a decision from there.”
–Field Level Media
