Can the Flyers escape a 4-game home skid?

It's a busy Monday night of hockey in the NHL with nine games on the slate. The Philadelphia Flyers welcome the Vancouver Canucks in an early game. Will Philadelphia finally win again at home, or will the Canucks take their third win in a row?

Philadelphia's games going to OT quite often

The Philadelphia Flyers want to reach the play-offs again this season, after missing out last year. The best results are mainly achieved at home during the first six weeks of the new seasons 'cause in ten of the eleven home games Philadelphia managed to get at least one point. What's more worrying is that five of the last six games at Wells Fargo Center went to overtime. The mounting shootout losses may come back to bite them later in the season.

The Flyers are playing a strong defensive in their own barn this season with an average of only 2.27 goals per game against. Many eyes will be on Travis Konecny, who is leading the charge for Philadelphia with 23 points (eight goals, fifteen assists). Last Saturday the Flyers were defeated by the struggling Calgary Flames in a shootout. Head coach Alain Vigneault lost four of his last five games and he'll be hoping for a quick turnaround of his team.

Canucks' power play is electric

The Vancouver Canucks were one of the big positive surprises during the early season, but the results in November are very disappointing. After losing eight of their last nine games, and three straight, the Canucks showed character during their most recent road trip by booking consecutive road victories against top quality teams. First they thumped the Predators in Nashville (6-3) and last weekend they surprised the Washington Capitals with a 2-1 shootout win.

Halfway through their road trip, it looks like the Canucks have regained their confidence. Their power play is clicking this season, scoring 27 goals on the man advantage in just 24 games, the most power-play goals in the entire NHL. Thatcher Demko is comfirmed in net tonight for Vancouver. He is 5-2-1 with a goals against average of 2.50 on the season. He hopes to recover himself tonight after a somewhat disappointing game against the Colorado avalanche last week.

Under 6 goals (regulation time)

The Philadelphia Flyers and the Vancouver Canucks also met in Vancouver on October 12. At the time, The Canucks won 3-2 in a shootout. I see a similar kind of result coming tonight. The Flyers are defensively strong in their own barn and almost half of their home games went to overtime, which also reduces the chance of empty-netters late in the 3rd when the score is even. With Hart and Demko confirmed as goalies I'm expect a low-scoring affair, 'cause both of them have played well in (almost all their) recent games. Moreover, the Flyers isn't that productive lately.