GDT #42: Blues vs Flyers | 7:00 pm CT | BSMW, 101 ESPN

[theohall]

BLUES The St. Louis Blues continued their strong performance against the Eastern Conference's best, taking a point with a 4-3 overtime loss to the Boston Bruins on Saturday night. Oskar Sundqvist made a savvy deflection in front of the net to tie the game with 5:13 remaining in regulation - the Blues' second power-play goal of the game - but Boston's Charlie McAvoy scored the game winner 1:10 into overtime.

After scoring two on Thursday against the Rangers, the Blues have now scored multiple power-play goals in consecutive games for the first time all season - a welcome change after their slow start to the season. From Opening Night to Dec. 12 (28 games), the Blues scored on just 8.4% of their power plays, No. 31 in the NHL. Since then (14 games), their 22.5% clip ranks them just outside the Top 10.

"Power play was great today; thought our PK was good too... A lot of positives in this game," said Kasperi Kapanen, whose assist helped Kevin Hayes get the Blues on the board. "I think we've been playing really well against the top teams in the League... We've been winning a good amount of games."

The Blues have one more game remaining in their four-game homestand, facing another Eastern Conference Playoff hopeful in the Philadelphia Flyers. Afterwards, the Blues travel to start a home-and-home series with Washington, bringing them back to St. Louis on Saturday for the Blues Hall of Fame Game.

Officially halfway through the season, the Blue host the red-hot Flyers with a record of 21-18-2, worth 44 points and fifth in the Central Division.

FLYERS After a disappointing seventh-place finish in the Metropolitan Division last year, the Philadelphia Flyers are off to a very promising start. Their first 13 games saw them go just 5-7-1, but since then (Nov. 10), the Flyers' 18-7-5 record puts them No. 5 in the NHL standings.

Philadelphia has won three straight games and four out of their last five, most recently a 2-0 shutout over another of the League's hottest teams, the Winnipeg Jets. Winnipeg had won eight straight games and earned points in 18 straight before running into Samuel Ersson's third shutout of the season. Cam Atkinson scored both Philadelphia goals, becoming the fifth Flyer to reach double-digit goals this season.

Other wins in the Flyers' streak include a shootout victory over Montreal and an overtime win over the Wild - the night before the shutout in Winnipeg.

Travis Konecny leads the Flyers in scoring this year with 39 points, recently named to his second NHL All-Star Game. Joel Farabee, Sean Couturier and Owen Tippett follow Konecny's production, including a pair of clutch goals in Minnesota from Tippett and Farabee.

The Flyers finish up a three-game road trip in St. Louis on Monday before returning to Wells Fargo Center for four straight.

They will visit the Blues with a record of 23-14-6, worth 52 points and third in the Metropolitan Division - just two points behind the division-leading Rangers.

HEAD TO HEAD The Blues went 1-1-0 against the Flyers last season, with each team winning on their home ice. The Blues are 4-2-1 in their last 7 games against Philadelphia and 2-1-1 in their last 4 home matchups.

PLAYERS TO WATCH
BLUES Kevin Hayes, who spent the last four seasons in Philadelphia before his trade to St. Louis this offseason. Hayes recorded 157 points in 253 games as a Flyer, including an selection to the 2023 NHL All-Star Game.

FLYERS Travis Konecny, who leads the Flyers with 21 goals and 39 points this season. Konecny has four points in his last five games, and has recorded nine points in 11 career games against the Blues - though missed both of last season's matchups.

BLUE NOTES
The Blues first 6 games of January are against teams who currently hold a playoff position, while their seventh and eighth games of the month will come against Washington - who currently sits two points out of the Eastern Conference Wild Card race (3-1-1 so far in this stretch)

Brayden Schenn is expected to dress in his 900th career NHL game

The Blues will play eight of their 13 games in the month of January at home. Since Dec. 14, Drew Bannister’s first game as Head Coach, the Blues are 6-2-1 at Enterprise Center

Jordan Binnington has helped the Blues earn points in four straight starts, posting a 3-0-1 record with a 1.95 GAA and a .940 SV%. Binnington’s 10 home wins this season share fifth in the NHL, while his 14 wins overall this season share ninth

[theohall]

Looks like Faulk needs to go back on IR until "lower body injury" actually heals.

1st GA... Faulk literally does nothing. He backs into the zone and stands there. No effort at all to challenge the entry. No stick in a lane. It's like he can't push off and actually skate towards someone or put any kind of strain on whichever leg/ankle/foot is injured. If Faulk could actually skate, he would've been skating towards Hathaway and likely denied the initial shot opportunity at all. Way too much time and space for Hathaway with Faulk looking like a darn statue.

And that continues to be a theme on all but the empty netter. Faulk can't defend at all with whatever is injury is. The Tippett goal, Faulk couldn't even turn his hips... which is a massive issue for someone playing defense.

You can just watch the recap and see how much Faulk can't skate, since his failure to defend is evident on all 3 Flyers even strength goals. It should also be telling that Faulk isn't killing penalties like he normally would were he healthy.

Sit his butt down and play someone who can actually skate until he's back to 100%

The fact he played this game at all, and then was allowed to continue to play is on both coaching and management. Horrible decision to play a guy who clearly can't play right not at the NHL level due to injury.