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The Philadelphia Flyers might want to stay out of the penalty box in Saturday’s home game against Tampa Bay.The Lightning , the Eastern Conference leaders through their first 19 games, scored four power play goals — three of them by Brayden Point on the same power play — in Thursday night’s 4-3 victory in Pittsburgh. Entering play Friday, they were second in the NHL with 27 power play goals.Not a great omen for the Flyers, who were next-to-last in the league in penalty killing percentage (71.2) and tied for league lead in power play goals allowed (19).Article continues below ...Point scored three power-play goals in 1:31 — the sixth-fastest hat trick in NHL history — Thursday night.“That’s a first for me,” Point said after his team ended a two-game losing streak to improve to 13-5-1. “They told me after the game, so it’s pretty cool. Guys made good plays and I was able to score.”Nikita Kucherov assisted on all three goals to get to 200 assists in his career, as the Lightning won in the first game after losing Andrei Vasilevskiy to a broken foot.“I thought we moved the puck well,” Point said. “Obviously, 5-on-3s are pretty tough to defend, and I thought we weren’t getting too cute with it. I thought we were making good plays to the net and shooting the puck.”While the Lightning were evening their record to 1-1 on a four-game road trip, the Flyers were stymied by Keith Kinkaid and the New Jersey Devils in the third of five straight home games. It was the second straight low-scoring loss for the Flyers, who have come off a 5-0-1 streak with only one goal in two games.They hit five posts — one by Oskar Lindblom with his team down 1-0 in the third period — in the loss that dropped them to 9-9-1.And they also lost goaltender Brian Elliott to injury for the second time this month to a pulled groin. He was relieved by Calvin Pickard, who replaced him for two games on the 3-0-1 road trip and went 1-0-1.Friday, the Flyers said Elliott, whose injury could be related to previous core muscle and hip surgeries , should miss two weeks. Alex Lyon was recalled from the minors and there’s a chance the injured Michal Neuwirth could return while Elliott is out.Pickard was claimed off waivers from the Toronto Maple Leafs Oct. 2.“I’m confident,” Pickard said after Thursday’s loss. “I had a couple good starts last weekI just have to have a good sleep tonight, wake up tomorrow and get back to work.”Louis Domingue has replaced Vasilevskiy, expected to miss three to four weeks after getting hit with a routine shot in practice, after the starter was injured in practice. He is 1-1-0 in two career games against the Flyers.The Lightning have surrendered the first goal of the game in nine of the last 10 and continue to come from behind.“We didn’t quit,” Steven Stamkos said Thursday. “We knew we would probably get some calls after the flurry of penalties we had in the first. We were able to get fortunate and get a couple 5-on-3s, which the old cliché is if you don’t score on your 5-on-3, you probably don’t win the game. We get two there, and then one right after on that extended power play. So special teams were huge tonight.”Pickard is 0-0-1 in his only career start against the Lightning.While the Lightning power play was potent Thursday, the Flyers are 2-for-32 with the advantage over the last 11 games after going 0-for-4 Thursday.They got James van Riemsdyk back Thursday for his first game since Oct. 6and he caused a power-play goal to be waved off because of goalie interference.“If you’re out for six weeks, especially at the start of the season when you’ve been off already for three or four months, you’re definitely not as sharp as you’d like to be,” said van Riemsdyk, a major offseason signing. “I’m sure I’ll be fine; it’s just one of those things that’s a work in progress.”Radko Gudas, who missed Thursday’s Flyers loss because of illness , was back on the ice Friday. Whenever the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames meet in the Battle of Alberta, the games always feature plenty of on-ice fireworks. And with both teams playing well in recent weeks, that intensity should be magnified.Looking to avenge a loss in the first matchup this season, the Oilers go for their fifth straight home win over the Western Conference-leading Flames on Sunday night.The provincial rivals met on Nov. 17 in Calgary where Elias Lindholm scored twice in the third period to lift the Flames to a 4-2 win. The teams combined for 56 penalty minutes with Edmonton accounting for 41 of them. Rugged Oilers forward Zack Kassian drew a rare triple minor for roughing and the first of two misconducts in the final minute of the first period.Article continues below ...“That was an emotional game. A lot going on in the first period that translated to a good hockey game,” Oilers winger Alex Chiasson said.Three days after that initial matchup, Edmonton (15-12-2) tapped Ken Hitchcock to replaceTodd McLellan and the team started to turn things around. With a 7-2 victory over theMinnesota Wild on Friday night, the Oilers have won five of six and improved to 6-2-1 under their new bench boss.“Our conscience and our disposition on the ice is starting to round into a form where you can go into every game thinking you’ve got a real chance to win and we’re starting to show those signs,” Hitchcock said.While Edmonton has dropped three straight in the series and all in Calgary, the Flames are looking for their first road win in the rivalry since Joni Ortio made 28 saves in a 5-0 victory on April 2, 2016.During the offseason, Calgary (19-9-2) made a coaching change, replacing Glen Gulutzan — now an Oilers assistant — with Bill Peters and that move is paying off handsomely. With a 5-2 win over the Nashville Predators on Saturday, the Flames are 9-1-1 in their last 11 games.“Looking at their squad, they have a lot of offensively gifted players,” Edmonton defenseman Adam Larsson noted Saturday.Calgary is the only team in the league to have four players with at least 30 points: Johnny Gaudreau (39 points) , Sean Monahan (35), Lindholm (34) and Matthew Tkachuk (33).Gaudreau has four straight multipoint games, totaling two goals and eight assists. Lindholm has collected two points in five straight contests, including five goals in his last four games.Monahan logged five goals while Tkachuk has six points, including five helpers, over the last five contests.Calgary will be without captain Mark Giordano as he finishes his two-game suspension for a hit on Minnesota’s Mikko Koivu during the Flames’ 2-0 win on Thursday night. Giordano leads the team — and all NHL defensemen this season — with 26 assists in 29 games is one point shy of 30.Center Mikael Backlund (17 points) will miss his second straight game with a concussion.Peters noted his club’s confidence up and down the bench.“I think our older guys, our veteran guys, are very mature. They have a lot of experience in the league and our young guys are gaining that experience. The confidence they have in each other is important,” he said Saturday.Regardless of who’s on the ice, Larsson expects another tough game from both sides.“It’s a Battle of Alberta, so it’s always intense. The fans are intense too and the players are ramped up for it,” he said. “They’re playing really well. We have played real well lately. I think it’s going to be a good intense game with two good teams.”
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