...the Flyers’ challenge now is to carry over the momentum from Wednesday’s big win in Pittsburgh to Saturday night's game at the Wells Fargo Center against the Detroit Red Wings.

That’s something they weren’t able to do after their first win of the season last week in Dallas. The Flyers were shellacked by the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-0, just three days after their wild OT win against the Stars.

What’s the key to avoiding a big step back this time?

“We’ve just got to realize, as a group and as a team, how we played in Pittsburgh and how we played in Chicago,” defenseman Mark Streit said. “It’s a whole different story. We just need to build on the game in Pittsburgh. I thought it was a defense-first mentality. Everybody was skating, everybody was checking hard, everybody was battling for the other player next to him. That’s what we have to take from it.

“Detroit, it’s no different. A great team, a lot of offense, a lot of puck possession. I think for us it’s really important that we play well defensively. On the other hand, we have a lot of speed and a lot of skill as well, so we want to use that.”

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DETROIT RED WINGS

THE MATCHUP

- Tonight marks the 128th all-time meeting between DET and PHI
- Tonight is the 1st of 3 meetings this season between DET and PHI
- DET’s all-time record vs. PHI: 48-58-21-0
- DET’s all-time road record at PHI: 13-38-11-0
- DET has lost 8 in a row in PHI and have been outscored 33-13; last win was Game 2 of the 1997 SCF (4-2 W on 6/3/97) and last regular-season win was a 4-1 W on 1/25/97
- DET was 1-2 vs. PHI in 2013-14 and was outscored 13-8
- DET’s top scorers vs. PHI last season: Daniel Alfredsson (0-4-4 in 3 GP), Henrik Zetterberg (2-1-3 in 1 GP) and Pavel Datsyuk (1-2-3 in 1 GP); PHI’s top scorers were Scott Hartnell (3-3-6 in 2 GP), Claude Giroux (2-4-6 in 3 GP) and Sean Couturier (3-2-5 in 3 GP)
- Pavel Datsyuk has 12 points (6-6-12) in 9 games vs. PHI
- Henrik Zetterberg has 16 points (9-7-16) in 10 games vs. PHI
- Luke Glendening made his NHL debut on 10/12 vs. PHI
- PHI’s top scorers vs. DET: R.J. Umberger (12-9-21 in 33 GP), Jakub Voracek (3-9-12 in 22 GP) Claude Giroux (4-5-9 in 8 GP) and Mark Streit (1-8-9 in 8 GP)
- PHI F R.J. Umberger played for the US NTDP from 1998-00
- PHI Director of Player Development Derian Hatcher hails from Sterling Heights, MI, and played 15 regular season and 12 playoff games for DET in 2003-04

UPCOMING MILESTONES

- Franzen is 2 goals shy from tying Sid Abel at 184 for 18th in DET history
- Helm is 2 GP shy of 300
- Zetterberg is 2 assists away from 450

SEASON LEADERS

The Red Wings have several players who rank among NHL early-season statistical leaders:
- Gustav Nyquist is T14th with 4 goals, 10th with a 25.0 shooting % (among players with >10 SOG) and T18th with 6 takeaways
- Henrik Zetterberg is T3rd with 10 points and T6th with 7 assists
- Niklas Kronwall is T6th among Dmen with 6 points and 24th with an average TOI of 23:46
- Luke Glendening is 8th with a 58.7% faceoff percentage
- Jonas Gustavsson is T1st with a 0.00 GAA and 1.000 SV%
- Jimmy Howard is T14th with a 1.96 GAA and a .929 SV%
- DET ranks T4th in the NHL in goals against/game (1.71) [1. MIN – 0.80, 2. LA – 1.43]
- DET is the only team in the NHL yet to surrender a PPG (21-for-21)
- DET averages the 3rd-fewest PIM (8.0) [1. CHI – 6.7, 2. PHI – 7.7]
- DET has the 2nd-best PP/PK differential, spending 9:07 longer on the PP than PK [1. MIN – 10:13]

THIS DATE IN RED WINGS HISTORY

Oct. 25, 1978 – Red Wings right wing Dennis Polonich suffers severe facial injuries when he’s struck by Wilf Paiement’s stick in a game against the Colorado Rockies.

2014-15 REGULAR SEASON INDIVIDUAL STATS

Most Goals: 2, twice (MR: Kronwall, Oct. 23 vs. PIT)
Most Assists: 4, Zetterberg, Oct. 17 at TOR
Most Points: 4, Zetterberg, Oct. 17 at TOR
Most SOG: 6, Tatar, Oct. 18 vs. TOR
Most PIM: 4, twice (MR: Kindl, Oct. 23 vs. PIT)
Most TOI: 26:04, Kronwall, Oct. 15 vs. BOS
Most Hits: 7, Abdelkader, Oct. 23 vs. PIT
Most Blocked Shots: 5, Kronwall, Oct. 15 vs. BOS
Most Saves: 37, Howard, Oct. 15 vs. BOS
Longest Goal Streak: 4, Nyquist, Oct. 9-17
Longest Assist Streak: 2, Datsyuk, Oct. 21-pres., DeKeyser, Oct. 21-pres., Kronwall, Oct. 11-15 and Franzen, Oct. 9-11
Longest Point Streak: 4, Zetterberg, Oct. 17-pres. and Nyquist, Oct. 9-17

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS

TONIGHT’S GAME

The Flyers return to the Wells Fargo Center after a three-game road trip to host the Detroit Red Wings in their eighth game of the year and fourth at home. The Flyers are 2-3-1 following a 5-3 win over Pittsburgh on Wednesday night at CONSOL Energy Center. Shayne Gostisbehere is expected to make his NHL debut tonight after he was recalled from Lehigh Valley last night. This is the first of a quick two-game homestand for the Flyers – Los Angeles comes in on Tuesday, and then there’s another quick two-game trip to Florida before the club settles in for four home games over 10 days.

VS. DETROIT

This is the first of three games between the Flyers and Red Wings this season, and the first of two Detroit visits to the Wells Fargo Center.
Sat., Oct. 25 – Red Wings at Flyers, 7:00 PM
Wed., Nov. 26 – Flyers at Red Wings, 7:30 PM
Sat., March 14 – Red Wings at Flyers, 1:00 PM
This is the first time since the 1992-93 season that Detroit will play two regular season games in Philadelphia. The Flyers were 0-1-1 vs. Detroit at the Spectrum that year.
The Flyers are riding an eight-game, 16-year home winning streak vs. the Red Wings. They have not lost to Detroit in Philadelphia since Game 2 of the 1997 Stanley Cup Final. Detroit’s last regular season win here came that season, on Jan. 25, 1997 (4-1).

2013-14 SEASON SERIES

Sat., Oct. 12, 2013 – Detroit 5, Flyers 2
Wed., Dec. 4, 2013 – Flyers 6, Detroit 3
Tues., Jan. 28, 2014 – Flyers 5, Detroit 0
The last game between the clubs marked only the fourth time in their history that the Flyers had shut out the Red Wings, and the first time since 2001. It also gave them a season-series win over Detroit, marking the first time since 1987-88 that the Flyers won a season series over the Wings that was more than just one game.

LIFETIME

Home: 67 GP, 40-16-11-0, 91 pts (.679)
Away: 65 GP, 18-28-19-0, 55 pts (.423)
Total: 132 GP, 58-44-30-0, 146 pts (.553)
PHI CAREER LEADERS VS. DET
Giroux – 8 GP, 4-5-9, 1.13 PPG
Streit – 8 GP, 1-8-9, 1.13 PPG
Couturier – 5 GP, 3-2-5, 1.00 PPG
Read – 5 GP, 1-3-4, 0.80 PPG
Raffl – 3 GP, 0-2-2, 0.67 PPG
Umberger – 33 GP, 12-9-21, 0.64 PPG

DET CAREER LEADERS VS. PHI

Zetterberg – 10 GP, 9-7-116, 1.60 PPG
Datsyuk – 9 GP, 6-6-12, 1.33 PPG
Franzen – 9 GP, 4-3-7, 0.77 PPG
Tatar – 3 GP, 2-0-2, 0.66 PPG
Weiss – 36 GP, 7-16-23, 0.64 PPG
Kronwall - 9 GP, 2-3-5, 0.56 PPG