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NHL on NBCSN: Flyers, Wild hope to enter break on high note

Claude Giroux

NBCSN continues its coverage of the 2013-14 campaign tonight when the Philadelphia Flyers host the Minnesota Wild at the Wells Fargo Center at 7:30 p.m. ET. In addition to NBCSN, you can also watch the game online.

We’re approaching the halfway point of the 2013-14 campaign and neither of these teams can be terribly happy with how things have gone so far, but they’re also far from hopeless.

Philadelphia in particular might be on the brink of an upswing as their offense, which has been a big concern for much of the season, has picked up lately.

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The Flyers have recorded at least three goals in each of their last four games. Forwards Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek have played a big part in the team’s offensive resurgence with their six and seven game point streaks respectively. Now that Vincent Lecavalier has returned from a back injury, they are becoming a very challenging team to contain.

To make matters more difficult for the Wild, Josh Harding is currently unavailable. He’s been one of the best goaltenders this season despite everything he’s had to overcome, but he needed some time off while he adjusts his treatment for Multiple Sclerosis.

That leaves the Wild with Niklas Backstrom, who has struggled mightily this season and has lost his last six starts, or 21-year-old Johan Gustafsson, who hasn’t made his NHL debut.

So the stage seems to be set for the Flyers to find the back of the net regularly tonight, but even if that proves to be the case, the Wild can’t be ruled out. That’s not so much thanks to anything Minnesota has been doing right -- they rank 29th in the league with an average of 2.16 goals per game -- but because of the Flyers own shortcomings.

Even as their offense has heated up, Flyers goaltender Steve Mason has taken a step back with a 3.23 GAA and .890 save percentage in eight contests this month. On the one hand, a game against the Wild might be just what Mason needs to break out of his slump, but the reverse might be true and Mason might prove to be the man that helps Minnesota snap its slump.

After all these squads have already endured, this is their chance to go into the break on a positive note. Otherwise their worries will be left to fester over the Christmas break.

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