FLYERS-COYOTES ABBREVIATED GAME PREVIEW (7:00 A.M. EST -- Lines posted later)
In the fifth game of their six-game road trip, the Philadelphia Flyers (20-17-4) are in Arizona to take on the Phoenix Coyotes (20-11-9). Game time is 8:00 p.m. EST. The match will be televised locally on CSN Philly.
This is the second and final meeting of the season between the teams. On Oct. 11, in the second game of the Craig Berube regime, the host Flyers outplayed the Coyotes for much of the game but struggled to finish scoring opportunities in a 2-1 loss. Thomas Greiss made 36 saves.
After tonight's game, the Flyers will return east to complete the road trip. On Tuesday night, the team is in Newark to take on the New Jersey Devils.
FLYERS OUTLOOK
The Flyers are coming off a hard-fought 2-1 loss in Denver. Wayne Simmonds notched the lone Philadelphia goal on a night where a strong effort by Steve Mason went to waste.
After the end of their respective nine-game point streaks, Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek have been held without a point respectively in the last two (Giroux) and three (Voracek) games. The Flyers top line will look to get back on track tonight. Sean Couturier is also coming off an off-night in the Avalanche game.
On the Flyers injury front, Michael Raffl is out after suffering a concussion in the Phoenix game. Matt Read had to leave the New Year's Eve game in Calgary after suffering an upper body injury and missed the Colorado game. Read is day-to-day. Defenseman Erik Gustafsson remains out of the lineup with a left knee sprain.
The Flyers did not practice yesterday, after playing four games in six nights.
COYOTES OUTLOOK
The Coyotes are 3-3-4 over their last 10 games. This season, they have been a much better team on home ice (11-4-3) than on the road. Phoenix enters this game coming off a 2-0 shutout loss at home to the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Coyotes generated 34 shots on goal but could not solve Curtis McElhinney. Mike Smith made 29 saves on a losing effort.
Tied with 29 points apiece, Mike Ribeiro (10 goals, 19 assists) and Radim Vrbata (11 goals, 18 assists) lead the team in overall scoring. Team captain Shane Doan and Antoine Vermette pace the squad in goal-scoring with a dozen each.
Doan has been battling illness but is expected to play tonight. Top defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson is questionable after suffering an upper body injury on a controversial hit by Derek MacKenzie.
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