FLYERS-LIGHTNING GAME PREVIEW (6:30 A.M. EST)
Riding a 10-game winning streak at home and a three-game winning streak overall, the Philadelphia Flyers (23-17-4) play host to the Tampa Bay Lightning (26-14-4) in a Saturday matinee. Game time at the Wells Fargo Center is 1:00 p.m. EST. The match will be televised locally on CSN Philly.
This is the second of three meetings between the teams this season and the lone one in Philadelphia. The clubs will rematch again on Thursday, April 10, in Tampa.
Back on Nov. 27, the Flyers brought a six-game point streak (5-0-1) into Tampa but skated off with a 4-2 loss in regulation. Ray Emery made 31 saves in a losing effort, while Anders Lindbäck stopped 19, including a first-period penalty shot attempt by Wayne Simmonds. Bolts defenseman Victor Hedman scored a pair of goals and added an assist, as Tampa built a 3-0 lead that they took into the late stages of the third period.
Making his return to Tampa after being bought out by his longtime club, Vincent Lecavalier scored with 1:53 left in the third period. Forty seconds later, Mark Streit cut the Flyers' deficit to 3-2. That was as close as the Flyers got, and the Lightning went on to add an empty net goal.
After today's game, the Flyers are right back in action on Sunday. The club will travel to Manhattan to take on the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
FLYERS OUTLOOK
The Flyers are 6-1-0 in their last seven games. Coming off a 5-1-0 road trip and playing the second half of back-to-back games, Philly downed the visiting Montreal Canadiens by a 3-1 count on Wednesday night. Sean Couturier, Zac Rinaldo and Michael Raffl scored for the Flyers. Steve Mason was sharp in making 19 saves.
Philly's penalty kill has been excellent of late, killing off 19 straight disadvantages. However, the team is just 9-for-79 (11.4%) on the power play at home, compared to its 20-for-85 (23.5%) efficiency on the road. The Flyers yielded a shorthanded goal to Tomas Plekanec in the Montreal game and have allowed seven shorties this season. Only Edmonton (eight) has allowed more.
Matt Read (concussion) skated in a non-contact jersey yesterday. There is still no timetable for his return. Erik Gustafsson (sprained knee) could be physically able to play today but the team is unlikely to make a lineup change right now. Zac Rinaldo (high ankle sprain) is out for about six weeks. The club recalled Tye McGinn yesterday.
LIGHTNING OUTLOOK
The Lightning are 3-2-0 thus far in January, but have dropped two of their last three. They are coming off a 4-3 home loss to Washington on Thursday. Tampa fell behind 3-1 in the first period and had to battle back to tie the game. Eric Fehr's goal with 58 seconds remaining in regulation sent the Bolts to defeat. Lindbäck made 16 saves.
Thirty-eight year-old right winger Martin St. Louis leads the team in scoring with 19 goals and 41 points in 44 matches. He had an assist in the Washington game after a two-goal effort in Tampa's victory over Winnipeg. For his career, St. Louis has racked up 57 points (14 goals, 43 assists) in 44 regular season games against the Flyers.
Before being held without a point in the game against Washington, former Detroit Red Wings center Valtteri Filppula had compiled points in nine of his previous 11 games. In that span, Filppula has scored seven goals and six assists for 13 points. For the season, Filppula is second on the Lightning in overall scoring with 17 goals and 34 points.
Tampa comes into today's game with the NHL's fifth-best scoring ratio at even strength. Hoever, the club ranks in the bottom one-third of the NHL in power play efficiency, connecting on 16.6 percent of their opportunities. On the road, the team is 11-for-76 (14.5 percent); ranking 24th in the NHL in that category. In the penalty killing department, the Lightning rank 17th at 80.8 percent success.
The Bolts have played shorthanded 151 times thus far, ranking just below the middle of the pack in the NHL (17th). Conversely, the Flyers have played shorthanded 175 times; only Ottawa (177 times shorthanded) has had to kill more penalties. In terms of penalty minutes per game, the Flyers (15.9 PIM average) are the most penalized team in the NHL, while Tampa (11.2 PIM) is close to the middle of the pack.
Goaltender Ben Bishop remains sidelined with a sprained wrist, so Lindbäck is likely to start again for the Lightning. Franchise center Steven Stamkos (fractured right tibia) is rehabbing in an attempt to be cleared to play in time for the Olympics. Keith Aulie (hand surgery) has resumed skating in non-contact drills.
Defenseman Radko Gudas (lower body) did not practice yesterday after sustaining an injury in Thursday's game. He is officially day-to-day.
KEY STAT COMPARISONS (NHL OVERALL RANKING)
Non-shootout goals per game: Flyers 2.59 (17th), Lightning 2.75 (12th)
Non-shootout goals against per game: Flyers 2.64 (15th), Lightning 2.36 (6th)
Even strength Goals For/Against Ratio: Flyers 0.96 (16th), Lightning 1.32 (5th)
Power play efficiency: Flyers 17.6% (19th), Lightning 16.6% (21st)
Penalty killing efficiency: Flyers 84.6% (8th), Lightning 80.8% (17th)
Faceoff percentage: Flyers 49.0% (21st), Lightning 48.1% (24th)
PROJECTED LINEUPS (Subject to change)
FLYERS
12 Michael Raffl - 28 Claude Giroux - 92 Jakub Voracek
19 Scott Hartnell - 10 Brayden Schenn - 17 Wayne Simmonds
9 Steve Downie - 14 Sean Couturier - 40 Vincent Lecavalier
37 Jay Rosehill - 76 Chris VandeVelde - 18 Adam Hall
44 Kimmo Timonen - 5 Braydon Coburn
8 Nicklas Grossmann - 32 Mark Streit
41 Andrej Meszaros - 22 Luke Schenn
35 Steve Mason / 29 Ray Emery
Potential Scratches: Tye McGinn (healthy), Matt Read (concussion), Hal Gill (healthy), Erik Gustafsson (sprained knee), Zac Rinaldo (high ankle sprain), Chris Pronger (LTIR, post-concussion syndrome).
LIGHTNING
18 Ondrej Palat - 9 Tyler Johnson - 26 Martin St. Louis
17 Alex Killorn - 51 Valtteri Filppula - 16 Teddy Purcell
86 Nikita Kucherov - 44 -Nate Thompson - 11 Tom Pyatt
12 Ryan Malone - 19 B.J. Crombeen - 23 J.T. Brown
77 Victor Hedman - 6 Sami Salo
25 Matt Carle - 22 Jean-Philippe Cote
2 Eric Brewer - 8 Mark Barberio
39 Anders Lindbäck
[31 Cedric Desjardins]
Potential Scratches: Richard Panik (healthy), Andrej Sustr (healthy), Steven Stamkos (IR, fractured tibia), Ben Bishop (day-to-day, sprained wrist), Keith Aulie (IR, hand surgery), Radko Gudas (day-to-day, lower body), Brian Lee (IR, knee surgery), Mattias Öhlund (IR, knee).
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Special note: Starting at 11 a.m., Mark Howe and Jay Greenberg will be in the Wells Fargo Center concourse today to autograph copies of their "Gordie Howe's Son" autobiography of the Flyers' Hall of Fame defenseman.
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