FLYERS VS. PANTHERS GAME PREVIEW (2:00 P.M. EDT)
Looking for a win to clinch an Eastern Conference playoff spot and strengthen their push to finish in the top three in the Metropolitan Division, the Philadelphia Flyers (40-29-9) are in Sunrise, Fla., to take on the Florida Panthers (28-43-8). Game time is 7:30 p.m. EDT. The match will be televised locally on CSN Philly and nationally in the U.S. on NHL Network.
This is the third and final meeting of the season between the teams, and the second in Florida. On Oct. 8, Craig Berube got his first win as Flyers' head coach as the team hung on for a 2-1 home win after two early fluky goals. On Nov. 25 in Sunrise, the Panthers ended a 6-0-1 run for the Flyers with a 3-1 win.
After tonight, the Flyers have games in Tampa Bay (Thursday) and Pittsburgh (Saturday afternoon) before closing out the regular season on Sunday with a home game against Carolina.
FLYERS OUTLOOK
The Flyers are coming off a 5-2 home win over Buffalo on Sunday. The victory snapped a four-game winless streak for the Flyers.
Brayden Schenn tallied a pair of goals in the Buffalo game, becoming the sixth Flyers forward to reach the 20-goal mark this season. Vincent Lecavalier also tallied, moving with one goal of becoming the seventh. Philly got a first period goal from Matt Read and an early second-period goal from Zac Rinaldo, who later drew a match penalty that resulted in his suspension for the remaining four games of the regular season.
Steve Mason will get the start in goal tonight.
PANTHERS OUTLOOK
The Panthers are destined for the NHL Draft Lottery and are inching toward the finish line of their season. Florida has lost six of its last 10 games (4-4-2). However, the Panthers recently upended a Dallas Stars team that has been fighting for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference and was coming off a key win over Tampa Bay.
Florida has an extensive list of injuries but expects to have two notable players back in the lineup tonight: Both Jonathan Huberdeau (lower body) and Brad Boyes (back spasms) are likely to play tonight.
However, highly touted rookie Aleksander Barkov (sprained knee), Tomas Kopecky (concussion) and Tom Gilbert (sports hernia) are all out of the lineup. Veteran Scott Gomez could be a healthy scratch tonight.
Roberto Luongo, acquired from Vancouver around the trade deadline, will be in goal.
KEY STAT COMPARISONS (NHL OVERALL RANKING)
Non-shootout goals per game: Flyers 2.78 (12th), Panthers 2.29 (29th)
Non-shootout goals against per game: Flyers 2.73 (17th), Panthers 3.19 (27th)
Even strength Goals For/Against Ratio: Flyers 0.96 (16th), Panthers 0.83 (27th)
Power play efficiency: Flyers 19.4% (10th), Panthers 10.3% (30th)
Penalty killing efficiency: Flyers 84.9% (6th), Panthers 75.8% (30th)
Faceoff percentage: Flyers 50.1% (16th), Panthers 48.1% (25th)
PROJECTED LINEUPS (Subject to change)
FLYERS
19 Scott Hartnell - 28 Claude Giroux - 93 Jakub Voracek
10 Brayden Schenn - 12 Michael Raffl - 17 Wayne Simmonds
9 Steve Downie- 14 Sean Couturier - 24 Matt Read
37 Jay Rosehill - 40 Vincent Lecavalier - 18 Adam Hall
44 Kimmo Timonen - 5 Braydon Coburn
8 Nicklas Grossmann - 32 Mark Streit
47 Andrew MacDonald - 22 Luke Schenn
35 Steve Mason
[29 Ray Emery]
Potential Scratches: Zac Rinaldo (NHL suspension), Tye McGinn (healthy), Erik Gustafsson (healthy), Hal Gill (healthy), Chris Pronger (LTIR, post-concussion syndrome).
PANTHERS
20 Sean Bergenheim - 27 Nick Bjugstad - 24 Brad Boyes
14 Tomas Fleischmann - 67 Vincent Trocheck - 19 Scottie Upshall
11 Jonathan Huberdeau - 15 Drew Shore - 17 Jesse Winchester
21 Krys Barch - 73 Brandon Pirri - 12 Jimmy Hayes
7 Dmitry Kulikov - 51 Brian Campbell
4 Dylan Olsen - 55 Ed Jovanovski
44 Erik Gudbranson - 47 Colby Robak
1 Roberto Luongo
[39 Dan Ellis]
Potential Scratches: See list in Panthers Outlook.
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