MINI-PREVIEW: FLYERS @ BRUINS
Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (22-16-6) are in Beantown on Saturday afternoon to take on Claude Julien's Boston Bruins (22-18-5). The game will be televised on CSN Philadelphia. Game time at TD Garden is 1:00 p.m. ET.
This is the second of three meetings between the teams this season, and the first of two in Boston. The season series concludes on March 11. On Nov. 29 in Philadelphia, the teams played to a 65-minute 2-2 tie before the Flyers prevailed in a marathon nine-round shootout.
Flyers Outlook
In the 12 matches following their 10-game winning streak, the Flyers have posted a 3-6-3 record. For the season, the Flyers are 14-6-3 on home ice but just 8-10-3 on the road.
On Thursday, the Flyers prevailed via skills competition against the Vancouver Canucks, 5-4, in a wildly entertaining but sloppily played game. Travis Konecny (power play), Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Sean Couturier and Brayden Schenn (league-leading 10th power play goal) scored in regulation for the Flyers before Claude Giroux dialed up the game-winner in the shootout.
Starting goalie Steve Mason had another uneven game in what has been his most inconsistent season as a Flyer. He was only to blame for one goal but it was an ill-timed and leaky one right after the Flyers had scored quick back-to-back goals to take a 3-2 lead. Mason stopped 20 of 24 shots before giving way to Michal Neuvirth in the third period.
Despite coming in cold, Neuvirth looked sharp. He stopped all 14 shots he faced in the third period and overtime and then went 3-for-3 in the shootout. Neuvirth will get the start in Boston on Saturday.
On the injury front Mark Streit (shoulder) is ready to come off long-term injured reserve, and is expected to be in the lineup on Saturday. In order to make both cap space and roster space, the Flyers have placed oft-scratched veteran forward Boyd Gordon on waivers. He is expected to clear at noon.
Over the past week, Streit has skated at practice on a pairing with Radko Gudas. Gudas was a semi-healthy scratch in Thursday's game. He appears likely to return on Saturday. Candidates to be scratched include oft-scratched veteran Nick Schultz or one of Brandon Manning or Michael Del Zotto; both of whom took six minutes worth of careless penalties in the first period of Thursday's game and whose respective overall play has dropped off at times.
Matt Read suffered a skate cut on Thursday, leaving and then returning to the game. He will miss at least the game in Boston. Roman Lyubimov is back in the lineup.
Jakub Voracek leads the Flyers with 40 points (13 goals, 27 assists) in 44 games. Giroux, who celebrated his 29th birthday on Thursday, is second on the team with 36 points (10 goals, 26 assists), while All-Star Game selection Wayne Simmonds paces the club with 17 goals and has eight power play tallies among his 33 points.
Brayden Schenn is fourth on the Flyers' scoring leaderboard with 29 points (14 goals including his 10 power play tallies, 15 assists) in 40 games. He's followed by rookie Konecny (seven goals, 14 assists), Shayne Gostisbehere (four goals, 15 assists, minus-15). Rookie defenseman Ivan Provorov has also has 19 points (three goals, 18 assists) while dressing in all 42 games.
In goal, Mason has posted a 14-14-6 record, 2.87 GAA and .901 save percentage to date. Michal Neuvirth has a 6-2-0 record in 11 appearances with a 3.18 GAA and .876 save percentage.
Bruins Outlook
The Bruins, nine points behind the Montreal Canadiens but one ahead of the Ottawa Senators for a home-ice spot in the playoffs if the season ended today, have gone just 4-4-2 over their last 10 games. The club brings a disappointing 9-10-0 home record into this game, while actually being above .500 on the road (13-8-5).
Boston enters this game coming off a 2-1 regulation road loss to the Nashville Predators on Thursday. Torey Krug scored the lone Bruins goal. Starting goalie Tuukka Rask had to leave the game early after taking a puck up high but practiced on Friday. He is expected to be in net against the Flyers.
Matt Beleskey (right knee) and Colin Miller (lower-body injury) will not play on Saturday.
Projected Lineups (subject to change)
FLYERS
12 Michael Raffl - 28 Claude Giroux - 11 Travis Konecny
25 Nick Cousins - 14 Sean Couturier - 93 Jakub Voracek
22 Dale Weise - 10 Brayden Schenn - 17 Wayne Simmonds
76 Chris VandeVelde - 78 P-E Bellemare - 13 Roman Lyubimov
9 Ivan Provorov - 47 Andrew MacDonald
32 Mark Streit - 3 Radko Gudas
15 Michael Del Zotto - 23 Brandon Manning
29 Michal Neuvirth
[35 Steve Mason]
Scratches: Nick Schultz (healthy), Shayne Gostisbehere (healthy), Matt Read (skate cut).
BRUINS
63 Brad Marchand - 37 Patrice Bergeron - 88 David Pastrnak
72 Frank Vatrano - 46 David Krejci - 42 David Backes
59 Tim Schaller - 51 Ryan Spooner - 20 Riley Nash
27 Austin Czarnik - 28 Dominic Moore - 81 Anton Budh
33 Zdeno Chara - 25 Brandon Carlo
47 Torey Krug - 54 Adam McQuaid
26 John-Michael Liles - 86 Kevan Miller
40 Tuukka Rask
[31 Zane McIntyre]
Scratches: Jimmy Hayes (healthy), Joe Morrow (healthy), Anton Khudobin (healthy), Matt Beleskey (IR, right knee), Colin Miller (IR, lower-body injury).
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50th ANNIVERSARY GAME: FLYERS ALUMNI VS. PENGUINS ALUMNI
Tonight at the Wells Fargo Center, the Flyers Alumni Team, featuring players from every decade of team history, will take on the Pittsburgh Penguins Alumni. Game time is 7 PM ET. If you cannot attend the game in person, it will be televised live on TCN (coverage starts at 6:30) and streamed on CSNPhilly.com.
The proceeds from Alumni Weekend will go toward making good on the Alumni's $2 million pledge to Snider Hockey's rink-building project in the Delaware Valley.
For a full rundown of the Alumni Game,
click here. For a background history, highlights and by-the-numbers rundown of the development of the Flyers vs. Penguins rivalry over a half century,
click here.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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