GAME 45: FLYERS vs. LIGHTNING
In the second game of a three-game homestand, Alain Vigneault's Philadelphia Flyers (23-15-6 overall, 14-2-5 home) host Jon Cooper's Tampa Bay Lightning (26-13-4 overall, 12-6-2 away) on Saturday night. Game time at the Wells Fargo Center is 7:00 p.m. ET.
The game will be televised on NBCSP+. The radio broadcast will be on 97.5 The Fanatic with an online simulcast on Flyers Radio 24/7.
This is the first of three meetings this season between the clubs, and the lone game in Philadelphia. The teams will meet in Tampa Bay on Feb. 15 and March 12. Last season, the Flyers went 0-2-1 against the Lightning. Overall, the Flyers are 1-3-2 over the last two season series with Tampa.
The last time the Flyers held Tampa to fewer than three goals in a game was in a 4-2 win at the Wells Fargo Center on Jan. 7, 2017. Over the last two season series, the Bolts have scored 32 goals in the six games. The Flyers have scored 24. Twice, the Flyers overcame three-goal or four-goal deficits to force overtime but settled for one point in both games.
FLYERS OUTLOOK
During the Flyers' current spate of four consecutive measuring-stick games, Philadelphia is playing four of the top six teams in the NHL's overall standings. The gauntlet includes games against each of the last two Stanley Cup champions and last year's President's Trophy winner (Tampa Bay).
Coming off a 3-2 win on Wednesday against the President's Trophy race leading Washington Capitals, the Flyers held a full practice on Friday at the Skate Zone in Voorhees.
The off-ice highlight of Friday: Oskar Lindblom visited his teammates at the Skate Zone. He is not permitted to hug or shake hands, but was in good spirits and reported that his treatments for Ewing sarcoma are going well so far.
With winger David Kase having been recalled from the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms and center Mikhail Vorobyev having been returned to the Phantoms, the Flyers will roll with both Michael Raffl (third line) and Scott Laughton (fourth line) at center for now. Carter Hart will get the start in goal against Tampa.
On the injury front, the Flyers will be without Shayne Gostisbehere (knee) for approximately three weeks from Jan. 9. Defenseman Justin Braun (groin) is out until after the All-Star break. Lindblom will miss the rest of the season while undergoing bone cancer treatments. There is no update on the status of Nolan Patrick (chronic migraine disorder).
LIGHTNING OUTLOOK
For the first couple months of the 2019-20 season, the Lightning seemed to still be mentally suffering the effects of getting swept in the first round of the playoffs last spring after running away with the President's Trophy in the regular season. The team played extremely inconsistent hockey and was actually below the playoff cutoff line for some time. Some key injuries also factored into the slow start.
That was then and this is now. The Lightning are back on top of their game and are currently the hottest team in the NHL. The club has rattled off nine straight wins -- and victories in 10 of their last 11 games -- as they come to Philadelphia for Saturday's tilt.
On Thursday, the Lightning dispatched a good Arizona Coyotes team with a 4-0 shutout victory at Amalie Arena. Tampa led 2-0 by the first intermission and doubled their lead in the second period. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped all 25 shots he faced. Nikita Kucherov tallied his 16th and 17th goals of the season, while Alex Killorn notched his 18th and Mikhail Sergachev scored his 7th.
The availability of left winger Ondrej Palat (12 goals, 26 points) is questionable for Saturday's game. He hurt his knee in the Arizona game as a result of knee-to-knee contact with Taylor Hall. Palat did not practice on Friday. The team has recalled forward Alexander Volkov from the AHL's Syracuse Crunch to fill the lineup spot if Palat is unavailable.
The Lighting blueline is missing defenseman Ryan McDonagh, who took an elbow to the head in the Jan. 4 game in Ottawa. He will not play either in Philadelphia on Saturday or New Jersey on Sunday. He might be able to return shortly before the team's bye week, but that is uncertain.
Veteran forward Pat Maroon, once a Flyers draft pick and farm hand, practiced in full on Friday and is expected to play after sustaining an upper-body injury last game.
PROJECTED STARTING LINEUPS (subject to change)
FLYERS
28 Claude Giroux - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny 25 James van Riemsdyk - 13 Kevin Hayes - 62 Nicolas Aube-Kubel 18 Tyler Pitlick - 12 Michael Raffl - 93 Jakub Voracek 72 David Kase - 21 Scott Laughton - 49 Joel Farabee
9 Ivan Provorov - 15 Matt Niskanen 6 Travis Sanheim - 5 Phil Myers 8 Robert Hà¤gg - 57 Mark Friedman
79 Carter Hart [37 Brian Elliott]
Power Play 1: Giroux, Couturier, Voracek, Konecny, Provorov. Power Play 2: Aube-Kubel, Hayes, JVR, Sanheim, Niskanen.
Scratches: 44 Chris Stewart (healthy), 62 Justin Braun (groin), 53 Shayne Gostisbehere (knee). LTIR: 55 Sam Morin (torn ACL, out for season), 23 Oskar Lindblom (Ewing sarcoma, out for season), 19 Nolan Patrick (migraines).
LIGHTNING
91 Steven Stamkos - 21 Brayden Point - 86 Nikita Kucherov 92 Alexander Volkov - 71 Anthony Cirelli - 9 Tyler Johnson 14 Pat Maroon - 13 Cedric Paquette - 17 Alex Killorn 23 Carter Verhaeghe - 67 Mitchell Stephens - 37 Yanni Gourde…‹
77 Victor Hedman - 44 Jan Rutta 55 Braydon Coburn - 81 Erik Cernak 22 Kevin Shattenkirk - 98 Mikhail Sergachev…‹
88 Andrei Vasilevskiy [35 Curtis McElhinney…‹]
Power Play 1: Killorn, Point, Kucherov, Hedman, Stamkos Power Play 2: Palat, Johnson, Maroon, Shattenkirk, Sergachev…‹
Scratches: 2 Luke Schenn (healthy), 18 Ondrej Palat (knee, day-to-day), 27 Ryan McDonagh (head).…‹
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