GAME 14: FLYERS VS. HURRICANES
In the second game of a three-game homestand, Alain Vigneault's Philadelphia Flyers (6-5-2) host Rod Brind'Amour's Carolina Hurricanes (9-4-1) on Tuesday night. Game time at the Wells Fargo Center is 7 p.m. ET.
The game will be televised on NBCSP. The radio broadcast will be on 97.5 The Fanatic (or 93.3 WMMR) with an online simulcast on Flyers Radio 24/7.
This is the first of four meetings between the teams this season. They will rematch in Raleigh on Nov. 21 and Jan. 7 before the season series concludes back at the Wells Fargo Center on March 5. The Flyers fared poorly against the Canes last year, going 0-4-0.
FLYERS OUTLOOK
Thus far, if one includes being the designated home team in the season opener in Prague against Chicago, the Flyers are 4-1-1 at home and 2-4-1 on the road.
On Saturday, the Flyers struggled early against Toronto but then took over the game territorially from late in the first period for much of the remainder of the game. However, a couple of miscues, a failed 4-on-3 overtime power play and only one goal in 11 shootout rounds forced the Flyers to settle for one point rather than two from a 4-3 (2-1) loss via skills competition.
Carter Hart will get the start in goal for the Flyers on Tuesday night. The rest of the lineup will look the same, including Ivan Provorov remaining on the point on Claude Giroux's power play unit with Giroux lined up on the left half-board and Jakub Voracek on the right.
Through 13 games, Travis Konecny leads the Flyers offensively with 14 points (6g, 8a). He is followed by Oskar Lindblom (7g, 4a), Jakub Voracek (4g, 7a), Claude Giroux (3g, 6a), Sean Couturier (3g, 6a), and Ivan Provorov (3g, 6a).
Couturier is dealing with a shoulder strain, which has inhibited his ability to take faceoffs. Vigneault estimated that it would take roughly another week before he's able to handle his usual volume of draws. In the interim, Konecny has been taking a lot of right-circle faceoffs for their line.
Travis Sanheim has been struggling defensively of late, both in dealing with forechecking pressure on retrievals and an uncharacteristic tendency to fall down when skating backwards (which has happened in three straight games and resulted in an opposing goal each time). However, Sanheim scored his first goal of the season in the third period of Saturday's game, which might be a confidence booster for a blueliner who is used to be a points contributor.
Entering Tuesday's game, the Flyers have averaged 3.23 goals per game with allowing 3.31. The power play comes in at 23.5 percent and the penalty kill at 82.5 percent. The team has won faceoffs at a 56.3 percent clip.
HURRICANES OUTLOOK
The Hurricanes started out like gangbusters this season, rattling off five straight wins and prevailing in six of their first seven games. Subsequently, the team hit its first lull of the season, with a 5-4-1 record over the last 10 games.
However, Carolina won three in a row again recently before stumbling on the second half of a back-to-back in a sloppy 5-3 home loss to the New Jersey Devils (who had hosted the Flyers the previous night in a game that went to a shootout). The Hurricanes held 1-0 and 2-1 leads in the first period, were tied 3-3 at the second intermission, fell behind again early in the third period and then yielded an empty netter. Carolina defenseman Dougie Hamilton saw his point streak come to an end at six games (2g, 6a, 8pts).
Hamilton still leads the Hurricanes in scoring with 16 points (4g, 12a) through 14 games. He is followed by Andrei Svechnikov (6g, 9a), Teuvo Terà¤và¤inen (4g, 8a), Erik Haula (8g, 3a), Sebastian Aho (5g, 5a), Ryan Dzingel (3g, 7a), and Jaccob Slavin (2g, 8a). Nino Niederreiter has posted six points to date (4g, 2a) while Jordan Staal has five (2g, 3a).
Erik Haula is a game-day decision for Carolina. He took a maintenance day off from practice on Monday and has not participated in morning skates for the past week. However, he was well enough to score a goal and add an assist in Saturday's game against the Devils. With the Hurricanes carrying only 12 forwards on the active roster, they will dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen if Haula is unable to play.
In net, former Flyers goalie Petr Mrazek has started nine games (7-1-1, 2.33 GAA, .915 SV%, 2 shutouts) while James Reimer has five starts and one relief appearance (2-3-0, 2.93 GAA, .907 SV%).
Entering Tuesday's game, the Hurricanes have averaged 3.43 goals per game with allowing 2.71. The power play comes in at 23.9 percent and the penalty kill at 81.5 percent. The team has won faceoffs at a 48.9 percent clip.
PROJECTED LINEUPS (subject to change)
FLYERS
25 James van Riemsdyk -28 Claude Giroux - 49 Joel Farabee 23 Oskar Lindblom -14 Sean Couturier -11 Travis Konecny 12 Michael Raffl -13 Kevin Hayes - 93 Jakub Voracek 81 Carsen Twarynski - 50 German Rubtsov - 18 Tyler Pitlick
9 Ivan Provorov - 15 Matt Niskanen 53 Shayne Gostisbehere - 61 Justin Braun 6 Travis Sanheim - 5 Phil Myers
79 Carter Hart [37 Brian Elliott]
Scratches: 8 Robert Hà¤gg (healthy), 44 Chris Stewart (healthy) Injured reserve: 21 Scott Laughton (broken right index finger) Injured non-roster: 19 Nolan Patrick (migraines)
HURRICANES
37 Andrei Svechnikov - 20 Sebastian Aho - 13 Warren Foegele 21 Nino Niederreiter - 11 Jordan Staal - 86 Teuvo Terà¤và¤inen 18 Ryan Dzingel - 71 Lucas Wallmark - 88 Martin Necas 23 Brock McGinn - xxxx - 29 Brian Gibbons…‹
74 Jaccob Slavin - 19 Dougie Hamilton 51 Jake Gardiner - 22 Brett Pesce 6 Joel Edmundson - 57 Trevor van Riemsdyk…‹ 4 Hayden Fleury
34 Petr Mrazek [47 James Reimer]
Power Play 1: Niederreiter, Staal, Necas, Gardiner, Aho Power Play 2: Dzingel, Haula, Svechnikov, Hamilton, Terà¤và¤inen
Scratches: 56 Erik Haula (lower body) Injured reserve: 48 Jordan Martinook (core muscle tear)