GAME 37 PREVIEW: FLYERS @ PANTHERS
Playing the first game after the Christmas break, Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (15-13-8) start a two-game trip through the Sunshine State on Thursday to take on Bob Boughner's Florida Panthers (15-16-5). Game time is 7:30 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on NBCSNP.
This is the second of three meetings between the teams this season, and the first of two in Sunrise. On Oct. 17 at the Wells Fargo Center, the Flyers skated to a 5-1 win.
Sean Couturier, Shayne Gostisbehere (one goal, one assist), Claude Giroux (power play goal) Dale Weise and Valtteri Filppula (empty net) scored for the Flyers. Wayne Simmonds, who left the game for precautionary reasons with a lower-body injury in the third period, collected an assist and a victorious fight in a four-goal second period for the Flyers. Michal Neuvirth started in goal for the Flyers, and stopped 40 of 41 shots to earn the win.
FLYERS OUTLOOK
The next two games in Sunrise and Tampa bookend a four-game road trip that started before the Christmas break. Currently, the Flyers have a 7-6-4 road record. On Saturday, the Flyers dropped a 2-1 shootout to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Ivan Provorov (fifth goal of the season) notched the lone Flyers' goal.
The Flyers made some bold line combination changes on Saturday. Looking to boost the speed and offensive push atop the lineup, Hakstol moved Travis Konecny to the top line with Giroux and Sean Couturier and Shayne Gostisbehere to the top defense pairing with Provorov. Jakub Voracek played with Nolan Patrick and Michael Raffl.
With 36 assists this season, Voracek is one behind the New York Islanders' Josh Bailey for the NHL lead. He is sixth in the Art Ross Trophy race with 44 points; seven behind Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov. Claude Giroux is in seventh, two points behind Voracek.
On Tuesday, the Flyers activated Neuvirth from the injured reserve list. Alex Lyon was returned to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Brandon Manning (right hand) remains on IR.
Entering Thursday's game, the Flyers have scored just 99 goals (tied for 22nd in the NHL) but yielded 100 (9th fewest in the NHL). At five-on-five, Philly has scored just 62 goals (tied for 23rd in the NHL) and yielded 53 (tied for the 2nd fewest in the NHL).
On the power play, the Flyers rank 14th at 19.5 percent (24-for-123) with four shorthanded goals yielded. On the penalty kill, the Flyers rank 29th (87-for-114, 76.3 percent). Scott Laughton's shorthanded goal in the home opener against Washington still stands as the lone shorthander for the Flyers to date this season.
PANTHERS OUTLOOK
The Panthers bring an 8-6-3 home record into Thursday's game. The team won three games in a row heading into the Christmas break, including a 1-0 home victory against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.
Vincent Trocheck co-leads the Panthers with 35 points (14 goals, 11 assists) in 36 games, along with Jonathan Huberdeau (12 goals, team-leading 23 assists). They are followed by Aleksander Barkov (11 goals, 32 points) and Evgenii Dadonov (seven goals, 21 points in 28 games). Keith Yandle leads the blueline with three goals, 18 assists and 21 points. Aaron Ekblad his posted six goals, 12 points, 44 penalty minutes and a plus-one rating to date.
James Reimer (9-9-4, 3.14 GAA, .908 SV%, one shutout) has made 21 starts in goal to date, along with two relief appearances. Thirty-eight-year-old veteran Roberto Luongo (6-6-1, 2.61 GAA, .928 SV%, one shutout) has started 15 times, but has been on injured reserve (back-dated to Dec. 4) with a lower-body injury.
Radim Vrbata is questionable for this game due to an illness. Ian McCoshen is day-to-day with an upper-body injury but practiced on Wednesday.
Entering Thursday's game, the Panthers have scored 101 goals (21st in the NHL) but yielded 117 (26th). At five-on-five, Florida has scored 67 goals (18th in the NHL) and yielded 77 (tied for 27th). On the power play, the Panthers rank 22nd (19-for-113, 16.8 percent) with one opposing shorthanded goal yielded. On the penalty kill, Florida ranks 19th (95-for-118, 80.5 percent) but have scored six shorthanded goals; one behind Edmonton and Detroit for the league lead.
PROJECTED LINEUPS (Subject to change, will be updated)
Flyers
28 Claude Giroux - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny 12 Michael Raffl - 51 Valtteri Filppula - 93 Jakub Voracek 22 Dale Weise - 19 Nolan Patrick - 17 Wayne Simmonds 40 Jordan Weal - 21 Scott Laughton - 20 Taylor Leier
9 Ivan Provorov - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere 47 Andrew MacDonald - 8 Robert Hà¤gg 6 Travis Sanheim - 3 Radko Gudas
37 Brian Elliott [30 Michal Neuvirth]
Scratches: 15 Jori Lehterठ(healthy), 39 Mark Alt (healthy), 23 Brandon Manning (IR, right hand).
Panthers
11 Jonathan Huberdeau - 16 Aleksander Barkov - 27 Nick Bjugstad 63 Evgeny Dadonov - 21 Vincent Trocheck - 62 Denis Malgin 88 Jamie McGinn - 90 Jared McCann - 23 Connor Brickley 18 Micheal Haley - 17 Derek MacKenzie - 7 Colton Sceviour …‹
3 Keith Yandle - 5 Aaron Ekblad 19 Michael Matheson - 13 Mark Pysyk 52 MacKenzie Weegar - 6 Alex Petrovic…‹
34 James Reimer [29 Harri Sà¤teri…‹]
Scratches: 12 Ian McCoshen (day-to-day, upper body), 71 Radim Vrbata (questionable, illness), 1 Roberto Luongo (IR, lower body).
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PHANTOMS EARN 5-4 WIN IN WILKES BARRE
After earning a 3-2 road over the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins in the final game before the American Hockey League's Christmas break, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms did it again on Wednesday in the first game after the break. This time, the Phantoms skated to a 5-4 win over the Pens.
Tyrell Goulbourne led the way with a Gordie Howe Hat Trick: a second period goal (6th of the season), second period fight with Jared Tinordi and empty-net assist. The other Phantoms goals came from T.J. Brennan (3rd), Mike Vecchione (power play, 8th), Chris Conner (7th) and Phil Varone (empty net, 10th). Corban Knight notched a pair of assists.
Dustin Tokarski stopped 32 of 36 shots. The final, essentially meaningless goal by the Pens came with 12 seconds left in the game.
Rookie left winger Oskar Lindblom entered the game with 10 points in his previous nine games but was held pointless (one shot on goal) and was minus-two. Vecchione returned from injury and notched a power play goal but was minus-three at even strength. Playing his second game since returning from injury, Philippe Myers assisted on the Vecchione goal.
Phantoms lines:
28 Oskar Lindblom - 21 Mike Vecchione - 22 Chris Conner 18 Danick Martel - 14 Corban Knight 16 Nicolas Aube-Kubel 10 Greg Carey - 26 Phil Varone - 12 Tyrell Goulbourne 19 Radel Fazleev - 11 Steve Swavely - 36 Alex Krushelnyski
43 T.J. Brennan - 44 Reece Willcox 8 Will O'Neill - 20 Max Lamarche 40 James de Haas - 5 Philippe Myers
35 Dustin Tokarski [34 Alex Lyon]
Scratches: Mark Friedman (healthy), Samuel Morin (injury), Mikhail Vorobyev (injury), Cole Bardreau (injury), Colin McDonald (injury), Matt Read (injury).
On both Friday and Saturday nights, the Phantoms host the Charlotte Checkers at the PPL Center in Allentown. The Phantoms are in first place in the Atlantic Division based on points (44 points in 33 games) but second in points percentage (.667) to the Providence Bruins (42 points), who hold three games in hand. Charlotte (41 points) has played 32 games.
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WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS UPDATE
* Maksim Sushko had an even strength goal, a power play assist and five shots on goal in 21:17 of ice time but Team Belarus fell to Switzerland, 3-2, on Wednesday. A tripping penalty on Sushko with 3:20 left in regulation shaved two precious minutes off the Belarusians' comeback bid. Sushko finished the game at plus-one at even strength.
* After stopping 29 of 31 shots in Canada's tournament-opening victory over Finland on Tuesday, Carter Hart was given the day off as the Canadians faced off against Slovakia on Wednesday. The Canadian side skated to a 6-0 victory.
* Thursday's preliminary round action features four games (all times ET):
Finland vs. Denmark, noon Russia (German Rubtsov) vs. Switzerland, 2 p.m. Sweden (Linus Högberg) vs. Czech Republic, 4 p.m. USA vs. Slovakia, 8 p.m.