GAME 64 PREVIEW: FLYERS VS. HURRICANES
Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (33-19-10) are home on Thursday to take on Bill Peters' Carolina Hurricanes (27-25-11) at the Wells Fargo Center. Game time is 7:00 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on NBCSP.
This is the second of four meetings between the teams this season, and the first of two in Philadelphia. The teams will rematch on March 17 in Raleigh and April 5 back in Philadelphia. On February 6 in Raleigh, the Flyers earned a 2-1 overtime win.
Entering Thursday, the Flyers are one point out of first place in the Metropolitan Division. With a win against the Hurricanes, the Flyers would leapfrog the Washington Capitals and move back into the top spot. Washington is idle until Saturday. The third-place Pittsburgh Penguins, two points behind the Flyers with one more game played, are in action on Thursday on the road against the Boston Bruins.
Carolina enters this game four points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets in the battle for the final wildcard playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Columbus is on the road against the LA Kings on Thursday. Tied in points with the Hurricanes, the New York Islanders lost 3-1 to the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday.
FLYERS OUTLOOK
The Flyers have won six games in a row and have points in 12 straight games (10-0-2). The club brings a 16-9-6 home record into Thursday's game; the team's first match of a jam-packed March schedule. This game will be the start of a very difficult three-in-four gauntlet that will continue over the weekend in Tampa Bay on Saturday afternoon and in Sunrise on Sunday.
The Flyers enter this game coming off a 1-0 shootout road win over the Montreal Canadiens on Monday night. Jakub Voracek and Sean Couturier (game-winner) scored in the six-round shootout. Petr Mrazek earned the win with a 65-minute shutout (28 saves) and then by stopping five of six attempts in the shootout.
Entering Thursday's game, the Flyers have scored an average 2.97 goals per game (12th in the NHL) and have a team 2.75 GAA (12th). At 5-on-5, the Flyers have scored 115 goals (tied for 20th) and allowed 101 goals (tied for 3rd fewest in the NHL).
On the power play, the Flyers bring a 21.1 percent efficiency rating (44-for-209, 10th) but have yielded 9 shorthanded goals (tied with three other teams for the second most in the NHL). On the penalty kill, Philly comes in at 75.3 percent (133-for-178, 29th) with one shorthanded goal apiece by Scott Laughton and Wayne Simmonds.
HURRICANES OUTLOOK
Carolina brings a 12-14-5 road record into Thursday's game. The team has gone 3-4-3 over its last 10 games overall.
The Hurricanes are coming off a 4-3 overtime road loss to Boston on Tuesday night. Carolina held first period leads of 1-0 and 3-1 on goals by Brock McGinn (11th), Teuvo Terà¤và¤inen (16th) and Sebastian Aho (22nd) but gave up a goal in the waning seconds of the opening period and did not score again. Boston tied the game at 5:34 of the second period. In overtime, Charlie McAvoy scored the winning goal for the Bruins. Scott Darling stopped 28 of 32 shots in a losing cause in goal.
On bereavement leave following a family tragedy, Jordan Staal has rejoined the team and is expected to play on Thursday.
The Hurricanes enter this game averaging 2.60 goals per game (26th) and carry a 3.02 GAA (22nd). At 5-on-5, the team has scored 108 goals (tied for 26th) and allowed 133 (27th).
On the power play, the Canes come in at 19.2 percent (38-for-198, 20th) and have allowed five opposing shorthanded goals. On the penalty kill, Carolina enters at 79.3 percent success (129-for-150, 21st) and the team has scored two shorthanded goals.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
FLYERS
28 Claude Giroux - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny 54 Oskar Lindblom - 19 Nolan Patrick - 93 Jakub Voracek 20 Taylor Leier - 21 Scott Laughton - 12 Michael Raffl 15 Jori Lehterठ- 51 Valtteri Filppula - 22 Dale Weise
9 Ivan Provorov - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere 47 Andrew MacDonald -3 Robert Hà¤gg 23 Brandon Manning - 3 Radko Gudas
34 Petr Mrazek [49 Alex Lyon]
Scratches: 40 Jordan Weal (healthy), 24 Matt Read (healthy), 29 Johnny Oduya (healthy, visa delay), 37 Brian Elliott (IR, core muscle surgery), 30 Michal Neuvirth (lower body, out 4-6 weeks from Feb. 18), 17 Wayne Simmonds (upper-body, out 2-3 weeks from Feb. 18).
HURRICANES
20 Sebastian Aho - 28 Elias Lindholm - 86 Teuvo Teravainen 23 Brock McGinn - 11 Jordan Staal - 7 Derek Ryan- 14 Justin Williams 53 Jeff Skinner -49 Victor Rask - 34 Phillip DiGiuseppe 42 Joakim Nordstrom - 7 Derek Ryan - 21 Lee Stempniak
74 Jaccob Slavin - 27 Justin Faulk 5 Noah Hanifin- 22 Brett Pesce 4 Haydn Fleury - 57 Trevor van Riemsdyk …‹
30 Cam Ward [33 Scott Darling] …‹ Scratches 6 Klas Dahlbeck (healthy), 71 Lucas Wallmark (healthy). …‹