PREVIEW: FLYERS VS. PANTHERS
With the NHL trade deadline over, Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (29-26-7) play host on Thursday night to take on interim coach Tom Rowe's Florida Panthers (29-23-10). Game time at the Wells Fargo Center is 7:00 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on CSN Philadelphia.
This is the third and final meeting of the season between the teams and the second in Philly. The Flyers captured a 3-1 road win on Nov. 22 and then a 3-2 regulation home win on Dec. 6.
Flyers Outlook
Philly is just 3-6-1 over its last 10 games but is coming off a 4-0 shutout win against the cellar-dwelling Colorado Avalanche.
On Tuesday, Steve Mason stopped all 33 shots he faced as the Avs were blanked for the 10th time this season. Wayne Simmonds scored shorthanded and power play goals, narrowly missing a natural hat trick on a Jakub Voracek power play goal. Jordan Weal notched his first NHL goal, scoring on a second-period deflection.
Entering play on Thursday, the Flyers are four points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs for the lower wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference. If the Flyers defeat the Panthers and the Leafs lose in regulation to the LA Kings, Philly will move back within two points of the playoff cutoff.
At the trade deadline, the Flyers 39-year-old veteran defenseman Mark Streit, an alternate captain, to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for 32-year-old veteran center Valtteri Filppula. The Finn is a fine two-way player and playmaker who has actually posted superior five-on-five production numbers this season to all Philadelphia forwards, although his overall stats, on the surface, have been declining the last few years as he settled into more of a third-line role. He owns a Stanley Cup ring and has played in three Stanley Cup Final series. Filppula is signed through 2017-18 at a $5 million cap hit.
Additionally, the Flyers obtained fourth-round and seventh-round picks in the 2017 NHL Draft in the Streit deal. The seventh-rounder was a conditional pick until the Bolts subsequently traded Streit to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Brandon Manning will serve the second and final game of a two-game NHL suspension for a hit on Jake Guentzel away from the puck in the Stadium Series game in Pittsburgh. With Streit now a member of the Penguins, seldom-used veteran Nick Schultz will get a chance to play.
On the injury front, Travis Konecny (lower body) is on IR, but ahead of schedule in his recovery. There is a chance he could even play as soon as Saturday, when the Flyers are in DC to take on the Washington Capitals. The news is bleaker for Michael Raffl, who left Tuesday's game with a lower-body injury and learned the next day that he will miss four to six weeks.
The Flyers assigned Weal to the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Wednesday, making him eligible for the Calder Cup playoffs. Both on his own merits and due to Raffl's injury, however, Weal likely just stayed put and will remain on Claude Giroux's line on Thursday.
Philadelphia elected on Wednesday to extend the contract of goaltender Michal Neuvirth by two seasons, despite his NHL-worst save percentage this season among all goaltenders who have appeared in at least 15 games. Impending unrestricted free agent Mason, the Flyers primary starter since 2013-14, was not extended. Fourth-line center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, like Neuvirth, received a two-year contract extension.
Panthers Outlook
Florida has won six of its last 10 games and enters this game coming off a 3-2 home win via shootout against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Panthers are 14-10-7 on the road to date.
In Tuesday's game against Carolina, ex-Flyer Jaromir Jagr opened the scoring with his 12th goal of the 2016-17 season: goal number 761 for his storied career, and point number 1,903. The lead grew to 2-0 on Vincent Trocheck's 22nd goal of the season. The Canes chipped away to tie the game, scoring once apiece in the second and third periods. In the shootout, first-round shooter Aleksander Barkov and third-round shooter Jonathan Huberdeau converted their chances. Roberto Luongo stopped 23 of 25 in regulation/OT and then denied all three shooters he faced in the shootout to earn the win in goal.
The Panthers made three moves ahead of the NHL trade deadline. By far, the biggest acquisition was 33-year-old veteran sniper Thomas Vanek, who came over from the Detroit Red Wings for defenseman Dylan McIlrath and a conditional 2017 third-round draft pick.
Additionally, the Panthers made a depth goaltending swap, acquiring Adam Wilcox from the Lightning in exchange for goalie Mike McKenna. Another depth move: Florida added defenseman Reece Scarlett from the New Jersey Devils in exchange for former Flyers farmhand forward Shane Harper.
Projected lineups (subject to change)
FLYERS
40 Jordan Weal - 28 Claude Giroux - 17 Wayne Simmonds 10 Brayden Schenn - 51 Valtteri Filppula - 93 Jakub Voracek 25 Nick Cousins - 14 Sean Couturier - 24 Matt Read 76 Chris VandeVelde - 78 Pierre-à‰douard Bellemare - 13 Roman Lyubimov
9 Ivan Provorov - 47 Andrew MacDonald 55 Nick Schultz - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere 15 Michael Del Zotto - 3 Radko Gudas
35 Steve Mason [30 Michal Neuvirth]
Scratches: Brandon Manning (NHL suspension), Dale Weise (healthy), Travis Konecny (IR, lower body), Michael Raffl (IR, lower body).
PANTHERS (based on Tuesday, Vanek's spot to be determined)
11 Jonathan Huberdeau - 16 Aleksander Barkov - 68 Jaromir Jagr 36 Jussi Jokinen - 21 Vincent Trocheck - 18 Reilly Smith 27 Nick Bjugstad - 62 Denis Malgin - 81 Jonathan Marchessault 48 Michael Sgarbossa - 17 Derek MacKenzie - 7 Colton Sceviour
3 Keith Yandle - 5 Aaron Ekblad 13 Mark Pysyk - 6 Alex Petrovic 19 Michael Matheson - 55 Jason Demers
1 Roberto Luongo [34 James Reimer]
Just acquired: Thomas Vanek (lineup spot to be determined).
Potential scratches: Jakub Kindl (healthy), Shawn Thornton (healthy).