PREVIEW: FLYERS @ LIGHTNING
In the second half a Sunshine State back-to-back and the middle game of a tough three-in-four set, Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (9-8-3) will take on Jon Cooper's Tampa Bay Lightning (12-7-1). Game time at Amalie Arena is 7:30 p.m. ET. The game will be televised nationally on NBC Sports Network and locally on TCN Philadelphia.
This is the second of three meetings between the teams this season and the lone game in Tampa. On Saturday, the Lightning shut out the host Flyers, 3-0, despite being significantly outshot. Tyler Johnson (power play), Ondrej Palat and Jonathan Drouin scored for the Lightning, while Andrei Vasilevskiy recorded a 32-save shutout. The season series concludes in Philadelphia on January 7.
Flyers Outlook
The Flyers are right back in action after earning a 3-1 victory in Sunrise over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night.
Wayne Simmonds, Dale Weise (power play, first goal as a Flyer) and Nick Cousins scored for the Flyers. Steve Mason made a season-high 38 saves and flirted with his first shutout of the season for 58:09 before Reilly Smith scored an otherwise meaningless goal to get Florida on the scoresheet. Roberto Luongo stopped 25 of 28 Flyers' shots.
The victory was a costly one for the Flyers. Two-way center Sean Couturier went down with a lower-body injury -- reported by CSN Philadelphia's Tim Panaccio as an MCL injury to Couturier's left knee -- and will be re-evaluated on Wednesday. The team is expected to recall a forward from the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Scott Laughton would be a likely candidate.
Flyers veteran defenseman Michael Del Zotto, who has struggled to regain his accustomed form after missing the stretch drive last season and the first month of the 2015-16 season due to separate injuries, sat out Tuesday's game as a healthy scratch. Andrew MacDonald took Del Zotto's place in the lineup.
Lightning Outlook
The Lightning are coming off a 3-1 road loss to the Nashville Predators on Sunday, which snapped a four-game winning streak for Tampa. The lone Bolts goal, scored by Johnson in the final minute of the third period, broke up Pekka Rinne's shutout bid but otherwise had no bearing on the outcome.
When the Lightning played the Flyers in Philadelphia on Saturday, veteran forward Brian Boyle was a late scratch due an upper-body injury. The team dressed seven defensemen for the second time this season, with defenseman Luke Witkowski making his season debut. Boyle returned to the lineup on Sunday in Nashville. Anton Strà¥lman (upper-body injury) has missed the last four games for Tampa.
Projected Lineups (subject to change, will be updated)
FLYERS (will be updated)
10 Brayden Schenn- 28 Claude Giroux - 17 Wayne Simmonds 11 Travis Konecny - ???? - 93 Jakub Voracek 12 Michael Raffl - 78 P-E Bellemare - 24 Matt Read 76 Chris VandeVelde - 25 Nick Cousins - 22 Dale Weise
15 Michael Del Zotto or 47 Andrew MacDonald - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere 23 Brandon Manning - 3 Radko Gudas 9 Ivan Provorov - 32 Mark Streit
35 Steve Mason [41 Anthony Stolarz]
Scratches: Nick Schultz (healthy), Roman Lyubimov (healthy), Andrew MacDonald or Michael Del Zotto (healthy), Sean Couturier (lower body, suspected left MCL), Boyd Gordon (LTIR, upper body), Michal Neuvirth (IR, lower body).
LIGHTNING 18 Ondrej Palat - 90 Vladislav Namestnikov - 86 Nikita Kucherov 17 Alex Killorn - 9 Tyler Johnson - 21 Brayden Point 24 Ryan Callahan - 51 Valtteri Filppula - 27 Jonathan Drouin 11 Brian Boyle - 13 Cedric Paquette - 23 J.T. Brown
77 Victor Hedman - 62 Andrej Sustr 5 Jason Garrison - 89 Nikita Nesterov 29 Slater Koekkoek - 55 Braydon Coburn
88 Andrei Vasilevskiy [30 Ben Bishop]
Scratches: Brayden Point (healthy), Luke Witkowski (healthy), Steven Stamkos (IR, knee), Anton Strà¥lman (day-to-day, upper body).