PREVIEW: FLYERS @ CAROLINA
With five games remaining on their 2014-15 schedule, Craig Berube's Philadelphia Flyers (31-29-17) will play their final road game of the season when they take on Bill Peters' Carolina Hurricanes (28-38-11) in Raleigh on Saturday afternoon. Game time at PNC Arena is 1:00 p.m. EDT. The game will be televised locally on CSN Philadelphia.
This is the third of five meetings between the Metro Division clubs this season, and the third and final game in Raleigh. The Flyers won handily in the first game of the season series, breezing to a 5-1 win in a Dec. 13 matinee game in Philadelphia. The Hurricanes took each of the next two games at home in regulation by scores of 2-1 (Jan. 2) and 4-1 (Feb. 24). The series series concludes in Philadelphia next Thursday.
The Flyers have played only three times in the last 13 nights but are embarking on road-home back-to-back games this weekend. The team had two nights off after playing in Pittsburgh. On Sunday, the Flyers will rematch with the Penguins in the season series finale between the teams.
The Hurricanes have been a busier team of late. Starting with a three-in-four late last week, the Canes have played five games in the last nine nights. However, the team had Friday night off after playing the Florida Panthers in Sunrise on Thursday. The Canes will have Sunday off before starting a three-in-four road set with the last game of three being in Philadelphia.
Flyers outlook
The Flyers snapped a nine-game road winless streak on Wednesday in Pittsburgh, winning for just the 10th time (10-20-10) on the road this season. At home, the Flyers are 21-9-7. That is the third biggest disparity between the team's home and road records in franchise history.
In Thursday's game, the Flyers shook off an early 1-0 deficit to tie the game before the first intermission. They went on to score once in the second period and twice in the third to complete one of their better 60-minute efforts on the road this season.
Brayden Schenn scored his 15th and 16th goals of the season to win the game for Philadelphia. Vincent Lecavalier ended a 27-game goalless drought with his eighth goal of the season to pull the Flyers even late in the first period. After Schenn's early third period goal opened up a two-goal lead, veteran defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo's first goal as a Flyer gave the Flyers a three-goal cushion. Steve Mason (24 saves on 25 shots) took care of the rest.
Ray Emery will get the start in goal on Saturday afternoon. He enters the game with a 6-6-4 road record on the season, a 3.36 road goals against average and .884 road save percentage in 18 overall appearances. Overall, Emery has a 10-10-6 record, 3.15 GAA and .892 save percentage on the season. He has only made three appearances (two starts and a relief outing) since Feb. 19.
This season, Philly has set a new franchise record for regular season games that have gone past regulation; a dubious mark for the team that is 3-10 in shootouts in 2014-15 and has habitually struggled to earn bonus points since the post-game skills competition was introduced in 2005-06.
When playing on home ice this season, the Flyers have scored an average 2.89 goals per game while allowing 2.30 per game. On the road, Philly has mustered just 2.30 goals per game while yielding 3.13 goals per game.
Jakub Voracek enters Saturday's game three point behind Sidney Crosby in the NHL's Art Ross Trophy race and two point behind both John Tavares and Alexander Ovechkin. Voracek has 21 goals, 56 assists and 77 points in 77 games. In the event of a tie in points, the other three players all hold tiebreaker advantages over Voracek by virtue of scoring more goals. However, Voracek is tied with Washington Nicklas Bà¤ckström for the NHL assist lead.
The Flyers will be without Wayne Simmonds (left leg fracture), Andrew MacDonald (right hand fracture), Luke Schenn (abdominal tear), R.J. Umberger (hip and abdominal surgery) and trade deadline acquisition Radko Gudas (knee surgery) for the rest of the season.
Hurricanes outlook
The Canes were playing their best hockey of the season and played nearly a flawless 60 minutes of hockey the last time they faced the Flyers. Since then, Carolina has crashed back into reality. After going 8-4-1 in February, the team went 4-7-4 in March and opened April with a 6-1 road blowout loss in Florida.
In Thursday's game in Sunrise, backup goalie Anton Khudobin (29 saves) got the start and was strafed for 35 shots. A three-goal outburst by the Panthers in the second period gave Florida a 4-0 lead. The gap grew to 6-0 in the third period before Chris Terry scored an otherwise meaningless power play goal with 1:19 left in the game to break up Roberto Luongo's bid for a shutout.
Cam Ward will likely get the start against the Flyers on Saturday afternoon. He has been in goal for both Carolina wins over Philly this season, stopping 46 of 48 shots. Previously, Ward had not fared well against the Flyers in his career. For the season, Ward has a 20-22-5 record, 2.43 GAA and .909 save percentage. On home ice, he is 13-8-4 with a 1.90 GAA, .925 SV% and one shutout this season.
For the 2014-15 season, the Hurricanes are 17-15-7 on home ice; the slight differential above .500 being their two regulation wins over the Flyers. For many seasons, Philadelphia dominated Carolina on nearly a year-in and year-out basis but that has not been the case the last few years. The Flyers are just 1-4-2 in their last seven games against the Hurricanes and 0-3-1 in the last four meetings in Raleigh.
Jack Hillen and Riley Nash have both been dealing with concussion issues. Rasmus Rissanen is out with a knee injury (reportedly sprained medial collateral ligaments).
Key team stat comparisons (NHL overall ranking)
Non-shootout goals per game: Flyers 2.58 (22nd), Hurricanes 2.25 (27th) Non-shootout goals against per game: Flyers 2.73 (22nd), Hurricanes 2.69 (19th) Even strength Goals For/Against Ratio: Flyers 1.01 (19th), Hurricanes 0.75 (27th) Power play efficiency: Flyers 22.6% (3rd), Hurricanes 19.3% (10th) Penalty killing efficiency: Flyers 76.6% (29th), Hurricanes 85.3% (T-2nd) Faceoff percentage: Flyers 51.3% (13th), Hurricanes 52.7% (3rd)
Projected lineups (Subject to change, will be updated)
FLYERS
12 Michael Raffl - 28 Claude Giroux - 93 Jakub Voracek 24 Matt Read - 14 Sean Couturier - 10 Brayden Schenn 25 Ryan White - 52 Nick Cousins - 36 Zac Rinaldo 76 Chris VandeVelde - 78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare- 40 Vincent Lecavalier
15 Michael Del Zotto - 55 Nick Schultz 8 Nicklas Grossmann - 32 Mark Streit 26 Carlo Colaiacovo - 43 Brandon Manning
29 Ray Emery [35 Steve Mason]
Scratches: Luke Schenn (lower body), Wayne Simmonds (left leg fracture), Andrew MacDonald (right hand fracture), R.J. Umberger (hip/abdominal surgery), Radko Gudas (IR, knee surgery).
HURRICANES
25 Chris Terry - 12 Eric Staal - 15 Andrej Nestrasil 14 Nathan Gerbe - 11 Jordan Staal - 16 Elias Lindholm 53 Jeff Skinner - 49 Victor Rask - 28 Alexander Semin 24 Brad Malone - 18 Jay McClement - 39 Pat Dwyer
65 Ron Hainsey - 7 Ryan Murphy 26 John-Michael Liles - 27 Justin Faulk 41 Danny Biega - 73 Brett Bellemore
30 Cam Ward [31 Anton Khudobin]
Scratches: Michal Jordan (healthy), Jack Hillen (concussion), Riley Nash (concussion), Rasmus Rissanen (knee).
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PHANTOMS AND JUNIOR PROSPECT UPDATES
* AHL: The Lehigh Valley Phantoms dropped a 4-3 road decision in regulation to the Binghamton Senators on Friday night as Ryan Dzingel scored with 1:54 left in the third period to propel the Sens to victory. Jason Akeson (22nd goal of the season, two assists) figured in all of the scoring for the Phantoms, while Blair Jones (eighth) and Mark Alt (second) each tallied a goal. Rob Zepp stopped 31 of 35 shots in a losing cause. Taylor Leier and Robert Hà¤gg each had an assist apiece for Lehigh Valley.
* QMJHL: The Val-d'Or Foreurs took a 3-2 series lead in the best-of-seven set with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies as they claimed a 5-4 overtime victory on Friday night. Flyers 2014 second-round pick Nicolas Aube-Kubel had two assists including the secondary helper on Anthony Beauregard's game-winner at 2:07 of overtime.
* QMJHL: The Blainville-Boisbriand Armada trail their series with the Gatineau Olympiques, 3-2, after Gatineau hung on for 1-0 victory on Friday night. Recent free agent signing Danick Martel had nine of the Armada's 38 shots on goal.
* QMJHL: Flyer 2013 first-round pick Samuel Morin and the Rimouski Oceanic await their second-round opponent after sweeping Victoriaville in four straight games in the first round. Morin had four points (one goal, three assist), four penalty minutes, 10 shots on goal and a plus-four rating in the series, including a goal in the clinching game.
WHL: The Calgary Hitmen missed out on an opportunity to close out their first-round series with the Kootenay Ice but still lead the series, 3-2, despite dropping a 5-4 overtime decision on home ice on Friday night. Flyers 2014 sixth-round pick Radel Fazleev scored a pair of goals (one even strength and one power play) while surviving a scare on a knee-on-knee collision in the first period. Fazleev received first-star honors in a losing cause. Flyers 2014 first-round pick Travis Sanheim was held off the scoreboard in this game after racking up seven points (two goals, five assists) in Games 3 and 4 of the series. Both Sanheim and Fazleev were on the ice for Calgary when Kootenay's Levi Cable scored at 6:05 of overtime -- his second goal of the game -- to send the series to Game 6 on Saturday night.
WHL: The Kelowna Rockets await their second-round opponent after completing a four-game sweep of the Tri-City Americans. Flyers 2013 third-round pick Tyrell Goulbourne missed the final two games of the series after sustaining an upper-body injury in Game 2. He is expected to back in the lineup for the start of the next series.
NCAA Frozen Four: The University of North Dakota, featuring senior right winger and Flyers 2010 fifth-round pick Michael Parks, is practicing in Grand Forks for their Frozen Four clash with Boston University on Thursday night at TD Garden in Boston. Parks had two shots on goal and was plus-two but did not register a point in UND's 4-1 win over St. Cloud State at the NCAA West Regional Final last Saturday.
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FLYERS ALUMNI GAME RESCHEDULED
Due to schedule conflicts over Easter weekend, the Flyers Alumni benefit game for You Too Animal Rescue at the Rink in Lehigh Valley (Whitehall, PA) on Saturday has been postponed. The benefit game will now be held in September.