Updates: Corban Knight has been activated from the injured list. Additionally, he has switched from uniform No. 38 to No. 10. He will not start in this game.
Andrew MacDonald, who has struggled mightily since returning in two weeks from what was projected initially to be a six-week absence, will not play. Christian Folin will start in his place, paired with Robert Hägg.
Game 5: Preview: Flyers vs. Panthers
Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (2-3-0) host Bob Boughner's Florida Panthers (0-2-1) on Tuesday evening. Game time at the Wells Fargo Center is 7 p.m. EDT.
The game will be televised on NBCSNP. The radio broadcast can be found on 97.5 FM The Fanatic with an online simulcast at FlyersRadio247.com.
This is the first of three meetings this season between the teams, and the first of two in Philadelphia. Last season, the Flyers went 1-2-0 against the Panthers with the home team winning all three games. On Oct. 17, the Flyers earned a 5-1 win at the Wells Fargo Center. In Sunrise, the Panthers prevailed by a 3-2 score on Dec. 28 and 4-1 on March 4.
Flyers Outlook
The Flyers are coming off a 1-0 home loss on Saturday afternoon to the Vegas Golden Knights. Philadelphia controlled most of the first 40 minutes but the game went to the third period deadlocked at 0-0 thanks to stellar goaltending by Marc-Andre Fleury. Overall, the Flyers played their most structured and defensively responsible game of the season.
With Vegas playing its fourth road game in less than six nights, the "fatigue factor" advantage significantly favored the Flyers. However, Philly ended up spending too much of the final stanza hemmed in it own zone before making a push and then having to kill a penalty. Finally, with 1:25 left in the game, Sean Couturier lost the puck to Ryan Carpenter and Cody Eakin buried it in the back of the Flyers' net. Fleury robbed Claude Giroux during Philly's desperation 6-on-5 attack to nail down the win for Vegas.
After an off-day on Sunday, the Flyers
practiced on Monday at the Skate Zone in Voorhees, NJ.
The Flyers are missing two key forwards from the lineup. James van Riemsdyk is out five to seek weeks from Oct. 6 with a lower body injury. Nolan Patrick is out a week to 10 days with an upper-body injury suffered in the first period in Ottawa on Oct. 10.
At five-on-five, the Flyers have scored 9 goals but yielded 10. They have yet to score a 5-on-5 goal at home through two games. Both goals the Flyers scored in an 8-2 home opening loss to San Jose were on the power play, although Philly did not lack for scoring chances at full strength, especially in the first period. On Saturday, they were shut out.
The Flyers power play has connected on five of 22 chances thus far for a 22.7 percent success rate. Philly has already yielded two shorthanded goals, however. The Flyers penalty kill is 16-for-22 (72.7 percent). The Flyers started 6-for-7 on the PK through the first two games, then got strafed for five power play goals on 12 opposing man advantages over the next two games. Against Vegas, the PK had a strong afternoon both statistically (3-for-3) and in terms of all-around execution.
Role-playing forward Corban Knight (upper body) and goaltender Michal Neuvirth (lower body) are both close to being ready to be activated from the injured reserve list. When Neuvirth is ready, the Flyers will have to make a decision on whether to carry three goaltenders or waive either Cal Pickard (who'd likely be reclaimed by Toronto) or the oft-injured Neuvirth.
Panthers Outlook
The Panthers, a team many have picked to be a playoff club in 2018-19, is winless thus far but has only played three games. After an opening night (Oct. 6) 2-1 road shootout loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Panthers had four nights off. The Panthers then dropped a 5-4 home decision in a seesaw match with the Columbus Blue Jackets and a 3-2 regulation loss to the Vancouver Canucks. The latter match was tied 2-2 before Bo Horvat put the Canucks ahead to stay at 6:11 of the third period.
In the Vancouver game, Mike Matheson engaged fast-rising young Canucks star Elias Pettersson behind the net, throwing him roughly down to the ice. Matheson received a two-game suspension from the NHL. He will miss Tuesday's game in Philadelphia and Friday's road tilt against the Washington Capitals.
Through the first three games of the season, Evgenii Dadonov (one goal, two assists) and Vincent Trocheck (one goal, two assists) have three points apiece. Meanwhile, Aleksander Barkov (one goal, one assist) is arguably the NHL's best young forward whose name is too-seldom mentioned among the league's stellar all-around players. The Panthers acquired former Ottawa Senators forward Mike Hoffman in the offseason. Former first-overall draft pick (2014) Aaron Ekblad, veteran offensive defenseman Keith Yandle and Mark Pysyk will handle extensive minutes on Boughner's blueline, especially with Matheson serving his suspension.
Ageless goaltending star Roberto Luongo is shelved due to a knee injury suffered on opening night. The duo of James Reimer (who has appeared in all three games to date) and Michael Hutchinson are handling the netminding duties in Luongo's absence.
Five-on-five scoring was not a problem for Florida in its first three games. The team scored seven goals at full strength while allowing only four. The issue has been on special teams. The Panthers are 0-for-12 thus far on the power play, with one shorthanded goal allowed. Meanwhile, the PK has yielded three goals on 10 opportunities.
The Panthers will not hold a morning skate in Philadelphia. They practiced in Florida on Monday prior to departing for their road trip.
PROJECTED LINEUPS (Subject to change)
FLYERS
28 Claude Giroux - 14 Sean Couturier -93 Jakub Voracek
23 Oskar Lindblom - 40 Jordan Weal -11 Travis Konecny
21 Scott Laughton- 24 Mikhail Vorobyev - 17 Wayne Simmonds
22 Dale Weise -15 Jori Lehterä -12 Michael Raffl
9 Ivan Provorov - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
8 Robert Hägg - 26 Christian Folin
6 Travis Sanheim - 3 Radko Gudas
37 Brian Elliott
[33 Calvin Pickard]
Scratches: 10 Corban Knight (healthy), 47 Andrew MacDonald (semi-healthy), 19 Nolan Patrick (upper body), 25 James van Riemsdyk (IR, lower body), 30 Michal Neuvirth (IR, lower body), 5 Sam Morin (ACL surgery).
PANTHERS
3 Evgenii Dadonov - 16 Aleksander Barkov - 27 Nick Bjugstad
11 Jonathan Huberdeau - 21 Vincent Trocheck - 68 Mike Hoffman
72 Frank Vatrano - 90 Jared McCann - 62 Denis Malgin
58 Maxim Mamim - 91 Juho Lammikko - 22 Troy Brouwer
3 Keith Yandle - 5 Aaron Ekblad
6 Alexander Petrovic - Mark Pysyk
52 MacKenzie Weeger - 55 Bogdan Kiselevich
39 Michael Hutchinson
[34 James Reimer]
Scratches: 17 Derek MacKenzie (upper body), 7 Colton Sceviour (healthy), 19 Mike Matheson (NHL suspension), 18 Micheal Haley (leave of absence).
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