Game 38 Preview: FLYERS @ HURRICANES
Interim head coach Scott Gordon's Philadelphia Flyers (15-17-5) are in Raleigh on New Year's Eve to play Rod Brind'Amour's Carolina Hurricanes (15-17-5). Game time at PNC Arena is 6:00 p.m. ET.
The game will be televised on NBCSP. The radio broadcast can be found on 97.5 FM The Fanatic with an online simulcast at
FlyersRadio247.com.
This is the first of four meetings this season between the Metropolitan Division teams, and the first of two in Carolina. The teams will rematch on Jan. 3 in Philadelphia, March 30 in Raleigh and April 6 (final day of the regular season) back in Philadelphia. Last season, the Flyers went 3-1-0 against the Hurricanes.
Flyers Outlook
Saturday's game is the third of the four-game southern portion of Philly's five-game road trip on either side of the NHL's Christmas break. It's also the front end of a back-to-back set and the middle game of a three-in-four that concludes on New Year's Day in Nashville.
On Saturday, the Flyers suffered a gut-wrenching 2-1 regulation loss to the Florida Panthers.
Philly wasted a stellar goaltending performance by Carter Hart, who made 34 saves and had little to no chance of stopping either late Florida goal. The Flyers also wasted 21 blocked shots in front of Hart, as the sacrifice went for naught in the end.
Clinging to a 1-0 lead in the final seven minutes of the third period, the Flyers were unable to close it out. The winning goal by Jonathan Huberdeau was scored with 1:06 left on the clock. An early goal by Shayne Gostisbehere (5th) at 1:45 of the first period was all that the Flyers mustered on 35 shots against James Reimer.
Nolan Patrick will be out of the lineup again on Saturday with an upper-body injury sustained in last Thursday's game in Tampa Bay. He's expected to miss the remainder of the road trip but could return to the lineup when the Flyers return home on Jan. 3 to rematch with Carolina.
Through 37 games, team captain Claude Giroux leads the team with 44 points (13 goals, 31 assists). He is followed by Jakub Voracek (nine goals, 20 assists, 29 points), Sean Couturier (14 goals, 14 assists, 28 points in 35 games), Travis Konecny (nine goals, 12 assists, 21 points), Wayne Simmonds (11 goals, five assists, 16 points) and Shayne Gostisbehere (five goals, 11 assists, 16 points). Ivan Provorov has four goals and 12 points.
Entering Monday's game, the Flyers have scored an average 2.92 goals per game (tied for 19th) but carry a team 3.60 GAA (29th). After going 0-for-2 on the power play and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill in the Florida game, the Flyers remain dead last (31st) in the NHL on the power play at 12.8 percent (14-for-109, six shorthanded goals allowed) and 28th on the penalty kill at 74.4 percent (opponents are 31-for-121, three shorthanded goals scored). At five-on-five, the Flyers have scored 79 goals but allowed 81 goals.
Hurricanes Outlook
The Canes are idle on Tuesday and Wednesday, so their games this week with the Flyers are a direct home-and-home set for Carolina but not for the Flyers. The Hurricanes have won just three of their last 10 games (3-6-1) and have lost back-to-back games in regulation.
Carolina last played on Saturday, suffering a 2-0 road shutout loss to Mackenzie Blackwood (37 saves) and the New Jersey Devils. Curtis McIlhinney stopped 28 of 29 shots in a losing cause. A Pavel Zacha shorthanded goal in the final minute of the second period stood up the rest of the way. Andy Greene tacked on an empty-netter for insurance with 33 seconds left in the game with the Canes skating 5-on-4. The Hurricanes went 0-for-5 on the power play with the crushing shorthanded goal allowed.
Through 37 games, Sebastian Aho leads the Hurricanes with 39 points (15 goals, 24 assists). He is followed by Teuvo Teräväinen (eight goals, 21 assists, 29 points), Justin Williams (seven goals, 13 assists, 20 points), Andrei Svechnikov (10 goals, eight assists, 18 points) and Micheal Ferland (11 goals, six assists, 16 points). Ex-Flyers goalie Petr Mrazek has started 16 games, posting a 6-8-2 record, 2.59 GAA. .901 save percentage and one shutout. McIlhinney has played in 13 games with a 7-5-1 record, 2.31 GAA and .922 save percentage.
The Hurricanes will not hold a morning skate on Monday. Veteran shutdown center Jordan Staal
officially remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury sustained on Dec. 22.
Entering Monday's game, the Hurricanes have averaged just 2.43 goals per game (ranked 30th in the NHL) and carry a team 2.87 GAA (tied for 12th). The power play comes in at 14.6 percent (28th) and the penalty kill checks in at 80.9 percent (11th). At five-on-five the Canes have scored an NHL-worst 57 goals and yielded 70 (7th best).
Projected Lines (Subject to change)
FLYERS
25 James van Riemsdyk - 28 Claude Giroux - 11 Travis Konecny
17 Wayne Simmonds - 14 Sean Couturier - 93 Jakub Voracek
21 Scott Laughton - 40 Jordan Weal - 12 Michael Raffl
23 Oskar Lindblom - 44 Phil Varone - 22 Dale Weise
9 Ivan Provorov - 6 Travis Sanheim
53 Shayne Gostisbehere - 8 Robert Hägg
47 Andrew MacDonald - 3 Radko Gudas
79 Carter Hart
[30 Michal Neuvirth]
Scratches: 15 Jori Lehterä (healthy), 19 Nolan Patrick (upper body), 26 Christian Folin (healthy), 41 Anthony Stolarz (IR, lower body), 37 Brian Elliott (IR, lower body), 10 Corban Knight (IR, collarbone), 5 Sam Morin (ACL surgery).
HURRICANES
37 Andrei Svechnikov - 20 Sebastian Aho - 86 Teuvo Teräväinen
79 Micheal Ferland - 64 Clark Bishop - 14 Justin Williams
13 Warren Foegele - 71 Lucas Wallmark -48 Jordan Martinook
59 Janne Kuokkanen - 49 Victor Rask - 23 Brock McGinn
74 Jaccob Slavin - 22 Brett Pesce
44 Calvin de Haan - 27 Justin Faulk
57 Trevor van Riemsdyk - 19 Dougie Hamilton
34 Petr Mrazek / 35 Curtis McElhinney
Scratches: 7 Phil Di Giuseppe (healthy), 11 Jordan Staal (upper body, day-to-day), 4 Haydn Fleury (day-to-day, Dec. 13 concussion).
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WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS UPDATE
The preliminary round of the 2018-19 World Junior Championships wraps up on Monday with first place in both pools still technically up for grabs before the start of the medal round. For a roundup and analysis of how the seven Flyers-affiliated prospects participating in the tournament have fared through their respective first three games,
click here. Here is Monday's schedule of key games:
Sweden vs. Kazakhstan (6:30 p.m. ET, NHL Network): The Junior Crowns, featuring Flyers prospects Adam Ginning and Samuel Ersson, bring a streak of 47 consecutive preliminary round wins (dating back to Dec. 31, 2006) into Monday's game. They are coming off a hair-raising 5-4 overtime win against Team USA on Saturday after leading 4-0 midway through the third period. With a regulation victory against winless Kazakhstan, the Swedes will clinch Group B and will likely play Switzerland (barring Denmark beating the Czech Republic in regulation on Monday) in the medal round quarterfinals.
Canada vs. Russia (8:00 p.m. ET, NHL Network): Defending gold medalist Canada, featuring Flyers prospect Morgan Frost (who leads the tournament in scoring thus far), need a win by any means (regulation, OT or shootout) over the Russians to clinch Group A or else the Russians will get the top medal round seed from the pool. The winner will play Slovakia (barring Kazakhstan pulling off a regulation upset of Sweden) in the quarterfinals. The loser gets either Team Finland or Team USA; a much tougher opponent in either case.
USA vs. Finland (10:30 p.m. ET, NHL Network): Team USA, featuring Flyers prospects Joel Farabee, Jay O'Brien, Noah Cates and Jack St. Ivany as well as Voorhees natives/Flyers Alumni offspring Mattias Samuelsson and Cayden Primeau plus Bristol, PA native Evan Barratt, still has a chance to win Group B. The Americans cannot do so if Sweden beats Kazahkstan in regulation. However, if Sweden wins in OT/SO, the Americans could win their Group with a regulation win over the Finns, edging out the Swedes by the tiebreaker virtue of goal differential (Sweden is currently +5, while the Americans are +6). In the unlikely event of Sweden losing in regulation, a USA win over Finland by any means would clinch the Group.
Assuming the Swedes beat the Kazakhs in regulation, a USA win by any means over the Finns would be clinch second place in Group B and ensure a quarterfinal game against the Czech Republic (or, less likely, Switzerland). The third-place team will have to play either Russia or Canada in the quarterfinals. Finland, which has a +8 goal differential, would need a regulation win to beat out Team USA for second place based on points or an OT/shootout win to earn the spot via tiebreaker.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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