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Flyers Gameday: 2/21/2022 vs. CAR; Phantoms, Olympic Wrapup |
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UPDATE 1:00 p.m. ET
Carter Hart is out with an eye infection. Martin Jones will get the start in goal. The team has recalled Kirill Ustimenko from the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms to serve as the backup goalie. Hart is probable -- but not definite -- to be ready for Tuesday's game against the St. Louis Blues.
Game 50 Preview; Flyers vs. Huricanes
Mike Yeo's Philadelphia Flyers (15-25-9) will host Rod Brind'Amour's Carolina Hurricanes (34-11-4) in a Presidents Day matinee on Monday. Game time at the Wells Fargo Center is 3:00 p.m. ET (NBCSP, 97.5 The Fanatic). The game is also the Flyers' annual Pride Night.
This is the third of four meetings between the teams this season, and the second and final game at the Wells Fargo Center. The season series will wrap up in Raleigh at PNC Arena on March 12. The Flyers are 1-1-0 thus far against the Hurricanes.
The Flyers, who have only won two of their last 19 games, enter this game coming off a galling 5-3 home loss to the Washington Capitals last Thursday. The Flyers held a 3-2 lead late in regulation only to give up three unanswered goals in the final three minutes of the game. Carolina is playing the second game of a back-to-back set. On Sunday, the Hurricanes skated to a 4-3 road victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins, moving two points (plus a 30-25 regulation win tiebreaking edge) ahead of Pittsburgh atop the Metro Division.
Philadelphia expects to have fourth-line center Patrick Brown back in the lineup for the first time since suffering a knee injury on Jan. 8. They should also have back defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, who missed the previous three games with an upper-body issue.
For an in-depth preview of the Flyers vs. Hurricanes matchup, see today's Five Things on PhiladelphiaFlyers.com.
PROJECTED LINEUPS (subject to change)
FLYERS
23 Oskar Lindblom - 28 Claude Giroux - 89 Cam Atkinson
25 James van Riemsdyk - 21 Scott Laughton - 11 Travis Konecny
71 Max Willman - 48 Morgan Frost - 20 Gerry Mayhew
76 Isaac Ratcliffe - 39 Patrick Brown - 17 Zack MacEwen
9 Ivan Provorov - 61 Justin Braun
6 Travis Sanheim - 70 Rasmus Ristolainen
3 Keith Yandle - 24 Nick Seeler
35 Carter Hart
[67 Kirill Ustimenko]
PP1: Giroux, van Riemsdyk, Atkinson, Konecny, Provorov
PP2: Laughton, Mayhew, Lindblom, Ratcliffe, Yandle
HURRICANES
37 Andrei Svechnikov - 20 Sebastian Aho - 86 Teuvo Teräväinen
78 Steven Lorentz - 16 Vincent Trocheck - 88 Martin Necas
21 Nino Niederreiter - 11 Jordan Staal - 71 Jesper Fast
48 Jordan Martinook - 82 Jesperi Kotkaniemi - 24 Seth Jarvis
74 Jaccob Slavin - 77 Tony DeAngelo
76 Brady Skjei - 22 Brett Pesce
28 Ian Cole - 25 Ethan Bear
31 Frederik Andersen
[32 Antti Raanta]
PP1: Trocheck, Aho, Teräväinen, Svechnikov, DeAngelo
PP2: Niederreiter, Kotkaniemi, Necas, Jarvis, Slavvin.
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Phantoms Update
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms kept things close but ultimately suffered a 3-1 loss to the Springfield Thunderbirds at the PPL Center on Sunday afternoon. On Saturday, Ian Laperriere's team took one point away from a 3-2 home shootout loss to the Utica Comets.
The good news: Tanner Laczynski played back-to-back excellent overall games in his first two matches since undergoing preseason hip surgery. Laczynski has had surgeries on both hips over the last calendar year. On Sunday, Laczynski forechecked very effectively and also notched the lone Lehigh Valley goal, flipping the puck over goalie Charlie Lindgren's glove after a defender turned the puck over directly onto Laczynski's stick in the slot. Laczynski had two other good scoring chances (one in the first period, the other in the third) during the game. He also had notable shorthanded foray, muscling his way through a 1-on-2 although his shot attempt was ultimately blocked.
Cam York was also back into Phantoms lineup this weekend after missing two games with an upper-body injury resulting from a hit into the boards near the player benches.
Felix Sandström started the Utica game but had to leave late in the first period due to a lower-body injury. With rookie Samuel Ersson also sidelined due to a recurring lower-body injury (believed to be a repeated groin pull issue), Kirill Ustimenko relieved Sandström in Saturday's game and got the start on Sunday. Ustimenko turned in a strong start on Sunday, keeping the Phantoms in the game with 29 saves on 31 shots (after stopping 19 of 20 against Utica). However, the game-winning goal in the Springfield game scored by longtime former NHL winger James Neal midway through the third period was one that seemed stoppable.
Phantoms lineup in Sunday's game:
25 Connor Bunnaman - 9 Cal O'Reilly -42 Hayden Hodgson
49 Garrett Wilson - 10 Tanner Laczynski - 39 Charlie Gerard
15 Maksim Sushko - 16 Matthew Strome - 17 German Rubtsov
18 Jackson Cates -47 Adam Johnson 48 Alex Kile
4 Egor Zamula - 5 Adam Clendening
44 Cam York - 22 Logan Day
7 Cooper Zech - 29 Wyatte Wylie
72 Kirill Ustimenko
[45 Garrett Metcalf]
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Olympic Wrapup
1) Twenty-five-year-old Flyers goaltender prospect Ivan Fedotov settled for a silver medal in the 2022 Winter Olympics as the "Russian Olympic Committee" hockey team lost to Finland in the tournament championship game. The 6-foot-8 netminder finished the Olympics with a 4-2-0 record, .943 save percentage and two shutouts. Bitterly disappointed in the outcome, Fedotovo refused to wear his silver medal during postgame ceremonies.
Fedotov's KHL regular season is over, because the Russian Hockey Federation canceled the rest of the regular season and plans to go straight into the playoffs. Fedotov's CSKA Moscow team will play Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in the playoffs, starting on March 1. For the regular season, he posted a 14-10-2 record, 2.00 GAA, .919 save percentage,and two shutouts.
2)Flyers prospect Noah Cates, who celebrated his 23rd birthday on Feb. 5, dressed in four games for Team USA at the Olympics, scoring one goal and serving as an alternate captain.
3) Former Flyers head coach Craig Ramsay coached Team Slovakia to its first-ever Olympic hockey medal, capturing the bronze in Beijing.
4) Former Flyers forward Valtteri Filppula served as team captain for gold medalist Finland.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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