UPDATE 12:00 PM
Per Charlie O'Connor, Egor Zamula did not participate in the Flyers' morning skate. Bobby Brink, a likely healthy scratch, was a stand-in with Ronnie Attard. Sean Couturier, who saw a big spike in ice time in Florida on Friday, was moved back up to the top line after spending two-plus weeks on the fourth line. Morgan Frost, whose ice time has been steadily cut in three straight games despite four assists in the previous two games before that, was on the fourth line in the morning skate.
71 Tyson Foerster - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny
27 Noah Cates - 25 Ryan Poehling - 19 Garnet Hathaway
86 Joel Farabee - 21 Scott Laughton - 74 Owen Tippett
44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 48 Morgan Frost - 89 Cam Atkinson/15 Denis Gurianov
8 Cam York - 6 Travis Sanheim
18 Marc Staal - 77 Erik Johnson
[5 Egor Zamula] - 23 Ronnie Attard
33 Samuel Ersson
[32 Felix Sandström]
Lightning
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Game 65 Preview: Flyers @ Lightning
The Philadelphia Flyers (33-23-8) are in Tampa on Saturday to visit the Tampa Bay Lightning (33-25-6). Game time at Amalie Arena is 7:00 p.m. ET.
The Flyers, battling for third place and an automatic playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division, are 17-10-5 on the road this season and 4-4-2 over their last 10 games. Philly enters this game coming off a hard-fought 2-1 road win over the Florida Panthers on Thursday.
The Lightning, tied in points with the recently struggling Detroit Red Wings but with one fewer game remaining on their schedule, are in fifth place in the Atlantic Division, are currently battling for a wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Bolts, who are 4-5-1 over the last 10 games, have been a much better team at home (19-9-4) than on the road (14-16-2) this season. The Lightning enter this game with a 1-1-1 record to date over their current five-game homestand. They are coming off a 6-3 loss to the Calgary Flames on Thursday.
At Friday's trade deadline, both the Flyers and Lightning made two acquisitions. The Bolts acquired winger Anthony Duclair and defenseman Matt Dumba. The Flyers acquired veteran defenseman Erik Johnson and winger Denis Gurianov.
Lineups will posted later today as an update to the gameday blog. For an in-depth game preview, looking at team trends, matchup keys, stats and more, see 5 Things on the Flyers' official website:
Click here.
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Phantoms Lose to W-B/S, Rematch on Saturday
Battling uphill for the final playoff spot in the AHL's Atlantic Division, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms started a 3-in-3 weekend gauntlet with a 3-2 home loss to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at the PPL Center on Friday night. The teams will rematch on Saturday with the scene shifting to Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre. Game time is 7:00 p.m. ET.
In Friday's game, the Phantoms took a 2-1 lead into the third period as Rhett Gardner tallied even strength and power play goals (7th and 8th goals the season) in the second period. The Gardner goals erased a 1-0 deficit from an Austin Rueschhoff power play goal (8th) early in the first period.
In the third period, the Pens' Lukas Svejkovsky (1st) forged a 2-2 deadlock at 2:18. The Phantoms worked through some penalty trouble in the frame and had the better of the play as the period progressed. However, with 2:08 remaining in regulation, Corey Andonovski (5th) put the Penguins ahead to stay.
Cal Petersen stopped 18 of 21 shots in a losing cause. Joel Blomqvist turned aside 27 of 29 shots to earn the win in goal for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Each team went 1-for-3 on the power play.
The Phantoms (23-23-7) did not lose any ground on the Springfield Thunderbirds (25-25-5) on Friday but also did not gain any ground on a night where Springfield lost at home, 4-2, to the last-place Bridgeport Islanders. The Baby Pens (29-19-8) are one point ahead of the fourth-place Hartford Wolf Pack (29-17-7) in the Atlantic Division standings.
Saturday's game in Wilkes-Barre is the seventh head-to-head clash this season between the Phantoms and Baby Pens. The Phantoms are 2-4-0 to date against W-B/S.
Phantoms' starting lineup from Friday's game:
16 J.R. Avon - 22 Jacob Gardner - 27 Samu Tuomaala
13 Brendan Furry - 56 Jacob Gaucher - 20 Cooper Marody
17 Garrett Wilson - 24 Adam Brooks - 14 Zayde Wisdom
10 Evan Polei - 46 Matt Brown - 3 Adam Karashik
6 Emil Andrae - 7 Louie Belpedio
98 Victor Mete - 2 Helge Grans
4 Will Zmolek - 5 Ethan Samson
40 Cal Petersen
[31 Parker Gahagen]
The Phantoms should have both Olle Lycksell and Adam Ginning, loaned by the Flyers on Friday, back in the lineup on Saturday. Cooper Marody returned to the lineup after missing last Sunday's win over Hershey due to illness. Elliot Desnoyers was unavailable to play on Friday. The team has sorely missed center Tanner Laczynksi (eight goals, 26 points in 33 games, strong two-way play) during a lengthy absence due to injury. Power forward Wade Allison was traded to the Nashville Predators on Friday in the trade that sent Denis Gurianov to the Flyers.