Game 79 Preview: Philadelphia Flyers @ Florida Panthers

Image courtesy of NJ1015.com

Philadelphia Flyers (40-29-9) @ Florida Panthers (28-43-8), 7:30pm, CSN-Philly/NHL Network

As the season comes to a close, the only thing left for the Philadelphia Flyers to do is earn a playoff spot. With three road games remaining, including tonight's tilt against the Florida Panthers, the Orange and Black are hoping their ability to reach the postseason doesn't come down to the final regular season game against the Carolina Hurricanes at home on Sunday. Despite only winning two of their last eight games, are the Flyers on the verge of clinching a playoff berth tonight?

While the Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens, and Tampa Bay Lightning have already clinched the three available spots in the Atlantic Division, the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers have clinched two of the three spots available in the Metropolitan Division. That leaves three spots still up for grabs including the third spot in the Metropolitan Division, which the Flyers currently own. Along with the Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets, who currently reside in each of the wild card spots, the only other teams in the Eastern Conference that can realistically reach the postseason are the New Jersey Devils and the Toronto Maple Leafs, who can each reach 90 points, and the Washington Capitals, who can still reach 91 points. Although there is a chance they could drop from third in the division to the wild card, a lot has to go wrong for the Flyers to miss the postseason completely.

With all that being said, the Flyers can clinch a playoff berth tonight by simply beating the Panthers regardless of whether or not it is in regulation or a shootout. As for a loss, things become a bit more difficult for the Flyers to clinch a playoff berth within the night. If Philly loses in overtime or a shootout, they can still increase their odds of making the postseason greatly. With the point earned in an overtime or shootout loss, the Orange and Black will eliminate the possibility of the Devils from moving above them in the standings. If the Flyers lose in regulation, Philly can still improve their chances of reaching the postseason significantly with regulation losses from the Leafs and Capitals, as neither team could then move past the Flyers in the standings by season's end.

Aside from all the playoff talk, the Flyers will have a few lineup changes in Florida this evening, as Zac Rinaldo and Jay Rosehill will be out in favor of Steve Downie and Tye McGinn. Rinaldo will miss the contest due to his four-game suspension stemming from the questionable hit he placed upon Buffalo Sabre Chad Ruhwedel on Sunday that concussed the American blue liner. Rosehill is most likely out of the lineup due to the fact the Panthers don't necessarily have a heavy to drop the gloves with him and that head coach Craig Berube most likely wants more skill on the fourth line. According to reports, Downie will return to the third line alongside Sean Couturier and Matt Read, while McGinn will be on the fourth line with Adam Hall and Michael Raffl.

Despite rolling over the Sabres on Sunday, the Flyers won't have an easy game tonight against the lowly Panthers. Not only did the Panthers put a dent into another playoff-hopeful squad in the Dallas Stars on Sunday, the Flyers have lost three of their last four and four of their last six against the Panthers. However, the Panthers' win over the Stars on Sunday is their only regulation win in their last 10 games, as they are 2-8-0 in their last 10 games.

When looking at the two squads, this game heavily favors the Flyers. Not only are the Panthers one of the few teams the Flyers are equal too in terms of five-on-five puck possession, Florida is also dead last across the entire NHL in both power-play percentage and penalty-kill percentage. Considering the Flyers lead the league in power-play opportunities and have been shorthanded the second-most times across the NHL, tonight's game should feature a lot of special teams play, where the Flyers should have a strong advantage.

If the numbers at even strength and special teams weren't favorable enough for the Flyers, Steve Mason will be in net tonight. Over his career, Mason is 5-1-0 against the Panthers with a save percentage of .951 and a GAA of 1.48. Mason has also shut out the Panthers once in his career, but it came in a 32-save effort with the Columbus Blue Jackets back in December of 2009.

In net for the Panthers is Roberto Luongo, who is 5-7-3 with a .912 save percentage and 3.21 GAA against the Orange and Black over his career. Luongo also enters the game with a 5-6-1 record with Florida this season, as he has a .923 save percentage and a 2.45 GAA with the Panthers this year.

After tonight's game tonight, the Flyers will play their second game in their current three-game road trip on Thursday against the Tampa Bay Lightning before finishing the trip against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. The Orange and Black conclude the season on Sunday against the Carolina Hurricanes.

RECORDS
Philadelphia Flyers
Overall: 40-29-9
Away: 16-15-7
Against the Eastern Conference: 25-19-6
Against the Atlantic Division: 11-8-3

Florida Panthers
Overall: 28-43-8
Home: 15-18-5
Against the Eastern Conference: 19-28-4
Against the Metropolitan Division: 7-12-3

PROJECTED LINEUPS
Philadelphia Flyers
Scott Hartnell – Claude Giroux – Jakub Voracek
Brayden Schenn – Vincent Lecavalier – Wayne Simmonds
Matt Read – Sean Couturier – Steve Downie
Tye McGinn – Adam Hall – Michael Raffl

Braydon Coburn – Kimmo Timonen
Mark Streit – Nicklas Grossmann
Andrew MacDonald – Luke Schenn

Steve Mason
Ray Emery

Florida Panthers
Sean Bergenheim – Scott Gomez – Bobby Butler
Tomas Fleischmann – Vincent Trocheck – Scottie Upshall
Quinton Howden – Nick Bjugstad – Jesse Winchester
Jimmy Hayes – Brandon Pirri – Krys Barch

Dmitry Kulikov – Brian Campbell
Erik Gudbranson – Ed Jovanovski
Dylan Olsen – Colby Robak

Roberto Luongo
Dan Ellis

TEAM LEADERS
Philadelphia Flyers
Goals: Wayne Simmonds, 26
Assists: Claude Giroux, 54
Points: Claude Giroux, 79
Power-Play Points: Claude Giroux, 34
Plus/Minus: Scott Hartnell, plus-10
PIMs: Zac Rinaldo, 153
Average TOI: Braydon Coburn, 22:26
GAA: Steve Mason, 2.52
Save Percentage: Steve Mason, .916

Florida Panthers
Goals: Brad Boyes, 20
Assists: Brian Campbell, 28
Points: Scottie Upshall, 36
Power-Play Points: Brian Campbell, 12
Plus/Minus: Alex Petrovic, plus-3
PIMs: Erik Gudbranson, 114
Average TOI: Brian Campbell, 26:58
GAA: Roberto Luongo, 2.45
Save Percentage: Roberto Luongo, .923

INJURIES
Philadelphia Flyers
Steve Downie – Upper-body injury (questionable)
Zac Rinaldo – Suspension (first game in a four-game ban)

Florida Panthers
Tomas Kopecky – Concussion (out)
Aleksander Barkov – Sprained knee (out)
Jonathan Huberdeau – Lower-body injury (questionable)
Alex Petrovic – Upper-body injury (out)
Tom Gilbert – Sports hernia surgery (out for season)

FORMER PLAYERS
Former Panthers in Philadelphia's organization
With Philadelphia: John Chapman (pro scout), Bobby Clarke (senior Vice President of hockey operations), Dennis Patterson (amateur scout)
With the Adirondack Phantoms (AHL): Cullen Eddy (Cincinnati Cyclones), Terry Murray (head coach)
With the Greenville Road Warriors (ECHL): Mike Marcou (San Antonio Rampage), Dean Stork (head coach), Dwayne Zinger (assistant coach)

Former Flyers in Florida's organization
With Florida: Scottie Upshall
With the San Antonio Rampage (AHL): Jon Matsumoto (Philadelphia Phantoms), Michael Houser (2011-2012 training camp), Chuck Weber (director of hockey operations, Trenton Titans)
With the Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL): NONE