Flyers-Hurricanes: Game 35 Preview

The annual holiday break is nearly upon us for the NHL. One more night of games remains before the teams will pause action for the next three days for the Christmas holiday.

For the Flyers, it continues a stretch of road games that will carry into the new year. On Thursday afternoon, their trip started in Toronto, suffering a 4-3 loss to the Leafs. Before reaching the break, the Flyers will face a red-hot Carolina Hurricanes team that has won seven straight games, 11 of their last 12, and has not lost in regulation since Nov. 23, a span of 13 games, helping them surge into the Metropolitan Division lead.

Game time is 7 p.m.

Team Leaders

Joel Farabee snapped an 11-game goal-less drought in the third period on Thursday and has points in back-to-back games after going six straight games without a point and picking up just one point in the previous 10 games.

Jordan Staal comes into Friday’s game with goals in three straight games. He also has six goals in the month of December spanning 10 games.

Carter Hart made 30 saves on 34 shots in the loss to Toronto on Thursday afternoon. With Felix Sandstrom out with an illness, there is a strong chance that Hart could get another start in back-to-back games. Samuel Ersson was called up and would make his NHL debut if he was in goal.

Pyotr Kochetkov is expected to get the start for Carolina. Kochetkov is on a personal five-game winning streak, including his most recent start on Tuesday when he made 37 saves on 38 shots against the Devils. Kochetkov has won eight of his last night starts and allowed two goals or less in each of the eight wins.

Projected Lineups

Flyers Scratches: Sean Couturier (injury), Felix Sandstrom (illness), Nick Seeler (healthy), Max Willman (healthy)

Hurricanes Scratches: Sebastian Aho (injury), Frederik Andersen (injury), Ondrej Kase (injury), Max Pacioretty (injury), Brady Skjei (personal)

Lineup Notes

• Flyers: No changes are expected to the Flyers lineup.
• Hurricanes: Sebastian Aho has missed the last seven games with a lower-body injury, but could return for Friday’s game. Brady Skjei missed Thursday’s game due to personal reasons.

Game Notes

• Power Play: Flyers (30th), Hurricanes (27th)
• Penalty Kill: Flyers (24th), Hurricanes (13th)
• Recent History vs. Hurricanes
  • Oct. 29, 2022 – Hurricanes 4, Flyers 3 (F/OT) (at PHI)
• Flyers Leaders vs. Hurricanes
  • Travis Konecny: 22 GP, 6 G, 7 A, 13 P
  • James van Riemsdyk: 37 GP, 6 G, 15 A, 21 P
  • Ivan Provorov: 22 GP, 5 G, 6 A, 11 P
  • Joel Farabee: 8 GP, 3 G, 0 A, 3 P
  • Carter Hart: 7 GP, 3-3-1, 3.12 GAA, .907 SV%

Where to Watch
TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia+
Radio: Flyers Broadcast Network