Flyers

Flyers-Bruins: Game 24 Preview

Bill Minchin Sports Editor

Published29 Nov 2016

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(Kate Frese/Sports Talk Philly)

By Bill Minchin, Sports Talk Philly Writer

The Philadelphia Flyers (10-10-3) close out a three game home stand tonight when the host Zdeno Chara and the Boston Bruins (12-10-0). This is the first time the two rivals have meet this season and it will be the only time in Philadelphia for the season. They will play twice more this year with both games taking place in Boston. Game time for tonight is 7:30.

The Flyers are looking to make it two in a row tonight after Sunday's 5-3 win over Calgary. Anthony Stolarz picked up his first NHL victory in his first start in that game.

Flyers Leaders	GP	G	A	P	Bruins Leaders	GP	G	A	P
Wayne Simmonds	23	10	11	21	Brad Marchand	22	6	13	19
Jakub Voracek	23	8	11	19	David Pastrnak	17	13	4	17
Claude Giroux	23	4	15	19	David Krejci	22	2	11	13
Brayden Schenn	20	3	10	13	Dominic Moore	22	6	3	9
Mark Streit	23	4	8	12	David Backes	17	5	4	9

Player to Watch
25 Nick Cousins	88 David Pastrnak
Last 5 Games: 1 G, 1 A, 1 P, -1	Last 5 Games: 4 G, 0 A, 4 P, +3

Nick Cousins has played three games as the second line center since Sean Couturier went down with injury last week in Florida. In each game he has gotten better and better with the extra ice time. While not as good defensively as Couturier, Cousins brings a grit and tenacity to the second line.

David Pastrnak has had a coming our party of sorts through the first quarter of the season. The 20 year old leads the Bruins in goals with 13 and trails only Sidney Crosby for the NHL lead. More impressive, Pastrnak has done this while playing less games than anyone else below him in the top 10.

Goalie Matchup
35 Steve Mason	40 Tuukka Rask
5-8-3, 3.04 GAA, .892 SV%	12-4-0, 1.63 GAA, .940 SV%

Steve Mason returns to the net tonight for Philadelphia. Mason had Sunday night off after starting every game since Michal Neuvirth went down with a lower body injury back on November 12th. Mason has played much better with the extended playing time and will look to continue that tonight.

Tuukka Rask looks like the Tukka Rask that won the Vezina Trophy a few years back. Rask is second in the league in wins, shutouts, and goals against average and fifth in save percentage. As Rask goes, so do the Bruins. The Flyers are in for a real challenge tonight.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Scratches: Scott Laughton, Nick Schultz, Brandon Manning, Boyd Gordon, Michal Neuvirth, Sean Couturier

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
102 Michael Raffl	28 Claude Giroux	17 Wayne Simmonds
11 Travis Konecny	25 Nick Cousins	93 Jakub Voracek
24 Matt Read	78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare	22 Dale Weise
76 Chris VandeVelde	10 Brayden Schenn	13 Roman Lyubimov
Defense
15 Michael Del Zotto	32 Mark Streit
9 Ivan Provorov	3 Radko Gudas
47 Andrew MacDonald	53 Shayne Gostisbehere
Goalie
35 Steve Mason

Game Notes

Power Play: Flyers (2nd, 10th at home), Bruins (18th, 19th on road)
Penalty Kill: Flyers (23rd, 25th at home), Bruins (4th, 9th on road)
Last Season vs Boston: The Flyers went 2-1-0 vs the Bruins last season. They won the lone game at TD Garden in late October on an overtime goal by Claude Giroux and split the final two meetings in Philadelphia with Boston winning the most recent match up.
Milestone Watch:
Andrew MacDonald needs two assists for 100 in his career
Mark Streit is six goals short of 100 for his career

Where to Watch

Tv: NBCSN

Radio: 97.5 The FANatic