Steve Mason, Claude Giroux and Jake Voracek celebrate the Flyers 4-3 win over the Canucks on Monday. (Photo Courtesy of ESPN.com)
If you haven't recovered from last night's/this morning's exciting 4-3 shootout win for the Philadelphia Flyers against the Vancouver Canucks, you have only a short time left to do so.
The Flyers are right back at it on Tuesday night, helping ring in the New Year on the East Coast by continuing their West Coast swing against the Calgary Flames.
Unlike the previous night, the Flames do not pose the test that the Canucks did. Calgary sits in sixth in the Pacific Division and has the third-lowest point total of any NHL team.
They are led by Jiri Hudler, who has 33 points. Also providing scoring are Mike Cammalleri and Sean Monahan. Cammalleri leads the Flames with 12 goals. Monahan joins Cammalleri and Hudler with double-digits goals with 10.
A rising star on the Calgary blue line is Mark Giordano. Giordano has five goals and 12 assists to currently rank third on the team in points.
Matt Stajan and Mikael Backlund are among the Flames best forwards. This team's real strength is defense.
The Flyers have allowed 3.1 goals per game this season, being outscored 120-92. But with Giordano, T.J. Brodie and Ladislav Smid, the Flames have a formidable defense. Their defense has taken a hit of late with Dennis Wideman and Kris Russell out with injury.
In goal, the Flames have balanced playing time between Reto Berra and Karri Ramo. Berra started the last game, which indicates that Ramo (6-6-3, 2.79 GAA) will start tonight.
The Flyers top line performed best in the win against Vancouver. Michael Raffl finished with two assists and Claude Giroux scored a goal. Brayden Schenn snapped a 16-game goalless drought.
Scott Hartnell and Giroux both have point streaks that continue to climb. With his 11th goal of the season, Giroux is up to nine straight games with a point. Hartnell assisted on Schenn's equalizer, making it four straight games with a point.
After a stellar performance by Steve Mason – 41 saves plus three more in the shootout – Ray Emery (3-7-0, 3.23 GAA) is likely to start.
Game Notes
- Power Play: Flyers (16th, 5th on road), Flames (25th, 14th at home)
- Penalty Kill: Flyers (10th, 13th on road), Flames (15th, 4th at home)
- The Flyers have won four straight games in Calgary, including the last meeting between the two teams on Feb. 25, 2012.
- Ray Emery shut out the Flames in a 3-0 Flyers win on Feb. 1, 2010.
- Milestone Watch: Steve Downie is one assist away from 100 in his career. Wayne Simmonds is just two points away from 200 for his career.
Flyers scratches: Hal Gill, Jay Rosehill, Chris VandeVelde, Erik Gustafsson
Flyers Projected Lineup
Line 1: Michael Raffl-Claude Giroux-Jake Voracek
Line 2: Scott Hartnell-Brayden Schenn-Wayne Simmonds
Line 3: Matt Read-Sean Couturier-Vincent Lecavalier
Line 4: Steve Downie-Adam Hall-Zac Rinaldo
D-Pair 1: Kimmo Timonen-Braydon Coburn
D-Pair 2: Nick Grossmann-Mark Streit
D-Pair 3: Luke Schenn-Andrej Meszaros
Goalie: Ray Emery
Where to Watch
TV: CSN
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Kevin Durso is the lead beat writer for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on twitter @KDursoPhilsNet.
