(Kate Frese/Sports Talk Philly)
By Bill Minchin, Sports Talk Philly writer
The Philadelphia Flyers (21-16-6) make a brief stop at home on Thursday night to host the Vancouver Canucks (20-19-4). This is the first of two meetings between the two clubs and the lone game in Philadelphia. Opening face off is set for 7:00.
Philadelphia will look to bounce back after consecutive losses. The Flyers fell 2-1 in overtime Sunday in Columbus and followed that up with a tough 4-1 loss in buffalo on Tuesday. In that game, the Flyers fired 40 shots on goal but only managed to put one past Anders Nilsson.
Vancouver is also riding a two game losing streak into tonight's game. The Canucks dropped a 3-1 decision to Calgary on Saturday followed by a 2-1 overtime loss in Nashville on Tuesday.
| Flyers Leaders | GP | G | A | P | Canucks Leaders | GP | G | A | P |
| Jake Voracek | 43 | 13 | 26 | 39 | Bo Horvat | 43 | 13 | 16 | 29 |
| Claude Giroux | 43 | 10 | 25 | 35 | Henrik Sedin | 43 | 9 | 17 | 26 |
| Wayne Simmonds | 43 | 17 | 15 | 32 | Sven Baertschi | 40 | 11 | 13 | 24 |
| Brayden Schenn | 40 | 13 | 15 | 28 | Daniel Sedin | 43 | 10 | 13 | 23 |
| Travis Konecny | 42 | 6 | 14 | 20 | Brandon Sutter | 43 | 11 | 10 | 21 |
| Player to Watch | |
| 17 Wayne Simmonds | 53 Bo Horvat |
| Last 5 Games:0 G, 1 A, 1 P, -2 | Last 5 Games: 3 G, 1 A, 4 P, +3 |
| Goalie Matchup | |
| 35 Steve Mason | 30 Ryan Miller |
| 14-14-6, 2.80 GAA, .903 SV% | 12-10-4, 2.59 GAA, .915 SV% |
Steve Mason will make his third straight start between the pipes for the Flyers. Mason played well in Sunday's loss in Columbus and got very little help on Tuesday. Mason will shoulder the load from here on out as Dave Hakstol tabbed him the team's number one goaltender earlier this week.
Ryan Miller will make his fifth start in the last six games for the Canucks. Miller has gone 3-1 in his last four starts allowing two goals or less in each game. At 36 years old, Miller is not what he once was but is still a viable starting goaltender.
Flyers Projected Lineup
Scratches: Nick Cousins, Radko Gudas, Mark Streit, Boyd Gordon
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
| 12 Michael Raffl | 28 Claude Giroux | 11 Travis Konecny |
| 24 Matt Read | 14 Sean Couturier | 93 Jake Voracek |
| 22 Dale Weise | 10 Brayden Schenn | 17 Wayne Simmonds |
| 76 Chris VandeVelde | 78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare | 13 Roman Lyubimov |
| Defense | ||
| 23 Brandon Manning | 15 Michael Del Zotto | |
| 47 Andrew MacDonald | 9 Ivan Provorov | |
| 53 Shayne Gostisbehere | 55 Nick Schultz | |
| Goalie | ||
| 35 Steve Mason |
Game Notes
- Power Play: Flyers (9th, 8th at home), Canucks (27th, 29th on the road)
- Penalty Kill: Flyers (18th, 10th at home), Canucks (20th, 11th on the road)
- Recent History vs. Vancouver
- 12/17/15 – Steve Mason picked up a 36 save, 2-0 shutout victory. Michael Raffl and Sean Couturier each scored for Philadelphia. Canucks star Henrik Sedin was injured in the game. It was officially listed as a lower body injury.
- 11/2/15 - In the first of two meetings for the 2015-16 season, Vancouver skated away with a 4-1 victory. The Canucks got a first period goal from Jannik Hansen, a second period goal from Bo Horvat and two third period goals (one each) from Jake Virtanen and Matt Barkowski. Claude giroux netting the lone goal for the Flyers in the second. Ryan Miller made 27 saves for the win.
Where to Watch
TV: CSN
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
