(Photo: Kate Frese)
By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Things certainly looked bleak the last time the Flyers played on home ice, suffering a 6-1 loss to the New York Islanders and falling to 4-7-0 on the season. After a successful four-game road trip, the Flyers return with some new life and recent success, three wins in their last four games.
The first game of a five-game homestand comes against the same team the Flyers faced to close out the road trip on Monday. The Arizona Coyotes had their five-game winning streak snapped by the Flyers, and come to Philadelphia for the back end of a home-and-home.
Game time is at 7 p.m.
Team Leaders
| Philadelphia Flyers | GP | G | A | P | Arizona Coyotes | GP | G | A | P |
| Claude Giroux | 15 | 6 | 11 | 17 | Clayton Keller | 13 | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| Jake Voracek | 15 | 4 | 11 | 15 | Oliver Ekman-Larsson | 13 | 1 | 7 | 8 |
| Wayne Simmonds | 15 | 7 | 3 | 10 | Michael Grabner | 13 | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| Nolan Patrick | 12 | 4 | 4 | 8 | Alex Goligoski | 13 | 1 | 6 | 7 |
| Oskar Lindblom | 15 | 4 | 4 | 8 | Brad Richardson | 13 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| Player to Watch | |
| 28 Claude Giroux | 40 Michael Grabner |
| Last 5 Games: 3 G, 3 A, 6 P, +3 | Last 5 Games: 3 G, 3 A, 6 P, +5 |
| Goalie Matchup | |
| 33 Cal Pickard | 35 Darcy Kuemper |
| 3-1-1, 3.94 GAA, .876 SV% | 2-2-0, 2.02 GAA, .936 SV% |
Brian Elliott was back in practice on Wednesday after leaving with an injury on Sunday, but he'll serve as backup for Thursday's game as Cal Pickard makes his third straight start. Pickard was excellent in a 35-save performance on Monday and nearly carried the Flyers to a win on Saturday in San Jose.
Darcy Kuemper allowed four goals in Monday's loss to the Flyers. He probably wasn't expected to start Thursday's game, but a practice injury to Antti Raanta will put Kuemper back between the pipes for the Coyotes in Philadelphia.
Flyers Projected Lineup
Injuries: James van Riemsdyk, Michael Raffl, Michal Neuvirth
Scratches: Andrew MacDonald
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
| 28 Claude Giroux | 14 Sean Couturier | 11 Travis Konecny |
| 23 Oskar Lindblom | 19 Nolan Patrick | 93 Jake Voracek |
| 22 Dale Weise | 40 Jordan Weal | 17 Wayne Simmonds |
| 21 Scott Laughton | 15 Jori Lehtera | 62 Nicolas Aube-Kubel |
| Defense | ||
| 9 Ivan Provorov | 8 Robert Hagg | |
| 53 Shayne Gostisbehere | 26 Christian Folin | |
| 6 Travis Sanheim | 3 Radko Gudas | |
| Goalie | ||
| 33 Cal Pickard |
Lineup Notes
The Flyers are carrying 12 forwards, so no changes to the forward group. Andrew MacDonald remains the only healthy scratch.
Coyotes Projected Lineup
Injuries: Antti Raanta, Christian Dvorak, Jakob Chychrun
Scratches: Josh Archibald, Ilya Lyubushkin
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
| 14 Richard Panik | 17 Alex Galchenyuk | 9 Clayton Keller |
| 25 Nick Cousins | 21 Derek Stepan | 36 Christian Fischer |
| 40 Michael Grabner | 15 Brad Richardson | 13 Vinnie Hinostroza |
| 67 Lawson Crouse | 20 Dylan Strome | 11 Brendan Perlini |
| Defense | ||
| 23 Oliver Ekman-Larsson | 55 Jason Demers | |
| 33 Alex Goligoski | 4 Niklas Hjalmarsson | |
| 44 Kevin Connauton | 82 Jordan Oesterle | |
| Goalie | ||
| 35 Darcy Kuemper |
Game Notes
- Power Play: Flyers (24th, T-22nd at home), Coyotes (23rd, 15th on road)
- Penalty Kill: Flyers (30th, 29th at home), Coyotes (1st, 1st on road)
- Recent History vs. Coyotes
- Oct. 30, 2017 – Coyotes 4, Flyers 3 F/OT (at PHI)
- Feb. 10, 2018 – Flyers 4, Coyotes 3 F/SO (at ARI)
- Nov. 5, 2018 – Flyers 5, Coyotes 2 (at ARI)
- Flyers Leaders vs. Coyotes
- Claude Giroux – 15 GP, 7 G, 8 A, 15 P
- Sean Couturier – 13 GP, 4 G, 7 A, 11 P
- Shayne Gostisbehere – 6 GP, 1 G, 5 A, 6 P
- Cal Pickard – 5 GP, 3-2-0, 1.87 GAA, .939 SV%
- Milestone Watch
- Claude Giroux passes Chris Therien for fourth all-time in games played in Flyers history tonight. This is the 754th career game for Giroux.
Where to Watch
TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Video Preview
