Flyers-Hurricanes: Game 40 Preview

Team Leaders

Philadelphia Flyers	GP	G	A	P	Carolina Hurricanes	GP	G	A	P
Claude Giroux	39	13	31	44	Sebastian Aho	38	15	24	39
Jake Voracek	39	10	20	30	Teuvo Teravainen	38	8	21	29
Sean Couturier	37	14	14	28	Justin Williams	38	7	20	27
Travis Konecny	39	9	12	21	Andrei Svechnikov	38	11	8	19
Wayne Simmonds	39	11	6	17	Micheal Ferland	31	11	6	17

 

Player to Watch
9 Ivan Provorov	37 Andrei Svechnikov
Last 5 Games: 1 G, 0 A, 1 P, -3	Last 5 Games: 1 G, 0 A, 1 P, -1

 

Ivan Provorov has had better moments defensively lately and in some cases that has led to offense, like his game-tying goal in Tampa, but there's still a lot to be desired from the play of the Flyers top defenseman. Will this be one of those games where all goes well or another game with regular hiccups?

 

Andrei Svechnikov had gone four games without a point before scoring against the Flyers. That could be what it takes to jumpstart the Hurricanes top pick from the 2018 Draft, who got off to a solid start this season and had four goals in four games prior to the four-game slump.

 

Goalie Matchup
30 Michal Neuvirth	34 Petr Mrazek
6 GP, 1-3-1, 4.09 GAA, .865 SV%	16 GP, 6-8-2, 2.59 GAA, .901 SV%

Michal Neuvirth was on the losing end of the Flyers 4-0 shutout loss to Nashville, though he played better than the numbers showed and was helpless on all four goals. Neuvirth did face Carolina in relief on Monday and played excellent there, stopping all 23 shots he faced, so he gets the start against the Hurricanes this time.

After facing Curtis McElhinney in Monday's game, the Flyers will likely see former netminder Petr Mrazek in goal for the Hurricanes. This would be his first start since a Dec. 27 loss to Washington.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Injuries: Nolan Patrick, Andrew MacDonald, Brian Elliott, Anthony Stolarz, Corban Knight

Scratches: Jori Lehtera

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
28 Claude Giroux	14 Sean Couturier	11 Travis Konecny
12 Michael Raffl	21 Scott Laughton	93 Jake Voracek
25 James van Riemsdyk	40 Jordan Weal	17 Wayne Simmonds
23 Oskar Lindblom	44 Phil Varone	22 Dale Weise
Defense
9 Ivan Provorov	6 Travis Sanheim
53 Shayne Gostisbehere	3 Radko Gudas
8 Robert Hagg	26 Christian Folin
Goalie
30 Michal Neuvirth

Lineup Notes

Nolan Patrick is getting closer to returning to the lineup and should be back for the team's next game. Andrew MacDonald will not play as he is dealing with an injury. Christian Folin re-enters the lineup as a result.

Hurricanes Projected Lineup

Injuries: Jordan Staal

Scratches: Janne Kuokkanen, Hadyn Fleury 

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
23 Brock McGinn	20 Sebastian Aho	86 Teuvo Teravainen
48 Jordan Martinook	71 Lucas Wallmark	14 Justin Williams
37 Andrei Svechnikov	49 Victor Rask	79 Micheal Ferland
13 Warren Foegele	64 Clark Bishop	8 Saku Maenalanen
Defense
74 Jaccob Slavin	22 Brett Pesce
44 Calvin de Haan	27 Justin Faulk
57 Trevor van Riemsdyk	19 Dougie Hamilton
Goalie
34 Petr Mrazek

Game Notes

• Power Play: Flyers (31st, 27th at home), Hurricanes (28th, 28 on road)
• Penalty Kill: Flyers (28th, 22nd at home), Hurricanes (11th, 4th on road) 
• Recent History vs. Hurricanes
  • Feb. 6, 2018 – Flyers 2, Hurricanes 1 (F/OT) (at CAR)
  • March 1, 2018 – Hurricanes 4, Flyers 1 (at PHI)
  • March 17, 2018 – Flyers 4, Hurricanes 2 (at CAR)
  • April 5, 2018 – Flyers 4, Hurricanes 3 (at PHI)
  • Dec. 31, 2018 – Hurricanes 3, Flyers 1 (at CAR)
• Flyers Leaders vs. Hurricanes
  • Claude Giroux – 37 GP, 9 G, 23 A, 32 P
  • Wayne Simmonds – 29 GP, 12 G, 13 A, 25 P
  • Shayne Gostisbehere – 14 GP, 4 G, 8 A, 12 P
  • Michal Neuvirth – 13 GP, 7-3-1, 2.54 GAA, .922 SV%
• Milestone Watch
  • Wayne Simmonds needs two goals to reach 200 as a Flyer.

Where to Watch
TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic