(Kate Frese/Sports Talk Philly)
By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The success that was against Pittsburgh was short-lived when the Flyers took the ice on Thursday and ultimately fumbled away any last hopes they had to be a playoff team. Now three days later, the Flyers are seven points back of the final playoff spot with just 12 games to go, essentially an impossible task.
Their opponent on Sunday has actually climbed ahead of them in the standings. A small burst of success from the Carolina Hurricanes has them facing the same deficit in the standings as the Flyers, with one additional game in hand no less. Carolina's playoff odds are about as good as the Flyers, but the Flyers are now beginning the descent to being one of the bottom 10 teams in the NHL this season.
The opening face-off is set for 7:30 p.m.
| Flyers Leaders | GP | G | A | P | Hurricanes Leaders | GP | G | A | P |
| Jake Voracek | 70 | 17 | 38 | 55 | Jeff Skinner | 66 | 25 | 23 | 48 |
| Claude Giroux | 70 | 14 | 37 | 51 | Victor Rask | 69 | 16 | 25 | 41 |
| Wayne Simmonds | 70 | 29 | 18 | 47 | Sebastian Aho | 69 | 20 | 20 | 40 |
| Brayden Schenn | 67 | 21 | 25 | 46 | Jordan Staal | 62 | 14 | 26 | 40 |
| Valtteri Filppula | 67 | 8 | 28 | 36 | Elias Lindholm | 59 | 8 | 29 | 37 |
| Player to Watch | |
| 10 Brayden Schenn | 53 Jeff Skinner |
| Last 5 Games: 2 G, 2 A, 4 P, -2 | Last 5 Games: 4 G, 1 A, 5 P, +3 |
| Goalie Matchup | |
| 35 Steve Mason | 30 Cam Ward |
| 20-20-7, 2.76 GAA, .905 SV% | 23-20-10, 2.69 GAA, .904 SV% |
Steve Mason left Thursday's game with what appeared to be a serious injury, leaving his future in doubt. But the Flyers said the issue was just cramping and Mason is apparently alright, seeing as he's starting on Sunday night for the Flyers.
Cam Ward is expected to go for the Hurricanes on Sunday night. Ward has an 11-11-4 record against the Flyers in his career with a 2.71 GAA.
Flyers Projected Lineup
Scratches: Roman Lyubimov, Nick Cousins (upper-body injury, day-to-day), Brandon Manning (upper-body injury, day-to-day), Michael Raffl (lower-body injury, out 6-8 weeks)
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
| 40 Jordan Weal | 28 Claude Giroux | 17 Wayne Simmonds |
| 11 Travis Konecny | 51 Valtteri Filppula | 93 Jake Voracek |
| 10 Brayden Schenn | 14 Sean Couturier | 22 Dale Weise |
| 76 Chris VandeVelde | 78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare | 24 Matt Read |
| Defense | ||
| 9 Ivan Provorov | 47 Andrew MacDonald | |
| 53 Shayne Gostisbehere | 55 Nick Schultz | |
| 15 Michael Del Zotto | 3 Radko Gudas | |
| Goalie | ||
| 35 Steve Mason |
Game Notes
- Power Play: Flyers (12th, 13th at home), Hurricanes (23rd, T-17th on road)
- Penalty Kill: Flyers (22nd, T-11th at home), Hurricanes (5th, 7th on road)
- Recent History vs. Hurricanes
- Oct. 22, 2016 - The Flyers claimed a 6-3 win over the Hurricanes at home. After a scoreless first period, the Hurricanes scored the first two goals of the game early in the second, including one on the power play to take a 2-0 lead at 3:07. Just 1:33 later, Brandon Manning got the Flyers on the board. The Flyers got goals from Jake Voracek, Matt Read and Shayne Gostisbehere to take a 4-2 lead, but Lee Stempniak scored with 1:06 left in the second to make it a one-goal game. Wayne Simmonds scored on the power play midway through the third and late in the third Voracek added his second goal of the game to cap the scoring.
- Oct. 30, 2016 – The Flyers picked up a 4-3 win over the Hurricanes in Carolina. The Flyers opened the scoring with the only goal of the first period, as Shayne Gostisbehere scored with 2:03 left in the period on the power play. The teams traded goals throughout the second. Justin Faulk tied the game at 1:01, Radko Gudas gave the Flyers the lead again at 7:07, Jeff Skinner tied it again at 10:13, Viktor Stalberg gave Carolina the lead at 11:58 and Wayne Simmonds tied the game back up again at three wih 2:46 remaining in the second. In the third, Brandon Manning provided the only goal, scoring shorthanded at the eight-minute mark.
- Jan. 31, 2017 – The Flyers fell to the Hurricanes, 5-1, in Carolina. Sebastian Aho scored twice in the first period to open the scoring. The 2-0 margin held into the late stages of the second, when Jeff Skinner scored at 16:28 and Aho completed the hat trick with 1:55 to play in the period to make it 4-0 after two periods. Justin Faulk scored on the power play to make it 5-0 at 5:10 of the third. Brayden Schenn scored the Flyers lone goal of the game at 10:27 of the third.
- Flyers leaders vs. Hurricanes
- Claude Giroux - 30 games, 8 goals, 21 assists, 29 points
- Shayne Gostisbehere - 7 games, 4 goals, 4 assists, 8 points
- Wayne Simmonds - 23 games, 10 goals, 10 assists, 20 points
- Steve Mason - 13 games, 8-4-1, 2.24 GAA, .925 Sv%
- Milestone Watch
- Matt Read needs one assist to reach 100 in his career.
- Claude Giroux needs two goals to move into 15th all-time in Flyers history.
- Wayne Simmonds needs two points to reach 300 as a Flyer.
Where to Watch
TV: CSN
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
