(Kate Frese/Sports Talk Philly)
By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 
There were changes aplenty at practice on Friday following the Flyers fifth straight loss on Wednesday. As the season hits the halfway point, the comfortable margin the Flyers had built in the standings is gone.
One of the teams hot on their heels is the Tampa Bay Lightning, who come to Philadelphia for the second time this season for the final meeting between the two teams this season.
The opening face-off is set for 1 p.m.
| Flyers Leaders | GP | G | A | P | Lightning Leaders | GP | G | A | P |
| Jake Voracek | 40 | 13 | 24 | 37 | Nikita Kucherov | 33 | 15 | 23 | 38 |
| Claude Giroux | 40 | 10 | 23 | 33 | Victor Hedman | 40 | 7 | 29 | 36 |
| Wayne Simmonds | 40 | 17 | 15 | 32 | Tyler Johnson | 40 | 12 | 12 | 24 |
| Brayden Schenn | 37 | 11 | 14 | 25 | Valtteri Filppula | 38 | 6 | 18 | 24 |
| Travis Konecny | 39 | 5 | 14 | 19 | Jonathan Drouin | 32 | 11 | 12 | 23 |
| Player to Watch | |
| 93 Jake Voracek | 27 Jonathan Drouin |
| Last 5 Games: 2 G, 0 A, 2 P, -7 | Last 5 Games: 1 G, 2 A, 3 P, -3 |
| Goalie Matchup | |
| 30 Michal Neuvirth | 88 Andrei Vasilevskiy |
| 4-2-0, 3.54 GAA, .859 SV% | 10-7-2, 2.75 GAA, .908 SV% |
It's been nearly two months since Michal Neuvirth was in goal for the Flyers, but he makes his return between the pipes on Saturday. Neuvirth last started a game on Nov. 12, playing the first period against Minnesota before exiting with an injury.
Andrei Vasilevskiy has been a Flyers killer this season and has been a serviceable starter in place of an injured Ben Bishop. But the last couple of starts haven't been great for Vasilevskiy. He has allowed five goals in each of his last two starts, including five goals on 18 shots to the Nashville Predators on Thursday.
Flyers Projected Lineup
Scratches: Dale Weise, Nick Schultz, Mark Streit
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
| 12 Michael Raffl | 28 Claude Giroux | 24 Matt Read |
| 11 Travis Konecny | 14 Sean Couturier | 93 Jake Voracek |
| 25 Nick Cousins | 10 Brayden Schenn | 17 Wayne Simmonds |
| 76 Chris VandeVelde | 78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare | 27 Boyd Gordon |
| Defense | ||
| 3 Radko Gudas | 15 Michael Del Zotto | |
| 47 Andrew MacDonald | 9 Ivan Provorov | |
| 53 Shayne Gostisbehere | 23 Brandon Manning | |
| Goalie | ||
| 30 Michal Neuvirth |
Game Notes
- Power Play: Flyers (7th, 7th at home), Lightning (2nd, 9th on road)
- Penalty Kill: Flyers (19th, 11th at home), Lightning (24th, T-25th on road)
- Recent History vs. Lightning
- Nov. 23, 2016 - The Lightning claimed a 4-2 win over the Flyers in Tampa Bay. Victor Hedman scored with three seconds left in the first period to give the Lightning the lead after one, but second-period goals by Dale Weise and Ivan Provorov put the Flyers ahead. The Lightning got goals from Alex Killorn and Ryan Callahan just 12 seconds apart to take the lead and Nikita Kucherov iced the game with a late goal on a 2-on-1 to seal the win.
- Nov. 19, 2016 – The Lightning picked up a 3-0 win over the Flyers in Philadelphia. Tyler Johnson opened the scoring in the first on a power-play goal. Ondrej Palat scored in the second to extend the lead. Jonathan Drouin capped things off with a goal early in the third as Andrei Vasilevskiy made 32 saves to preserve the shutout.
- Flyers leaders vs. Lightning
- Claude Giroux – 28 games, 3 goals, 22 assists, 25 points
- Wayne Simmonds - 20 games, 7 goals, 5 assists, 12 points
- Brayden Schenn - 16 games, 4 goals, 6 assists, 10 points
- Michal Neuvirth - 7 games, 3-2-0, 2.84 GAA, .919 Sv%
Where to Watch
TV: CSN
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
