Flyers-Panthers: Game 37 Preview

Team Leaders

Philadelphia Flyers	GP	G	A	P	Florida Panthers	GP	G	A	P
Claude Giroux	36	13	31	44	Jonathan Huberdeau	36	9	33	42
Jake Voracek	36	9	20	29	Aleksander Barkov	36	15	22	37
Sean Couturier	34	14	14	28	Mike Hoffman	36	17	18	35
Travis Konecny	36	9	12	21	Evgenii Dadonov	36	17	17	34
Wayne Simmonds	36	11	5	16	Keith Yandle	36	6	26	32

 

Player to Watch
25 James van Riemsdyk	16 Aleksander Barkov
Last 5 Games: 2 G, 4 A, 6 P, +6	Last 5 Games: 1 G, 5 A, 6 P, -2

 

It's been a disappointing season for James van Riemsdyk between the early season injury and his struggles early in his return. But lately, JVR has been one of the Flyers best offensive players with six points in the last five games. 

 

Aleksander Barkov has gone four games without a goal, but there is no shortage of points in that time. He has four assists in the last three games and his overall skill level will be a test for the Flyers, who have struggled to contain him this season.

 

Goalie Matchup
79 Carter Hart	34 James Reimer
3 GP, 2-1-0, 2.36 GAA, .904 SV%	20 GP, 6-7-3, 3.45 GAA, .888 SV%

Carter Hart gets his next turn in goal, his first NHL start on the road. Hart suffered his first loss in his last start, a 4-3 decision to the Columbus Blue Jackets last Saturday. 

James Reimer is expected to start for Florida after Roberto Luongo got the start in Friday's 5-3 loss to Montreal. Reimer made 26 saves in a win in his last start, but has just four appearance in December, one which came in relief.

Flyers Projected Lineup

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

Scratches: Jori Lehtera, Christian Folin

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

Lineup Notes

Nolan Patrick will be out for four or five days with an upper-body injury suffered in Thursday's loss in Tampa. Jordan Weal slots back into the lineup in his place.

Panthers Projected Lineup

Injuries: Jamie McGinn, Derek MacKenzie, Vincent Trocheck, Nick Bjugstad

Scratches: Michael Haley, Alex Petrovic 

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
11 Jonathan Huberdeau	16 Aleksander Barkov	63 Evgenii Dadonov
72 Frank Vatrano	95 Henrik Borgstrom	68 Mike Hoffman
22 Troy Brouwer	90 Jared McCann	62 Denis Malgin
8 Jayce Hawryluk	91 Juho Lammikko	7 Colton Sceviour
Defense
3 Keith Yandle	5 Aaron Ekblad
19 Mike Matheson	52 Mackenzie Weegar
55 Bogdan Kiselevich	13 Mark Pysyk
Goalie
34 James Reimer

Game Notes

• Power Play: Flyers (31st, 28th on road), Panthers (2nd, 6th at home)
• Penalty Kill: Flyers (28th, 28th on road), Panthers (23rd, T-18th at home) 
• Recent History vs. Panthers
  • Oct. 16, 2018 – Flyers 6, Panthers 5 (F/SO) (at PHI)
  • Nov 13, 2018 – Panthers 2, Flyers 1 (at PHI)
• Flyers Leaders vs. Panthers
  • Travis Konecny – 7 GP, 1 G, 4 A, 5 P
  • Claude Giroux – 36 GP, 9 G, 15 A, 24 P
  • Shayne Gostisbehere – 9 GP, 2 G, 4 A, 6 P
• 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