Flyers-Panthers: Game 66 Preview

Team Leaders

Philadelphia Flyers	GP	G	A	P	Florida Panthers	GP	G	A	P
Claude Giroux	65	23	54	77	Aleksander Barkov	61	24	38	62
Jake Voracek	65	14	57	71	Vincent Trocheck	62	24	33	57
Sean Couturier	65	29	34	63	Jonathan Huberdeau	62	19	38	57
Shayne Gostisbehere	61	10	40	50	Evgenii Dadonov	54	18	27	45
Wayne Simmonds	59	20	17	37	Keith Yandle	62	6	33	39

 

Player to Watch
53 Shayne Gostisbehere	16 Aleksander Barkov
Last 5 Games: 0 G, 3 A, 3 P, E	Last 5 Games: 4 G, 4 A, 8 P, +3

 

Any game in Florida is a big one for Shayne Gostisbehere, as it is a big homecoming for Ghost. He's also invited the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School hockey team to attend the game as his guests. Gostisbehere attended the school for two years, so this is a special moment for the recently-crowned state champions, certainly a feel-good story following the tragedy in Parkland. Gostisbehere is also overdue for some offensive success. He has gone the last 14 games without a goal. It's not for a lack of trying, Gostisbehere had eight shots in Saturday's loss.

 

The Panthers have been on a resurgence that has them one point out of a playoff spot after wins in five straight games. A big reason is Aleksander Barkov. Barkov has four goals in his last three games and had four assists in the two games before that for eight points on the winning streak. 

 

Goalie Matchup
34 Petr Mrazek	1 Roberto Luongo
11-8-4, 2.85 GAA, .909 SV%	11-7-1, 2.57 GAA, .928 SV%

Despite allowing six goals on 35 shots to Tampa on Saturday afternoon, the Flyers will turn to Petr Mrazek in goal again for the back-end of the back-to-back against Florida. Mrazek won his first three starts with the Flyers, but has lost his last two allowing 10 goals in the process.

Roberto Luongo will be in goal for the Panthers on Sunday. Luongo has been in net for four of the five wins for the Panthers on their winning streak. Aside from a wild 6-5 win over Pittsburgh, Luongo has been solid, allowing two goals in each of the other three starts. 

Flyers Projected Lineup

Injuries: Brian Elliott, Michal Neuvirth, Wayne Simmonds, Andrew MacDonald

Scratches: Dale Weise, Matt Read

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
28 Claude Giroux	14 Sean Couturier	11 Travis Konecny
54 Oskar Lindblom	19 Nolan Patrick	93 Jake Voracek
20 Taylor Leier	21 Scott Laughton	12 Michael Raffl
40 Jordan Weal	51 Valtteri Filppula	15 Jori Lehtera
Defense
9 Ivan Provorov	53 Shayne Gostisbehere
8 Robert Hagg	29 Johnny Oduya
23 Brandon Manning	3 Radko Gudas
Goalie
34 Petr Mrazek

Lineup Notes

Jordan Weal was inserted back into the lineup on Saturday for Dale Weise. GM Ron Hextall announced defenseman Andrew MacDonald is out of the lineup with an upper-body injury and is day-to-day. That opens the door for Johnny Oduya to make his Flyers debut.

Panthers Projected Lineup

Injuries: Denis Malgin, Frank Vatrano

Scratches: Radim Vrbata, Ian McCoshen

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
63 Evgenii Dadonov	16 Aleksander Barkov	27 Nick Bjugstad
11 Jonathan Huberdeau	21 Vincent Trocheck	23 Connor Brickley
88 Jamie McGinn	90 Jared McCann	78 Maxim Mamin
18 Michael Haley	17 Derek MacKenzie	7 Colton Sceviour
Defense
3 Keith Yandle	5 Aaron Ekblad
19 Michael Matheson	13 Mark Pysyk
52 Mackenzie Weegar	6 Alex Petrovic
Goalie
1 Roberto Luongo

Game Notes

• Power Play: Flyers (10th, 5th on road), Panthers (20th, 27th at home)
• Penalty Kill: Flyers (29th, 25th on road), Panthers (22nd, 20th at home) 
• Recent History vs. Panthers
  • Oct. 17, 2017 – Flyers 5, Panthers 1 (at PHI)
  • Dec. 28, 2017 – Panthers 3, Flyers 2 (at FLA)
• Flyers leaders vs. Panthers
  • Shayne Gostisbehere – 6 GP, 2 G, 3 A, 5 P
  • Valtteri Filppula – 21 GP, 6 G, 11 A, 17 P
  • Travis Konecny – 4 GP, 0 G, 3 A, 3 P
  • Petr Mrazek – 8 GP, 2-4-2, 2.83 GAA
• Milestone Watch
  • Sean Couturier needs one goal to reach 100 for his career.
  • Jake Voracek needs five assists to reach 300 as a Flyer.
  • Claude Giroux needs eight points to pass Eric Lindros for 5th all-time in Flyers history.

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