(Photo: Kate Frese)
By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 
After some late night trade activity from the Flyers, acquiring goalie Cam Talbot, it's back to the ice for the next game in the pursuit of a playoff spot. Eight points separate the Flyers from both the Penguins and Blue Jackets, teams they will have a chance to face directly later this month.
For now, they start a weekend home-and-home with the Detroit Red Wings, a team that enters the weekend in the bottom five in the NHL standings.
Game time is at 1 p.m.
Team Leaders
| Philadelphia Flyers | GP | G | A | P | Detroit Red Wings | GP | G | A | P |
| Claude Giroux | 57 | 17 | 44 | 61 | Dylan Larkin | 57 | 24 | 30 | 54 |
| Sean Couturier | 55 | 24 | 26 | 50 | Gustav Nyquist | 58 | 14 | 33 | 47 |
| Jake Voracek | 57 | 14 | 35 | 49 | Andreas Athanasiou | 52 | 20 | 17 | 37 |
| Travis Konecny | 57 | 15 | 18 | 33 | Frans Nielsen | 54 | 9 | 21 | 30 |
| James van Riemsdyk | 41 | 15 | 13 | 28 | Thomas Vanek | 50 | 11 | 17 | 28 |
| Player to Watch | |
| 11 Travis Konecny | 72 Andreas Athanasiou |
| Last 5 Games: 1 G, 2 A, 3 P, -2 | Last 5 Games: 3 G, 1 A, 4 P, +1 |
| Goalie Matchup | |
| 79 Carter Hart | 35 Jimmy Howard |
| 18 GP, 11-6-1, 2.48 GAA, .924 SV% | 39 GP, 17-15-5, 2.74 GAA, .915 SV% |
Carter Hart gets the start in goal against the team he faced in his NHL debut. He stopped 20 of 22 shots that night in his first NHL win. With 18 starts under his belt, the nerves from that night are gone, and Hart is looking to bounce back from a loss against Pittsburgh on Monday, his first since Jan. 12.
It was a milestone night for Jimmy Howard on Thursday. In his 500th NHL game, he made 40 saves and picked up the win. Howard was not in goal for the meeting against the Flyers in December. He last faced the Flyers last March, making 27 saves and getting the win via a shootout.
Flyers Projected Lineup
Injuries: Michal Neuvirth, Brian Elliott
Scratches: Phil Myers, Mikhail Vorobyev, Cam Talbot
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
| 25 James van Riemsdyk | 28 Claude Giroux | 11 Travis Konecny |
| 23 Oskar Lindblom | 14 Sean Couturier | 93 Jake Voracek |
| 21 Scott Laughton | 19 Nolan Patrick | 17 Wayne Simmonds |
| 27 Justin Bailey | 44 Phil Varone | 12 Michael Raffl |
| Defense | ||
| 9 Ivan Provorov | 6 Travis Sanheim | |
| 53 Shayne Gostisbehere | 47 Andrew MacDonald | |
| 8 Robert Hagg | 3 Radko Gudas | |
| Goalie | ||
| 79 Carter Hart |
Lineup Notes
No changes are expected to the Flyers lineup from Tuesday's game.
Red Wings Projected Lineup
Injuries: Evgeny Svechnikov, Tyler Bertuzzi
Scratches: Martin Frk, Luke Witkowski, Denis Cholowski, Jacob De La Rose
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
| Tyler Bertuzzi | 71 Dylan Larkin | 14 Gustav Nyquist |
| 26 Thomas Vanek | 51 Frans Nielsen | 39 Anthony Mantha |
| 43 Darren Helm | 41 Luke Glendening | 72 Andreas Athanasiou |
| 8 Justin Abdelkader | 70 Christoffer Ehn | 27 Michael Rasmussen |
| Defense | ||
| 55 Niklas Kronwall | 25 Mike Green | |
| 65 Dan Dekeyser | 3 Nick Jensen | |
| 52 Jonathan Ericsson | 83 Trevor Daley | |
| Goalie | ||
| 35 Jimmy Howard |
Game Notes
- Power Play: Flyers (22nd, 17th at home), Red Wings (24th, 13th on road)
- Penalty Kill: Flyers (27th, T-23rd at home), Red Wings (24th, T-11th on road)
- Recent History vs. Red Wings
- Dec. 20, 2017 – Flyers 4, Red Wings 3 (at PHI)
- Jan. 23, 2018 – Flyers 3, Red Wings 2 (F/OT) (at DET)
- March 20, 2018 – Red Wings 5, Flyers 4 (F/SO) (at DET)
- Dec. 18, 2018 – Flyers 3, Red Wings 2 (at PHI)
- Flyers Leaders vs. Red Wings
- Claude Giroux – 21 GP, 7 G, 19 A, 26 P
- Sean Couturier – 17 GP, 6 G, 6 A, 12 P
- Jake Voracek – 34 GP, 6 G, 18 A, 24 P
- Carter Hart – 1 GP, 1-0-0, 2.00 GAA, .909 SV%
- Milestone Watch
- Radko Gudas needs two points to reach 100 for his career.
Where to Watch
TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
