The Flyers head to North Carolina tonight, taking on the Carolina Hurricanes in the penultimate game of their eight-game road jaunt across North America, and first game in calendar-year 2015.
Over the past three games of their trip, the Flyers (14-16-7) have looked human, courtesy of horrendous penalty killing in their 4-1 loss to Nashville, strong goaltending from Devan Dubnyk in their 4-2 loss to Arizona and late-game magic from Jarome Iginla and Ryan O'Reilly in their overtime loss against Colorado. As a result, the team now sits at 3-2-1 with seven points on the trip.
Saturday will mark the second of five games between the two Metropolitan Division squads. The Flyers handily won their last meeting by a score of 5-1, on Dec. 13 — a game that saw Scott Laughton score his first career goal as part of a two-point game, while Wayne Simmonds, Brayden Schenn and Jakub Voracek each posted multi-point efforts.
With 47 points, Voracek continues to lead the NHL in points. Linemate Claude Giroux doesn't sit too far behind, with 43 points — holding sole possession of third place. Voracek and Giroux each scored on the powerplay against the Avalanche, snapping a streak of no goals on the man-advantage over the past 15 opportunities for the Winged P.
The Flyers have also enjoyed secondary scoring over the past several games, as Vincent Lecavalier scored his sixth goal of the season early in the third period against the Avs. R.J. Umberger's two-goal night against Arizona was his first two-goal game as a Flyer since 2008.
Steve Mason is tabbed to start for the Flyers, for the third-straight game since returning from a back injury. Mason's record sits at 6-11-6, with a 2.57 GAA and .917 save percentage.
The Hurricanes (10-23-4, 24 points) enter Friday's matchup in the Metro's basement and last place in the Eastern Conference, having lost 11 of their past 13 games. The team is winless in its past three games, and hasn't scored more than one goal in each of those three games. Jordan Staal — who missed the first three months of the season with a broken leg — returns to the lineup for the 'Canes, after sitting out for precautionary reasons on Wednesday. He made his season debut in Monday's 3-1 loss to Montreal.
Leading the Hurricanes on offense is Eric Staal, with 21 points — nine goals and 12 assists. Not far behind is defenseman Justin Faulk, with six goals and 20 points. Jiri Tlusty leads the team in goals, with 10 (supplemented with five assists).
Between the pipes, Cam Ward will start for the Hurricanes. Ward has seen the lion's share of time in the cage, with a 9-15-2 record, 2.39 GAA and .914 save percentage in 26 games. Anton Khudobin, with a 1-8-2 record, 2.71 GAA and .903 SP, backs him up.
The Hurricanes will also be without the services of Jeff Skinner (flu), Alexander Semin (upper-body) and John-Michael Liles (illness).
Game Notes
- Power Play: Flyers (7th, 16th on road), Hurricanes (25th, 14th at home)
- Penalty Kill: Flyers (30th, 30th on road), Hurricanes (6th, 13th at home)
- The Flyers are 12-3-2 in Carolina over the past 14 seasons, and 22-4-5 in their last 31 games over the 'Canes.
- Michael Del Zotto returns to the lineup with 20 stitches in his neck after a cut from Daniel Briere's skate on Wednesday against Colorado.
Flyers scratches: Zac Rinaldo, Carlo Colaiacovo, Luke Schenn, Ryan White
Flyers Projected Lineup
Line 1: Matt Read-Claude Giroux-Jakub Voracek
Line 2: Brayden Schenn-Scott Laughton-Wayne Simmonds
Line 3: Michael Raffl-Sean Couturier-R.J. Umberger
Line 4:Chris VandeVelde-Pierre-Edouard Bellemare-Vincent Lecavalier
D-Pair 1: Nick Grossmann-Mark Streit
D-Pair 2: Braydon Coburn-Nick Schultz
D-Pair 3:Andrew MacDonald-Michael Del Zotto
Goalie: Steve Mason
Where to Watch
TV: CSN Philly
Radio: 93.3 WMMR
Rob Riches is a contributor to Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Riches61.
