Photo Courtesy of Kate Frese
The Flyers are set to close out their Metropolitan Division slate of games, as they welcome the Carolina Hurricanes to Wells Fargo Center in the penultimate game of their respective seasons. Both teams just met five days ago, with the Hurricanes winning 3-2 in a shootout.
The puck drops at 7 p.m.
Despite the Hurricanes' last-place standing in the Metropolitan Division, they've beaten the Flyers (33-29-18) in three of four meetings thus far — part of the weaker-opponent struggles that the Orange and Black have faced throughout the second half of the season. The Flyers' lone series victory came on Dec. 13, a 5-1 victory that saw five different players record multi-point efforts.
The Orange and Black are fresh off their strange 5-4 win over the New York Islanders on Tuesday, a game that saw them blow a late three-goal lead in the third period yet win because of Brayden Schenn's goal with 2.1 seconds on the clock. Since Saturday's win, the 'Canes have lost two more games, falling 4-3 to Buffalo on Monday and 3-2 to Detroit on Tuesday.
With 81 points, Jakub Voracek remains two away from John Tavares and Sidney Crosby for the league's points lead. Both Tavares' Islanders and Crosby's Pittsburgh Penguins are off Thursday, so Voracek has a decent chance to re-claim the lead.
Ray Emery gets the start in goal for the Orange and Black. The Hurricanes are likely to counter with Cam Ward, who was in net for all three of their wins against the Flyers.
Game Notes
- Power Play: Flyers (3rd, 1st at home), Hurricanes (13th, 21st at home)
- Penalty Kill: Flyers (28th, 20th at home), Hurricanes (4th, 1st on road)
- The Flyers are 3-1-1 against the Hurricanes in their last five Wells Fargo Center meetings, dating back to 2012-13.
Flyers scratches: R.J. Umberger, Luke Schenn, Radko Gudas, Andrew MacDonald, Wayne Simmonds
Flyers Projected Lineup
Line 1: Michael Raffl-Claude Giroux-Jakub Voracek
Line 2: Matt Read-Sean Couturier- Brayden Schenn
Line 3: Ryan White-Nick Cousins-Zac Rinaldo
Line 4:Chris VandeVelde-Pierre-Edouard Bellemare-Vincent Lecavalier
D-Pair 1: Nick Schultz-Michael Del Zotto
D-Pair 2: Nicklas Grossmann- Mark Streit
D-Pair 3:Carlo Colaiacovo-Brandon Manning
Goalie: Ray Emery
Where to Watch
TV: CSN Philly
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
