UPDATE 11:30 AM EST

Jason Akeson is back in the lineup for the Flyers tonight, skating on the fourth line. Sean Couturier (stomach virus) participated fully in the morning skate and is a go for tonight.

Injured defenseman Andrew MacDonald (lower body) participated in the morning skate. He started riding an exercise bike a few days ago. After the morning skate, he reported feeling better than he expected and said it was a good step toward staying on schedule to return to game action within a few weeks.

PREVIEW: FLYERS VS. PANTHERS

The Philadelphia Flyers (5-5-2) will try to avenge last Saturday's 2-1 road loss to the Florida Panthers (4-3-3) when the clubs rematch tonight at the Wells Fargo Center. Game time is 7:00 p.m. EST. The game will be televised locally on CSN Phiadelphia.

This is the second of three meetings between the Flyers and Panthers this season, and the first of two in Philadelphia. The season series will conclude with a game at the Wells Fargo on Dec. 18.

After tonight, the Flyers will practice tomorrow at the Skate Zone in Voorhees, NJ, in preparation to host the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night. The Panthers return home after tonight to host the Calgary Flames on Saturday.

2014-15 season series in review

On November 1st, the Panthers came within eight seconds of shutting out the visiting Flyers in a 2-1 regulation decision in Sunrise. Despite missing five key forwards, the Panthers generated just enough offensive output and played strong defense. They also got excellent goaltending.

The Cats limited Philly to 11 shots over the first 30 minutes of regulation. Over the latter 30 minutes of the game, Panthers goaltender Roberto Luongo stepped to the forefront as the Flyers bombarded him with rubber. Luongo finished with 36 saves on 37 shots.

Steve Mason played a strong game in his return to the net for the Flyers. IHe authored his share of tough saves to buy the team time to get going offensively. The Flyers ended up going 0-for-6 on the power play and some of the better scoring chances were actually shorthanded bids by Florida that Mason had to scramble to deny.

Florida's first goal, scored by defenseman Willie Mitchell at 9:07 of the first period, was shot through a three-player screen (including Philadelphia defenseman Nicklas Grossmann) in front of the net. The puck may have deflected slightly off Grossmann in front. Jussi Jokinen and Brad Boyes received the assists on the goal.

The 1-0 score held through the second period and numerous failed Philadelphia power plays until Florida went on the man advantage in the final six minutes of the third period. At the 15:38 mark, highly touted rookie defenseman Aaron Ekblad blasted home a slapshot through heavy traffic in front to extend the Florida lead to 2-0. Brian Campbell and Jimmy Hayes were credited with the assists.

Philadelphia pulled Mason for an extra attacker with over three minutes left in the game. The remainder of the game was spent almost entirely in the Florida end of the ice. Luongo stonewalled the Flyers until Vincent Lecavalier scored an otherwise meaningless goal with 7.4 seconds remaining to break up the shutout bid. Jakub Voracek and Wayne Simmonds got the assists.

Flyers outlook

The Flyers bounced back from their regulation losses in Tampa Bay and Sunrise with an easy but inartistic 4-1 home win over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday. The win over the Oilers raised Philly's home record this season to 3-1-2.

Voracek led the way offensively against Edmonton. The top line right winger scored two goals and came within a goal post of tallying a natural hit trick in the first period. He now has points in 11 of 12 games this season, points in six in a row, and a half-dozen multi-point performances. Voracek enters tonight's game one point behind Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby (who has 19 points in 11 games) for the NHL scoring lead. Voracek's 13 assists lead the NHL.

The Flyers also got goals from Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Luke Schenn against the Oilers. Michael Del Zotto played arguably his best game since coming to Philadelphia, and Giroux assisted on Voracek's second goal to bring his season point total to 14. Defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo made his Flyers' debut, playing 16-plus minutes.

In the meantime, Mason was stellar in goal versus Edmonton. The Flyers' netminder made 35 saves to nail down the win. He will start again tonight against the Panthers.

The win came a price, however: top-line left wing Michael Raffl, who co-leads the team along with Simmonds with six goals, sustained a lower-body injury (believed to be his right ankle or foot) when blocking a shot in the third period. The Flyers learned yesterday that Raffl will be out for approximately six weeks.

In Raffl's place, Flyers head coach Craig Berube will promote Chris VandeVelde from the fourth line to the top unit. After practice yesterday, Berube cited VandeVelde's "simple game," willingness to go into the corners and play physically as well as his skating ability as reasons for giving the player the first crack at playing with Giroux and Voracek. VandeVelde has been periodically on shifts with the top line in several games preceding Raffl's injury.

Shutdown center Sean Couturier missed yesterday's practice with a stomach virus. His status for tonight will be determined at the morning skate.

Forward Blair Jones cleared waivers yesterday but remains with the team. Either Jones or Jason Akeson will re-enter the lineup on Thursday night. Based on Wednesday's practice combinations, Jones is more likely to play and Akeson is more likely to be the one scratched from the lineup.

Defensemen Braydon Coburn (left foot) is close to being ready to return to play. There's a chance he could be cleared for Saturday but the club may opt simply to wait until after the five-night break that follows the game against the Avalanche. Andrew MacDonald (lower body) is expected to be out of the lineup until late November. He has yet to resume skating.

Panthers outlook

The Panthers enter this game coming off a 2-1 overtime loss in Boston on Tuesday. Luongo finished with 23 saves on 25 shots, while Jussi Jokinen scored his first goal as a Panther. Florida had a couple of chances to pull the game out in regulation. Hit posts by forward Vincent Trocheck and defenseman Erik Gudbranson in the third period were subsequently followed by Boston's Brad Marchand winning the game for his team with 1:33 remaining in overtime.

Florida has collected at least one point in seven consecutive games (4-0-3). Stifling team defense and Luongo's play in net have been the keys. In eight of the team's 10 games this season, neither the Panthers nor their opponents have mustered more than two goals in regulation. Each of the past four games have been 2-1 finals. Florida is 2-0-2 in those games.

With the exception of a 5-2 loss to New Jersey in the second game of the regular season, every game the Panthers have played this season has been decided by one goal. Six games have gone to overtime, with one (a loss to Washington) reaching a shootout after a 65-minute 1-1 tie.

Eventually, as some of the team's talented young forwards blossom, the Panthers may push the attack a little more. For now, the club will need to continue eking out points from low-scoring games. In their first 10 games of the season, the Panthers have only scored three regulation goals once (a 4-3 overtime win against Colorado).

Entering tonight's game, Luongo has posted a 2.11 goals against average, .932 save percentage and one shutout in nine outings. Brad Boyes (two power play goals, four assists) and Jokinen (one goal, five assists) share the overall scoring lead with six points apiece.

As was the case last Saturday, the Panthers remain without numerous key forwards. However, the injury situation is slowly improving. Aleksander Barkov (knee) practiced with the team yesterday and is expected to play tonight. However, Brandon Pirri (IR, concussion), Sean Bergenheim (lower body) and Dave Bolland (IR, groin pull) are not available. Former Calder Trophy winner Jonathan Huberdeau (flu) has been out since Saturday and did not play in Boston on Tuesday.

Key team stat comparisons (NHL overall ranking)

Non-shootout goals per game: Flyers 3.08 (T-6th), Panthers 1.50 (29th)
Non-shootout goals against per game: Flyers 3.08 (23rd), Panthers 1.90 (3rd)
Even strength Goals For/Against Ratio: Flyers 0.84 (24th), Panthers 1.60 (3rd)
Power play efficiency: Flyers 19.5% (13th), Panthers 14.3% (T-22nd)
Penalty killing efficiency: Flyers 78.4% (23rd), Panthers 76.6% (25th)
Faceoff percentage: Flyers 50.9% (12th), Panthers 46.9% (T-27th)


Projected lineups (Subject to change, will be updated)

FLYERS

76 Chris VandeVelde - 28 Claude Giroux - 93 Jakub Voracek
18 R.J. Umberger - 40 Vincent Lecavalier - 17 Wayne Simmonds
10 Brayden Schenn - 14 Sean Couturier - 24 Matt Read
36 Zac Rinaldo - 78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 42 Jason Akeson

8 Nicklas Grossmann - 32 Mark Streit
15 Michael Del Zotto - 55 Nick Schultz
26 Carlo Colaiacovo - 22 Luke Schenn

35 Steve Mason
[29 Ray Emery]

Scratches: Andrew MacDonald (lower body), Braydon Coburn (IR, left foot), Michael Raffl (lower body), Blair Jones (healthy).


PANTHERS

36 Jussi Jokinen - 16 Aleksander Barkov - 24 Brad Boyes
19 Scottie Upshall 27 Nick Bjugstad 12 Jimmy Hayes
82 Tomas Kopecky - 17 Derek MacKenzie - 22 Shawn Thornton
14 Tomas Fleischmann - 21 Vincent Trocheck - 23 Rocco Grimaldi

51 Brian Campbell - 5 Aaron Ekblad
33 Willie Mitchell - 7 Dmitry Kulikov
4 Dylan Olsen - 44 Erik Gudbranson

1 Roberto Luongo
[35 Al Montoya]

Scratches: Colby Robak (healthy), Brandon Pirri (IR, concussion), Dave Bolland (IR, groin), Jonathan Huberdeau (flu), Sean Bergenheim (lower body).

*********

PHANTOMS DROP 4-3 DECISION TO WORCESTER

Unable to protect a third period lead, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (4-4-1) dropped a seesaw 4-3 road decision in regulation last night against the Worcester Sharks. The game was the first of a four-game road trip for Terry Murray's club, including three straight away games in the New England region.

Taylor Leier (2nd of the season), Petr Straka (3rd) and Brandon Alderson (2nd) tallied goals for the Phantoms. Rookie goaltender Anthony Stolarz stopped 31 of 35 shots in a losing cause.

The Phantoms got some help on the blueline, as Shayne Gostisbehere and Brandon Manning made their returns to the Lehigh Valley lineup following their NHL recalls and respective AHL reassignments by the Flyers. Mark Alt (shoulder injury) remains out for a few more weeks.

Gostisbehere and Straka assisted on Leier's early first period power play goal that opened the scoring in the game. Gostisbehere went on to post three shots on goal, but was a minus-two at even strength. In the final minute of the third period, "Ghost" hit the post with a chance to tie the game and force overtime.

Fellow rookie defenseman Robert Hägg registered an assist on Straka's late second-period goal, two shots on goal and a minor penalty for slashing. With an even plus-minus (plus one, minus one) on the night, Hägg stands at minus-five on the season.

Lehigh Valley led 1-0 in the first period, fell behind 2-1 in the second and then rallied to take a short-lived 3-2 lead in the third period on Alderson's goal. However, Worcester struck back almost immediately after Alderson's goal, tying the game and then going ahead to stay within two minutes. The Sharks' game winner was a gut punch for the Phantoms, as it came shorthanded.

For the Sharks, Jeremy Langlois scored even strength and power play goals to forge Worcester's 2-1 lead after Leier's goal. Daniil Tarasov re-tied the game at 3-3 before Ryan Carpenter scored the winning goal on a shorthanded counterattack. Troy Grosenick, a teammate of the Phantoms' Gostisbehere at Union College, notched the win with 32 saves.

Leier's goal was scored on the back end of a give-and-go with Straka. In the second period, Straka potted the rebound of a Hägg shot. Jesper Pettersson (plus-one on the night) got the other assist. Alderson used his size effectively on the Phantoms' third goal, fending off a defender and roofing the puck on a delayed penalty against the Sharks.

For Worcester, Langlois' first goal was a deflection (off his skate) as Freddie Hamilton's attempted pass bounced off him and past Stolarz. The play was reviewed on video and the goal was upheld. Langlois' second tally was off the fat rebound of a Taylor Fedun shot. Stolarz made the initial stop with his stick but the puck skittered out into the slot.

Lehigh Valley would come back to tie the score at 2-2 with 1:21 remaining in the second period after some strong, sustained pressure in the Sharks zone. Zack Stortini did a fine job preventing Worcester from clearing and Robert Hagg’s shot from the point was kicked out by Grosenick to Straka in the slot who buried his rebound opportunity. Stolarz made consecutive saves on Worcester's Matt Tennyson in the sequence that ended with Tarasov's game-tying goal on the team's third rapid-fire crack at the net. The goal came just 47 seconds after Alderson's.

Sixty one seconds after Tarasov's goal, Rylan Schwartz was denied by Stolarz on a shorthanded breakaway but Carpenter immediately stashed home the rebound. Shots in the game were even at 35-35. Then Phantoms 1-for-4 on the power play but allowed the critical shorthanded goal while the Sharks were 1-for-5 on their power plays.

Rookie Phantoms center Scott Laughton was held off the scoresheet in this game but created an excellent scoring opportunity in the third period. Grosenick made the game's most spectacular save to deny Andrew Gordon.

The Phantoms are back in road action on Friday night, playing the Manchester Monarchs. That will be followed immediately by a trip to Maine to play the Portland Pirates on Sunday.

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