GAME PREVIEW (7:45 AM EST)
Needing a win in a divisional game to aid the slow climb back to respectability, the Philadelphia Flyers (4-9-0) are in Raleigh tonight to take on the Carolina Hurricanes (4-7-3). Game time is 7:30 p.m. eastern. The match will be televised locally on CSN Philadelphia and nationally on NBCSN.
This is the second of four meetings between the teams this season, and the final one in Raleigh. The clubs will play each other at the Wells Fargo Center on Jan. 21 and April 13.
Historically, the Flyers have dominated the Hurricanes, dating back to their days as the Hartford Whalers. However, Carolina took the first game of the season series this year, winning 2-1 in what proved to be (former Stanley Cup winning Carolina coach) Peter Laviolette's final game behind the Flyers' bench.
In that game, the Flyers got outshot by a 34-18 margin, with a 60-40 differential in attempted shots. Much of that differential was reflective of a lopsided first period. Only the strong play of goaltender Steve Mason, who was stellar after allowing an early soft goal, kept the score respectable for the Flyers. Luke Schenn scored the lone Flyers goal, directly off a faceoff win. A few minutes later, the defenseman gave the goal back on a bad giveaway into the slot.
After tonight's game, the Flyers return home. They will play the New Jersey Devils on Thursday and the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday afternoon.
FLYERS OUTLOOK
Twenty-four hours after sustaining a humiliating 7-0 blowout at the hands of the Washington Capitals, the Flyers recovered to defeat the New Jersey Devils by a 1-0 score. Philly held the Devils to just 14 shots for the game, as Ray Emery earned the shutout.
On the positive side, the Flyers have entered the third period of 12 of their first 13 games leading, tied or trailing by just one goal. On the negative, they have scored fewer than three goals in 12 of 13. The outlying matches were the Caps game -- in which the Flyers yielded five goals in the second period -- and a 5-2 win over the Islanders.
The Flyers have scored just 1.615 goals per game this season. Through 13 games, they've gotten a combined two goals between forwards Jakub Voracek (one goal, three assists), Wayne Simmonds (one goal, four assists), team captain Claude Giroux (zero goals, six assists), Sean Couturier (zero goals, three assists) and Scott Hartnell (zero points in nine games) and defensemen Mark Streit (zero goals, four assists) and Kimmo Timonen (zero points).
Mason will return to net tonight after Emery started the New Jersey game. Mason was pulled after the third goal -- none of which were attributable to misplays by him -- in the Capitals game and then finished out the game after Emery's ejection for his fight with Washington goaltender Braden Holtby.
At Monday's practice in Voorhees, head coach Craig Berube revised his forward lines.
Vincent Lecavalier is expected to be back in the lineup tonight (wearing a protective half visor/half cage) after suffering a facial contusion in Friday's third-period line brawl and missing the next game. Jakub Voracek skated on left wing of the Brayden Schenn line, along with Wayne Simmonds on the right. Jay Rosehill and Tye McGinn rotated reps on the fourth line centered by Adam Hall.
While Lecavalier is probable for tonight, Steve Downie (concussion) remains out indefinitely. Downie was released from University of Pennsylvania hospital on Sunday and is said to be doing better.
The defense combinations at practice were the same as Saturday's game. That means Luke Schenn and Erik Gustafsson are likely to remain healthy scratches, with Hal Gill and Andrej Meszaros staying in the lineup after the shutout win in New Jersey.
HURRICANES OUTLOOK
The Hurricanes have been in a tailspin since the Flyers last saw them. The team enters tonight's game having lost five in a row, and has been outscored by a combined 18-5 margin in that span.
Star goaltender Cam Ward is on injured reserve with a lower-body injury suffered in a game against Minnesota. Second-string goaltender Anton Khudobin is also out with a lower body injury. That has pressed Justin Peters into service as the Hurricanes starter.
Additionally, forward Jeff Skinner, who ran roughshod over the Flyers in the first meeting of the season between the clubs, is out of the lineup. He has an upper body injury. Skinner leads the team in scoring with nine points (three goals, six assists) in 10 games and is one of the club's few plus-rated players at a team-best plus-five.
The Hurricanes are coming off a desultory 5-1 road loss to the New York Rangers on Saturday. Defenseman Andrej Sekera scored a late second period goal to temporarily trim a three-goal deficit to two. The Rangers peppered Peters with 38 shots and went 1-for-4 on the ppwer play to the Canes' 1-for-3.
In the absence of Skinner, the Canes need more production from the likes of Eric Staal (three goals, eight points, minus-10), Alexander Semin (three goals, seven points) and Jordan Staal (one goal, three points). Tiny forward Nathan Gerbe has chipped in three goals and seven points to date.
On special teams, the Hurricanes rank 23rd on the power play (8-for-52, 15.4 percent) and 20th (41-for-51, 80.4 percent) on the penalty kill. Also of note is the fact that Carolina has yielded an NHL-worst three shorthanded goals to date and has yet score one of their own. The home penalty kill (20-for-22) has generally been a bright spot.
Apart from losing their starting and backup goalies and one of their best two forwards, the Canes will be without former Flyers defenseman Joni Pitkanen (left heel surgery) for the season. Veteran forward Radek Dvorak (lower body) practiced yesterday but is still officially on injured reserve. Defenseman Tim Gleason (upper body) and forward Kevin Westgarth (upper body) are both listed as questionable for tonight. Neither practiced on Monday.
PROJECTED LINEUPS (Subject to change)
FLYERS
19 Scott Hartnell - 28 Claude Giroux - 40 Vincent Lecavalier
93 Jakub Voracek - 10 Brayden Schenn - 17 Wayne Simmonds
12 Michael Raffl - 14 Sean Couturier - 24 Matt Read
37 Jay Rosehill or 15 Tye McGinn - 18 Adam Hall - 36 Zac Rinaldo
44 Kimmo Timonen - 5 Braydon Coburn
8 Nicklas Grossmann - 32 Mark Streit
75 Hal Gill - 41 Andrej Meszaros
35 Steve Mason
[29 Ray Emery]
Scratches: Luke Schenn (healthy), Erik Gustafsson (healthy), Tye McGinn or Jay Rosehill (healthy), Steve Downie (IR, concussion), Chris Pronger (LTIR, post-concussion syndrome).
HURRICANES
19 Jiri Tlusty - 12 Eric Staal - 28 Alexander Semin
14 Nathan Gerbe - 11 Jordan Staal - 16 Elias Lindholm
15 Tuomo Ruutu - 20 Riley Nash - 39 Pat Dwyer
21 Drayson Bowman - 22 Manny Malhotra - 18 Radek Dvorak (?)
27 Justin Faulk - 4 Andrej Sekera
73 Brett Bellemore - 65 Ron Hainsey
44 Jay Harrison - 7 Ryan Murphy
35 Justin Peters
[70 Mike Murphy]
Scratches: Mike Komisarek (healthy), Kevin Westgarth (questionable), Tim Gleason (questionable), Radek Dvorak (IR, practiced on Monday, may be activated if healthy), Jeff Skinner (IR, upper body), Cam Ward (IR, lower body), Anton Khudobin (IR, lower body), Joni Pitkänen (IR, heel surgery).
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Congratulations to our FlyerBuzz podcast trivia contest winner Patrick Riley of Media, PA, for being the first to come up with the correct answer. Pete Peeters was the goaltender of record in the game in question. Patrick wins a pair of tickets to Saturday's Flyers-Oilers matinee at the Wells Fargo Center. We will be doing more such giveaways during the season so keep on listening!
On the International Ice Hockey Federation's official Web site, I take an in-depth look at one of the many innovations that the late Fred Shero brought to the NHL: studying and adapting European hockey tactics to fit the small-rink game. For more on Shero's contributions in the realm of studying and adapting international hockey to the NHL,
click here.
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