Uodate: Cam Atkinson is still not quite ready for clearance to play. The Flyers will go with Friday's main practice lines as the starting lineup. Justin Braun is in, Egor Zamula is out. Tanner Laczynski (who had two assists against New Jersey on opening night) will exit the lineup and Patrick Brown will come back in. Carter Hart is in goal.
13 Kevin Hayes - 49 Noah Cates - 11 Travis Konecny
71 Max Willman - 23 Lukas Sedlak-74 Owen Tippett
21 Scott Laughton - 48 Morgan Frost - 86 Joel Farabee
44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 38 Patrick Brown 17 Zack -MacEwen
9 Ivan Provorov - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
6 Travis Sanheim - 61 Justin Braun
24 Nick Seeler - 77 Tony DeAngelo
79 Carter Hart
[32 Felix Sandström]
Game 25 Preview: Flyers vs. Devils
John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (8-11-5) will host Lindy Ruff's New Jersey Devils (19-4-1) at the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday evening. Game time is 7:00 p.m. ET.
Since losing 5-2 to the Flyers in Philly on opening night, the Devils have gone on to establish themselves as one of the top teams in the NHL this season. The club has gone 10-0-0 on the road after the opening night loss to the Flyers and is 8-1-1 overall over its last 10 games. The Devils are 3-0-1 since Toronto ended New Jersey's 13-game winning streak. On Thursday, the Devils sustained a 4-3 overtime loss to Nashville after giving up a tying goal in the final 10 seconds of regulation.
The Flyers have lost 11 of their last 12 games (1-8-3). They ended a 10-game winless streak on Tuesday with a 3-1 home win over the Islanders before suffering a 4-1 home loss to the Lightning on Tuesday.
For an in-depth preview of Saturday's game, see today's
Five Things on PhiladelphiaFlyers.com.
The Flyers may have Cam Atkinson in the lineup for the first time this season. He was a full participant in practice on Friday for the third time this week. He has missed the entire season to date with an upper-body injury he does not to disclose publicly but has been on the active roster throughout the season. As soon as Atkinson gets the go-ahead to play, he will. James van Riemsdyk (surgery to repair a broken right index finger) is also getting close to a return but remains on Injured Reserve as of this writing.
The Flyers and Devils each practiced on Friday. The Flyers have an optional morning skate in Voorhees on Saturday, while the Devils will not have a skate.
PRACTICE COMBOS (Friday, may or may not carry over into Saturday's game)
Flyers
13 Kevin Hayes - 49 Noah Cates - 11 Travis Konecny
71 Max Willman - 23 Lukas Sedlak-74 Owen Tippett
21 Scott Laughton - 48 Morgan Frost - 86 Joel Farabee
44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 38 Patrick Brown 17 Zack -MacEwen
Extras: 25 James van Riemsdyk -58 Tanner Laczynski - 89 Cam Atkinson
9 Ivan Provorov - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
6 Travis Sanheim - 61 Justin Braun
24 Nick Seeler - 77 Tony DeAngelo
Extra: 54 Zamula
79 Carter Hart
[32 Felix Sandström]
Devils (per Amanda Stein)
********
Phantoms Defeat Checkers, 3-2
In the first game of a back-to-back set at the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (9-7-2) pulled out a 3-2 win in regulation against the Charlotte Checkers (11-6-3) on Friday evening. Ultimately, a strong goaltending performance by Samuel Ersson (32 saves on 34 shots) and a pair of Lehigh Valley goals in the third period lifted them over Charlotte. Former Phantoms/Flyers goalie Alex Lyon (21 saves on 24 shots) absorbed the loss. The Phantoms are 7-2-1 over their last 10 games.
Ersson was the primary reason the Phantoms prevailed. Ian Laperriere's team led at the first intermission. 1-0, despite being outshot by a 13-4 margin. Along the way, the Phantoms had to stave off three Charlotte power plays, including a two-man disadvantage for 39 seconds.
Lehigh Valley opened the scoring at 4:28 of the first period on a seeing-eye shot by Wyatte Wylie along the right side boards that made its way into the net. Adam Ginning got the primary assist with Cooper Marody getting the secondary helper for his fourth assist and fifth point in seven games since returning from injury.
In the second period, the Phantoms were outshot 10-4 (for a two period 24-8 disadvantage). Longtime NHL player Riley Nash tied the game with a shorthanded goal at the 8:25 mark. After receiving a pass from Chris Tierney, Nash cut laterally across the slot and solved Ersson on the backhand.
The game remained knotted at 1-1 until shortly passed the midway point of the third period. In the final frame, the Phantoms finally started putting pressure on Lyon, compiling a 16-11 shot edge.
At the 10:58 mark, the Phantoms took advantage of a friendly bounce on the power play. Veteran captain Cal O'Reilly made a play out of the corner, finding Adam Brooks open. Brooks benefitted from a bounce off a defender's shin pad and found the net on the backhand. The assists went to O'Reilly to Louie Belpedio. Brooks made his return to the Phantoms' lineup for the first time since his Oct. 16 injury against Hershey.
Exactly one minute later, at 11:58, the puck luck went the other way. A center point shot by Logan Hutsko deflected off a defender and past Ersson to tie the game at 2-2. The assists went to Santtu Kinnunen and Tierney.
Finally, at 13:33, fourth line center Jordy Bellerive put the Phantoms ahead to stay with his first goal for Lehigh Valley. This was another fluky-looking goal. From the corner, Bellerive flipped a puck that banked into the net off Lyon's back. The assists went to Ronnie Attard and Hayden Hodgson.
On Saturday, the Phantoms and Checkers will rematch in Charlotte. The two teams are playing each other again next weekend in another back-to-back on Friday and Saturday; this time at the PPL Center in Allentown. Before that, the Phantoms have a road game against the Hartford Wolf Pack on Wednesday.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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