Coming off of a disheartening 5-2 loss in Florida, the Flyers take on their divisional foe in the Carolina Hurricanes tonight hoping to snap a four game losing streak. This has been a rough go around for the orange and black of late, and it doesn’t get much better with the Hurricanes tonight.
The lines have been switched up again, with James van Riemsdyk demoted to the fourth line, and Jakub Voracek placed on the Couturier line. Offensively, the Flyers simply put have to be better. They’re not generating the high quality chances they were at the beginning of the season, and the goal scoring has taken a hit because of it. Tonight would be a perfect time to snap out of that funk, given the team the Flyers are playing.
Despite their recent struggles, the Flyers are just three points behind the Canes for third in the Metropolitan Division. A win tonight would not only snap a losing streak, but get the team a huge win vs. a team ahead of them in the standings. So needless to say, a better effort would be nice to see.
Players to watch for
Morgan Frost — Frost dazzled in his debut, but with the impending return of Scott Laughton, could really assure himself staying on this roster with a strong game tonight. He’ll be playing on the Giroux line yet again, so he should have every opportunity to impress the coaching staff.
Jakub Voracek — It’s no secret that Voracek is struggling. He’s not producing offensively, and a liability defensively. At a certain point he has to get it going with the amount of money he’s making, and again, there’s no better time for it than tonight.
Brian Elliott — Elliott came in for Frost at the end of Tuesday night’s game vs. Florida, and looked solid albeit facing a minimal amount of shots. Elliott has been a real calming presence this season in net and kept the Flyers in games they possibly shouldn’t be in, let’s hope he doesn’t have to do that tonight.
Two Big Questions
1. Can the power play right the ship?
The power play is in a real funk, and need a solid performance. Carolina’s penalty kill is a good one, so it won’t be a small feat, but they need to get things going. Obviously, we’d all love to see Giroux back on the left half-boards, but it doesn’t look like that’s in the plans as of Tuesday night.
2. Will the offense come to life?
They have to at some point, right? Please, we’re begging you guys, score some good hockey goals tonight.
Flyers Projected Lines
Forwards
Lindblom — Couturier — Voracek
Giroux — Frost — Konecny
Farabee — Hayes — Pitlick
Van Riemsdyk — Raffl — Andreoff
Defense
Provorov — Niskanen
Gostisbehere — Braun
Sanheim — Myers
Goalie
Elliott
(Hart)
