Flyers-Hurricanes: Game 5 Preview

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(Kate Frese/Sports Talk Philly)

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

After opening the season last Friday with a convincing win over the Kings, the Flyers have since dropped three straight games, all against Western Conference opponents.

On Saturday, they get their first look at the East, facing the Carolina Hurricanes, who are off to a similar start at 1-1-2 on the season.

Saturday's game is set to begin at 7 p.m.

Flyers Leaders GP G A P Hurricanes Leaders GP G A P
Claude Giroux 4 0 5 5 Lee Stempniak 4 3 2 5
Matt Read 4 4 0 4 Victor Rask 4 3 2 5
Travis Konecny 4 0 4 4 Jeff Skinner 4 2 3 5
Jake Voracek 4 0 4 4 Justin Faulk 4 1 3 4
Wayne Simmonds 4 3 0 3 Noah Hanifin 4 0 4 4
 
Player to Watch
93 Jake Voracek 53 Jeff Skinner
Last 5 Games: 0 G, 4 A, 4 P, -4 Last 5 Games: 2 G, 3 A, 5 P, -2
 
Among the many Flyers without a goal this season is Jake Voracek. Voracek has been a presence in the first four games and has four assists on the young season, but like many of his teammates, have yet to find the net. Voracek has good numbers against the Hurricanes, five goals and 18 points in 23 career games, so look for him to be active.
 
The last time Jeff Skinner played in Philadelphia, he had a hat trick. Overall, he has 10 goals against the Flyers in his career.
 
Goalie Matchup
35 Steve Mason 31 Eddie Lack
0-2-1, 3.46 GAA, .875 SV% 1-0-1, 3.00 GAA, .895 SV%

Steve Mason gets a second straight start for the Flyers after falling in the home opener to the Ducks on Thursday. Mason is still looking for his first win of the season, having taken the decision in each of the Flyers last three games.

Eddie Lack makes his second straight start as well and just his third of the season. Lack was on the winning end of Carolina's game against Calgary on Thursday, making 24 saves. Lack has four starts against the Flyers in his career with three of them ending as overtime losses.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Scratches: Dale Weise, Radko Gudas, Michael Raffl, Scott Laughton, Michael Del Zotto

Left Wing Center Right Wing
10 Brayden Schenn 28 Claude Giroux 17 Wayne Simmonds
11 Travis Konecny 14 Sean Couturier 93 Jake Voracek
24 Matt Read 78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare 25 Nick Cousins
76 Chris VandeVelde 27 Boyd Gordon 13 Roman Lyubimov
Defense    
53 Shayne Gostisbehere 47 Andrew MacDonald  
9 Ivan Provorov 23 Brandon Manning  
55 Nick Schultz 32 Mark Streit  
Goalie    
35 Steve Mason    

Game Notes

  • Power Play: Flyers (17th, 17th at home), Hurricanes (5th, 5th on road)
  • Penalty Kill: Flyers (T-22nd, T-1st at home), Hurricanes (4th, 5th on road) 
  • Recent History vs. Hurricanes
    • Nov. 14, 2015 - The Flyers defeated the Hurricanes, 3-2, in overtime in Raleigh. The Hurricanes jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals by Elias Lindholm and Victor Rask. Luke Schenn cut the lead to one midway through the second. With just over three minutes remaining in the third, Shayne Gostisbehere threw a shot on goal that was deflected by Wayne Simmonds to even the score. In overtime, Jake Voracek scored on a tip in front just 37 seconds into the extra session for his first goal of the season.
    • Nov. 23, 2015 - The Flyers defeated the Hurricanes, 3-2, in overtime in Philadelphia. The Flyers struck for two goals in the second period by Brayden Schenn and Claude Giroux to put the Flyers in front, but the Hurricanes got both goals back in the third from Victor Rask and Brett Pesce to force overtime. An early Hurricanes penalty gave the Flyers a 4-on-3 power play in overtime, and that led to a game-winning goal by Shayne Gostisbehere.
    • Dec. 15, 2015 – For the third time, the Flyers claimed a win in overtime, defeating the Hurricanes at home, 4-3. The Flyers and Hurricanes traded goals throughout the game. Jeff Skinner opened the scoring for Carolina, but Jake Voracek tied things up early in the second. Skinner scored again just three minutes later, but Brayden Schenn responded with the equalizer just 58 seconds later. Sean Couturier put the Flyers ahead late in the second, but again Skinner struck to complete the hat trick with just under 11 minutes to play. The game would go to overtime, and for the third time in less than a month, Shayne Gostisbehere scored the game-winning goal in the extra session.
    • Feb. 23, 2016 – The Hurricanes claimed a 3-1 win over the Flyers in Raleigh. The Flyers jumped out to an early lead with a goal by Scott Laughton just over two minutes into the game. Carolina came back with two goals in the second by Joakim Nordstrom and Jordan Staal to take the lead. The Flyers peppered Cam Ward with 37 shots, but failed to tie the game as Eric Staal scored with just under six minutes to play to seal the win for Carolina.
  • A Look Back in Flyers History - The Flyers have played some wild games against the Hurricanes, but one of the more memorable ones was on Dec. 11, 2008. The Hurricanes got a goal from Eric Staal in the first and then scored four goals in the second from Staal, Matt Cullen, Sergei Samsonov and Joni Pitkanen to open up a 5-1 lead through two. Scott Hartnell had the only Flyers goal in the second. Hartnell scored again at 1:42 and completed the hat trick at 7:12 to cut the lead to two. Scottie Upshall scored at 15:08 to make it a one-goal game. Simon Gagne completed the comeback with the game-tying goal with 1:44 to play. The game went to a shootout where Gagne and Mike Richards scored and Antero Niittymaki made two saves to give the Flyers a 6-5 win.
  • Flyers leaders vs. Hurricanes
    • Shayne Gostisbehere - 4 games, 2 goals, 2 assists, 4 points
    • Claude Giroux - 27 games, 7 goals, 19 assists, 26 points
    • Wayne Simmonds - 20 games, 9 goals, 7 assists, 16 points
    • Steve Mason - 11 games, 7-3-1, 1.91 GAA, .936 Sv%

Where to Watch
TV: CSN
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic

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