(Kate Frese/Sports Talk Philly)
By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Flyers are riding a wave of success, on their second three-game win streak entering a weekend back-to-back against two Western Conference foes.
The first of those is the Chicago Blackhawks, a team that comes in on a hot streak as well, but will be without their captain Jonathan Toews.
The Flyers and Blackhawks are set to face off on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.
| Flyers Leaders | GP | G | A | P | Blackhawks Leaders | GP | G | A | P |
| Wayne Simmonds | 25 | 11 | 11 | 22 | Patrick Kane | 25 | 8 | 16 | 24 |
| Jake Voracek | 25 | 8 | 14 | 22 | Artem Anisimov | 24 | 10 | 11 | 21 |
| Claude Giroux | 25 | 7 | 15 | 22 | Artemi Panarin | 25 | 8 | 13 | 21 |
| Brayden Schenn | 22 | 3 | 11 | 14 | Marian Hossa | 24 | 12 | 6 | 18 |
| Travis Konecny | 25 | 4 | 9 | 13 | Duncan Keith | 25 | 0 | 17 | 17 |
| Player to Watch | |
| 28 Claude Giroux | 15 Artem Anisimov |
| Last 5 Games: 3 G, 2 A, 5 P, +3 | Last 5 Games: 2 G, 1 A, 3 P, E |
| Goalie Matchup | |
| 35 Steve Mason | 33 Scott Darling |
| 7-8-3, 2.91 GAA, .899 SV% | 4-0-1, 2.76 GAA, .909 SV% |
Thursday's win marked the first time this season that Steve Mason has won back-to-back starts. Against a high-powered Chicago offense, Mason will return between the pipes for the Flyers. In relief of Michal Neuvirth, Mason made nine saves on 11 shots in the Flyers first meeting with the Blackhawks this season.
It was supposed to be Corey Crawford in goal for the Blackhawks, but an illness forced him out. Entering in his place is Scott Darling, who has played in just seven games this season, but has a 4-0-1 record.
Flyers Projected Lineup
Scratches: Scott Laughton, Nick Schultz, Radko Gudas, Boyd Gordon, Sean Couturier, Michal Neuvirth
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
| 12 Michael Raffl | 28 Claude Giroux | 93 Jake Voracek |
| 11 Travis Konecny | 10 Brayden Schenn | 17 Wayne Simmonds |
| 24 Matt Read | 78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare | 22 Dale Weise |
| 76 Chris VandeVelde | 25 Nick Cousins | 13 Roman Lyubimov |
| Defense | ||
| 15 Michael Del Zotto | 32 Mark Streit | |
| 47 Andrew MacDonald | 53 Shayne Gostisbehere | |
| 9 Ivan Provorov | 23 Brandon Manning | |
| Goalie | ||
| 35 Steve Mason |
Game Notes
- Power Play: Flyers (3rd, 10th at home), Blackhawks (17th, T-19th on road)
- Penalty Kill: Flyers (23rd, 18th at home), Blackhawks (30th, 27th on road)
- Recent History vs. Blackhawks
- Oct. 18, 2016 - The Blackhawks defeated the Flyers, 7-4, in Chicago. A goal by Patrick Kane just 56 seconds into the game opened the scoring and Chicago added two more in the first from Dennis Rasmussen and Artemi Panarin to make it 3-0. Marian Hossa scored his 500th NHL goal in the second to make it 4-0 just over five minutes into the period. The Flyers made a frantic comeback though, starting with Matt Read scoring with 1:37 left in the second. Read scored again 37 seconds into the third. Sean Couturier scored 1:14 after that. And Wayne Simmonds completed the comeback with the game-tying goal less than two minutes later. Artem Anisimov broke the tie at 10:24. Panarin scored his second with 3:57 remaining and Panarin iced the game with an empty-net goal in the final minute.
- Flyers leaders vs. Blackhawks
- Claude Giroux – 11 games, 3 goals, 13 assists, 16 points
- Matt Read - 8 games, 3 goals, 4 assists, 7 points
- Jake Voracek - 25 games, 5 goals, 14 assists, 19 points
- Steve Mason - 23 games, 7-12-3, 3.42 GAA, .890 Sv%
- Milestone Watch
- Claude Giroux plays in his 600th NHL game today. He is the 19th play in Flyers history to reach the milestone.
- Giroux also needs one assist to pass Rod Brind'Amour for 7th all-time in Flyers history.
- Andrew MacDonald needs two assists to reach 100 for his career.
- Steve Mason needs one win to pass Pete Peeters for 7th all-time in Flyers history.
Where to Watch
TV: CSN
Radio: 93.3 WMMR
