Flyers-Lightning: Game 41 Preview

Kevin Durso

January 7 2017

(Kate Frese/Sports Talk Philly)

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor

There were changes aplenty at practice on Friday following the Flyers fifth straight loss on Wednesday. As the season hits the halfway point, the comfortable margin the Flyers had built in the standings is gone.

One of the teams hot on their heels is the Tampa Bay Lightning, who come to Philadelphia for the second time this season for the final meeting between the two teams this season.

The opening face-off is set for 1 p.m.

Flyers Leaders	GP	G	A	P	Lightning Leaders	GP	G	A	P
Jake Voracek	40	13	24	37	Nikita Kucherov	33	15	23	38
Claude Giroux	40	10	23	33	Victor Hedman	40	7	29	36
Wayne Simmonds	40	17	15	32	Tyler Johnson	40	12	12	24
Brayden Schenn	37	11	14	25	Valtteri Filppula	38	6	18	24
Travis Konecny	39	5	14	19	Jonathan Drouin	32	11	12	23

Player to Watch
93 Jake Voracek	27 Jonathan Drouin
Last 5 Games: 2 G, 0 A, 2 P, -7	Last 5 Games: 1 G, 2 A, 3 P, -3

Jake Voracek got back on the board on Wednesday with both Flyers goals in the 5-2 loss for the Rangers. Voracek also switched lines, going back to the second line with Sean Couturier and Travis Konecny, a combination that worked earlier in the season.

Jonathan Drouin has been one of Tampa's best scorers, picking up 11 goals in 32 games this season. The forward's combination of speed and skill can be deadly, and he's already shown that once against the Flyers.

Goalie Matchup
30 Michal Neuvirth	88 Andrei Vasilevskiy
4-2-0, 3.54 GAA, .859 SV%	10-7-2, 2.75 GAA, .908 SV%

It's been nearly two months since Michal Neuvirth was in goal for the Flyers, but he makes his return between the pipes on Saturday. Neuvirth last started a game on Nov. 12, playing the first period against Minnesota before exiting with an injury.

Andrei Vasilevskiy has been a Flyers killer this season and has been a serviceable starter in place of an injured Ben Bishop. But the last couple of starts haven't been great for Vasilevskiy. He has allowed five goals in each of his last two starts, including five goals on 18 shots to the Nashville Predators on Thursday.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Scratches: Dale Weise, Nick Schultz, Mark Streit

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
12 Michael Raffl	28 Claude Giroux	24 Matt Read
11 Travis Konecny	14 Sean Couturier	93 Jake Voracek
25 Nick Cousins	10 Brayden Schenn	17 Wayne Simmonds
76 Chris VandeVelde	78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare	27 Boyd Gordon
Defense
3 Radko Gudas	15 Michael Del Zotto
47 Andrew MacDonald	9 Ivan Provorov
53 Shayne Gostisbehere	23 Brandon Manning
Goalie
30 Michal Neuvirth

Game Notes

Power Play: Flyers (7th, 7th at home), Lightning (2nd, 9th on road)
Penalty Kill: Flyers (19th, 11th at home), Lightning (24th, T-25th on road)
Recent History vs. Lightning
- Nov. 23, 2016 - The Lightning claimed a 4-2 win over the Flyers in Tampa Bay. Victor Hedman scored with three seconds left in the first period to give the Lightning the lead after one, but second-period goals by Dale Weise and Ivan Provorov put the Flyers ahead. The Lightning got goals from Alex Killorn and Ryan Callahan just 12 seconds apart to take the lead and Nikita Kucherov iced the game with a late goal on a 2-on-1 to seal the win.
- Nov. 19, 2016 – The Lightning picked up a 3-0 win over the Flyers in Philadelphia. Tyler Johnson opened the scoring in the first on a power-play goal. Ondrej Palat scored in the second to extend the lead. Jonathan Drouin capped things off with a goal early in the third as Andrei Vasilevskiy made 32 saves to preserve the shutout.
Flyers leaders vs. Lightning