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(Kate Frese/Sports Talk Philly)
By Bill Minchin, Sports Talk Philly Writer
The Philadelphia Flyers (10-10-3) close out a three game home stand tonight when the host Zdeno Chara and the Boston Bruins (12-10-0). This is the first time the two rivals have meet this season and it will be the only time in Philadelphia for the season. They will play twice more this year with both games taking place in Boston. Game time for tonight is 7:30.
| Flyers Leaders | GP | G | A | P | Bruins Leaders | GP | G | A | P |
| Wayne Simmonds | 23 | 10 | 11 | 21 | Brad Marchand | 22 | 6 | 13 | 19 |
| Jakub Voracek | 23 | 8 | 11 | 19 | David Pastrnak | 17 | 13 | 4 | 17 |
| Claude Giroux | 23 | 4 | 15 | 19 | David Krejci | 22 | 2 | 11 | 13 |
| Brayden Schenn | 20 | 3 | 10 | 13 | Dominic Moore | 22 | 6 | 3 | 9 |
| Mark Streit | 23 | 4 | 8 | 12 | David Backes | 17 | 5 | 4 | 9 |
| Player to Watch | |
| 25 Nick Cousins | 88 David Pastrnak |
| Last 5 Games: 1 G, 1 A, 1 P, -1 | Last 5 Games: 4 G, 0 A, 4 P, +3 |
| Goalie Matchup | |
| 35 Steve Mason | 40 Tuukka Rask |
| 5-8-3, 3.04 GAA, .892 SV% | 12-4-0, 1.63 GAA, .940 SV% |
Steve Mason returns to the net tonight for Philadelphia. Mason had Sunday night off after starting every game since Michal Neuvirth went down with a lower body injury back on November 12th. Mason has played much better with the extended playing time and will look to continue that tonight.
Tuukka Rask looks like the Tukka Rask that won the Vezina Trophy a few years back. Rask is second in the league in wins, shutouts, and goals against average and fifth in save percentage. As Rask goes, so do the Bruins. The Flyers are in for a real challenge tonight.
Flyers Projected Lineup
Scratches: Scott Laughton, Nick Schultz, Brandon Manning, Boyd Gordon, Michal Neuvirth, Sean Couturier
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
| 102 Michael Raffl | 28 Claude Giroux | 17 Wayne Simmonds |
| 11 Travis Konecny | 25 Nick Cousins | 93 Jakub Voracek |
| 24 Matt Read | 78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare | 22 Dale Weise |
| 76 Chris VandeVelde | 10 Brayden Schenn | 13 Roman Lyubimov |
| Defense | ||
| 15 Michael Del Zotto | 32 Mark Streit | |
| 9 Ivan Provorov | 3 Radko Gudas | |
| 47 Andrew MacDonald | 53 Shayne Gostisbehere | |
| Goalie | ||
| 35 Steve Mason |
Game Notes
- Power Play: Flyers (2nd, 10th at home), Bruins (18th, 19th on road)
- Penalty Kill: Flyers (23rd, 25th at home), Bruins (4th, 9th on road)
- Last Season vs Boston: The Flyers went 2-1-0 vs the Bruins last season. They won the lone game at TD Garden in late October on an overtime goal by Claude Giroux and split the final two meetings in Philadelphia with Boston winning the most recent match up.
- Milestone Watch:
- Andrew MacDonald needs two assists for 100 in his career
- Mark Streit is six goals short of 100 for his career
Where to Watch
Tv: NBCSN
Radio: 97.5 The FANatic
