(Photo: Kate Frese)
By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 
A five-game homestand comes to an end on Saturday afternoon, and for the Flyers, it will certainly be a challenge.
Nevermind that the Flyers have lost the last two games to teams trailing them in standings after reeling off three straight wins and points in six straight games. The Flyers have struggled to find the net since, and that has them in danger of a record below .500 on the homestand that started with two wins.
The opponent in this final game of the homestand is the Tampa Bay Lightning, the team atop the Eastern Conference standings and they bring a wealth of scoring into Philadelphia.
Game time is at 1 p.m.
Team Leaders
| Philadelphia Flyers | GP | G | A | P | Tampa Bay Lightning | GP | G | A | P |
| Claude Giroux | 19 | 7 | 15 | 22 | Brayden Point | 19 | 12 | 10 | 22 |
| Jake Voracek | 19 | 5 | 12 | 17 | Nikita Kucherov | 19 | 7 | 14 | 21 |
| Sean Couturier | 19 | 7 | 5 | 11 | Yanni Gourde | 19 | 8 | 19 | 13 |
| Wayne Simmonds | 19 | 7 | 3 | 10 | Steven Stamkos | 19 | 6 | 10 | 16 |
| Oskar Lindblom | 19 | 5 | 5 | 10 | J.T. Miller | 19 | 5 | 10 | 15 |
| Player to Watch | |
| 28 Claude Giroux | 21 Brayden Point |
| Last 5 Games: 3 G, 5 A, 8 P, +5 | Last 5 Games: 4 G, 1 A, 5 P, -5 |
| Goalie Matchup | |
| 33 Cal Pickard | 70 Louis Domingue |
| 3-1-1, 4.33 GAA, .865 SV% | 4-2-0, 3.36 GAA, .890 SV% |
With Michal Neuvirth still on the shelf and Brian Elliott back on the injured list after leaving Thursday's game, Cal Pickard is in the No. 1 slot again. Despite a high GAA and poor save percentage, Pickard does have three wins this season.
The Flyers aren't the only team dealing with an injury in net. Andrei Vasilevskiy is out "for a while" with a fractured foot. That moves backup Louis Domingue into the spotlight. Domingue did win his first start filling in for the injured Vasilevskiy on Thursday, but also has poor numbers despite the record.
Flyers Projected Lineup
Injuries: Michael Raffl, Brian Elliott, Michal Neuvirth
Scratches: Andrew MacDonald, Jori Lehtera
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
| 28 Claude Giroux | 14 Sean Couturier | 11 Travis Konecny |
| 23 Oskar Lindblom | 19 Nolan Patrick | 93 Jake Voracek |
| 25 James van Riemsdyk | 40 Jordan Weal | 17 Wayne Simmonds |
| 22 Dale Weise | 21 Scott Laughton | 62 Nicolas Aube-Kubel |
| Defense | ||
| 9 Ivan Provorov | 8 Robert Hagg | |
| 53 Shayne Gostisbehere | 26 Christian Folin | |
| 6 Travis Sanheim | 3 Radko Gudas | |
| Goalie | ||
| 33 Cal Pickard |
Lineup Notes
Radko Gudas is expected to return to the lineup after missing Thursday's game with an illness. Other than that, the rest of the lines remain the same.
Lightning Projected Lineup
Injuries: Andrei Vasilevskiy, Ondrej Palat, Anton Stralman
Scratches: Danick Martel, Cameron Gaunce, Slater Koekkoek
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
| 10 J.T. Miller | 91 Steven Stamkos | 86 Nikita Kucherov |
| 37 Yanni Gourde | 21 Brayden Point | 9 Tyler Johnson |
| 17 Alex Killorn | 71 Anthony Cirelli | 7 Mathieu Joseph |
| 73 Adam Erne | 13 Cedric Paquette | 24 Ryan Callahan |
| Defense | ||
| 5 Dan Girardi | 77 Victor Hedman | |
| 81 Erik Cernak | 27 Ryan McDonagh | |
| 55 Braydon Coburn | 98 Mikhail Sergachev | |
| Goalie | ||
| 70 Louis Domingue |
Game Notes
- Power Play: Flyers (T-29th, 31st at home), Lightning (T-5th, 3rd on road)
- Penalty Kill: Flyers (30th, 29th at home), Lightning (3rd, T-13th on road)
- Recent History vs. Lightning
- Dec. 29, 2017 – Flyers 5, Lightning 3 (at TB)
- Jan. 25, 2018 – Lightning 5, Flyers 1 (at PHI)
- March 3, 2018 – Lightning 7, Flyers 6 (F/SO) (at TB)
- Flyers Leaders vs. Lightning
- Claude Giroux – 32 GP, 4 G, 28 A, 32 P
- Ivan Provorov – 6 GP, 2 G, 4 A, 6 P
- Jake Voracek – 23 GP, 5 G, 14 A, 19 P
- Cal Pickard – 1 GP, 0-0-1, 2.93 GAA, .925 SV%
- Milestone Watch
- Claude Giroux needs one point to reach 700 for his career.
- Giroux also needs three assists to pass Brian Propp for 2nd all-time in Flyers history.
Where to Watch
TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
