After a shocking, dominating win vs. Washington, the Flyers head back home to take on the Florida Panthers. Although this isn’t a team that’s ahead of the Flyers, they’re right in the thick of it for the two wild card spots so they need to take care of business tonight. If they do win tonight, they’ll be five points up on Florida, and at the very best the first wild card in the East.
The Islanders are playing the Capitals who surely are going to be looking for a bounce back game after their 7-2 loss to the Flyers, and Columbus plays Tampa who is on an eight game win streak. So needless to say, getting two points tonight would be huge given the Isles and Blue Jackets have pretty good chances of losing tonight. This is another game where they can’t afford to come out sluggish, and need to have the same intensity they brought from the jump against the Capitals.
Of course, the big storyline for tonight’s game is the return of Carter Hart. The prized young netminder hasn’t played in almost an entire month, when he faced Boston on January 13. He’ll return to the pipes tonight fittingly at home where he has a ridiculous .940 save percentage. Hart being back is huge for this team, even with Brian Elliott performing well as the starter in his absence.
Players to watch for
Carter Hart — I mean, you had to know he’d be here right? Getting the win and posting solid numbers is obviously going to be what to watch for with Hart, but how he looks in net and how his mobility is will honestly be more important. The Flyers obviously want Hart for the present — being in the middle of a playoff push and all — but having him for the future matters just as much if not more.
Claude Giroux — After going four straight games without a point, Giroux was excellent vs. the Capitals and registered a three point night. He picked up career point number 800 joining just three other Flyers who have reached that mark. This season hasn’t been the best for the captain, but maybe that three point night can spark a late season surge from number 28. If it can, the Flyers’ hopes of reaching, and making some noise in the playoffs increases by a wide margin.
Two big questions
1. Can the power play keep it going?
Not only was the 7-2 win vs. Washington impressive from an even strength standpoint, it was from the power play as well. The struggling man advantage went 2/5 on Saturday, and now face the league’s seventh worst penalty kill. This is a perfect opportunity for the Flyers to stay hot on the power play, and build some momentum on it for the stretch drive.
2. Just please go easy on Carter tonight.
This isn’t a question, but please let the defensive effort actually be good tonight. The last thing we need is Carter facing 40 shots this game and 20 of them being of the difficult variety.
Flyers projected lineup
Forwards
Giroux – Couturier – Voracek
Laughton – Hayes – Konecny
JVR – Frost – Pitlick
Raffl – Bunnaman – NAK
Defensemen
Provorov – Niskanen
Sanheim – Myers
Hagg – Braun
Goalie
Hart
(Elliott)
