The Flyers already denied the fellow playoff chasing Panthers of valuable points earlier this week, but the question is now is just how many points they can take from the team looking up at them in the standings.
After leaping over the Hurricanes with the win over these same Panthers on Monday, the Flyers look to further the gap in their possession of the second and final Eastern Conference wild card spot and the slew of chasers behind them.
One of those teams is said Panthers, who sit a full three points behind the Flyers — though they do have a game in hand. Florida opened the scoring on Monday in Philadelphia at the Wells Fargo Center, but watched the Flyers storm back with four unanswered goals in the 4-1 win to vault back into a playoff spot in a crowded Eastern Conference.
While the Flyers used their excellent home-ice advantage (19-5-4 on the season) to their benefit on Monday, tonight they’ll be digging deep inside the big litter box down in Sunrise. It starts a two-game Florida swing, capped by a 4pm Saturday showdown with the red-hot Lightning, winners of eight-straight as of this writing. Needless to say securing points against the Panthers would be the preferable method, with anything positive against the Lightning coming as an unexpected bonus.
Players to watch
Carter Hart
Though Brian Elliott did settle down a bit (ditto the rest of the team) after the Flyers surrender three first period goals in Brooklyn on Tuesday, there’s no denying that Hart was excellent in his return to action against the Panthers on Monday and represents a game-changer in the crease.
The Flyers didn’t let Hart coast in his return from injury, and he was impressive against several scoring chances, and high-danger chances from these same Panthers a few nights ago. With points needed to keep the ridiculous pace in the playoff race, Hart could be the difference since he’s clearly far superior in every single way to Sergei Bobrovsky.
Claude Giroux
The captain has been coming on as of late with six points in his last three games, with four of them coming at even strength. He’s also been showing up on the left side of the Flyers’ power play, which has generated some good chances and possession the last few nights despite the 0-for-7 mark. If the coaching staff sticks with it, the production won’t be far behind, and that would really ramp up Giroux’s impact.
Travis Sanheim
Look for whatever reason Sanheim just owns Bobrovsky, and with six out of his 19 career goals coming at the hands of the former Flyers netminder, we’d say that’s pretty accurate. With the man they call Bob expected back between the pipes tonight, it’s a fair bet that Sanheim will be celebrating at some point.
Related
Key matchup to watch
Flyers power play (18.9%, 19th in NHL) vs. Panthers penalty kill (77.6%, 22nd)
As we noted above, and Ryan explored recently here on this very website (see below), the coaching staff is really trying to jumpstart the Flyers’ power play. Now whether we’re talking a 1-3-1 or some kind of double net front presence, why don’t we just leave Giroux on the left half wall for like a month and just see if he reverts to be the power play point producing machine he’s been from that spot his whole career?
Related
Flyers’ new power-play setup pays immediate dividends, but long-term results await
Regardless of whether the Flyers have a plethora of dudes in front of Giroux lined up on defense or some crap, the Panthers’ penalty kill is actively bad and has given up at least one goal in 10 of their past 16 games. Not only do they give up plenty, they also take a fudge ton of penalties, likely offering the Flyers ample chances to take advantage.
Flyers’ projected lineup vs. Panthers
Forwards
Giroux – Couturier – Voracek
Laughton – Hayes – Konecny
JVR – Frost – Farabee
Pitlick – Raffl – NAK
Defensemen
Provorov – Niskanen
Sanheim – Myers
Hagg – Braun
Goalie
Hart
(Elliott)
With a bounce-back needed just as badly as the two points, the Flyers’ test in Florida tonight is a big one. Todd Little of Litter Box Cats joined us to talk a little bit about how the Flyers won the first game this week and what we might expect from the second.
