Preview: Candy Canes

The Game : 7:30 p.m. EST on ESPN

American Thanksgiving has come and gone and, by some stroke of fate, the Flyers sit at third in the Metropolitan Division. Granted, they\'ve played a couple more games (tonight will be number 22) than some others--the Washington Capitals have the fewest with 18, and the division-leading New York Rangers have 20--but third is third. Tonight, the Flyers play the Carolina Hurricanes, who are one game behind and one point ahead in the standings. A regulation win would put the Flyers second in the Metro.

The Flyers are riding the high of a 1-0 shootout victory last Saturday over the ever-stingy New York Islanders, but not for lack of chances; they outshot the Isles 40-25. That\'s been a trend lately for the Flyers: they\'ve outshot opponents in their last five outings. The last team they didn\'t outshoot? The Carolina Hurricanes on November 15th. Now that the Flyers\' offense seems to be rolling, maybe they can pepper the Canes\' goaltender more than the last time the two teams met. But it will be a bit more of an uphill battle than we originally might have expected -- the Flyers dropped the surprise news on us this morning that they\'ll be without Noah Cates for the next 6-8 weeks.

Carolina\'s had a rough go lately, going 6-4-0 in their last 10--including an 8-2 blowout loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. There\'s three major reasons for Carolina\'s struggles: 1) their system hasn\'t been as effective as usual, 2) their goaltending situation without Frederik Andersen is a bit dire and 3) they can\'t seem to outscore the first two issues. You\'re playing with fire if you let that third go to your head: the Canes continue to be analytical darlings for a reason, and that offense could flip on at any moment.

By and large, we\'ll be seeing the same Canes roster as two weeks ago, with Tony DeAngelo and Jalen Chatfield rotating in and out of the third pair. Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis lead the team with 17 points a piece, and Brent Burns has the highest average ice time at 21:40--Jaccob Slavin\'s not far behind with 21:06.

Bonus reading: if you\'ve ever wondered what goes into the live production of a hockey game, this piece from The Athletic is a charming adventure behind the scenes of a Carolina Hurricanes game.

Players to Watch

Rasmus Ristolainen

He\'s back, folks--and he looks about the same as last year: not a lot of offense, but substantially improved on defense. Risto had his first game of the season against the Islanders on Saturday and didn\'t look terrible, which is good news for us. With this year and three more remaining on his contract, a serviceable third-pair defenseman is the bare minimum we can hope for.

Morgan Frost

Also making an appearance against the Islanders after a few scratchings, Morgan Frost is likely to remain in the lineup against Carolina. Who will sit in his place is the more intriguing question: Bobby Brink, who was scratched on Saturday? Noah Cates, who has been invisible this season (and was briefly moved back to wing in New York)? Ryan Poehling, who might not be a long-term lock on this team? We may not know until close to game time.

Michael Bunting

While some view Bunting as little more than \"grit,\" he\'s looked better in his last few outings and has three points in his previous three games. Watch for him to get in the Flyers\' faces and maybe pop a goal past the Flyers\' fourth line.

Projected Lineups

Philadelphia Flyers

Tyson Foerster – Sean Couturier – Travis Konecny Owen Tippett– Morgan Frost – Cam Atkinson Joel Farabee – Ryan Poehling – Bobby Brink Nic Deslauriers – Scott Laughton – Garnet Hathaway

Cam York – Travis Sanheim Nick Seeler – Sean Walker Marc Staal – Rasmus Ristolainen

Carter Hart Sam Ersson

Carolina Hurricanes

Teuvo Teravainen – Sebastian Aho – Seth Jarvis Andrei Svechnikov – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Martin Necas Jordan Martinook – Jordan Staal – Jesper Fast Michael Bunting – Jack Drury – Stefan Noesen

Jaccob Slavin – Brent Burns Brady Skjei – Brett Pesce Dmitry Orlov – Jalen Chatfield

Pyotr Kochetkov Antti Raanta

Gameday Tunes

A club banger on a Tuesday night? Sure, why not--rage on.

https://open.spotify.com/track/0hUU81fjvfcvaiCCN51oRy?si=827c3c9f0eed42d2

Stats via Hockey Reference

Talking Points