Flyers at Panthers
The surging Florida Panthers have a chance to climb into a playoff position and complete a perfect six-game homestand when they host the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday afternoon. The Panthers have won five in a row to start a stretch during which they play 12 straight games in the Sunshine State and are 12-3-0 in their last 15 overall to move within one point of the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
“A spark has been lit here and we’re meshing well,” Panthers forward Nick Bjugstad told reporters. “There’s no stopping here. Obviously, we still have a lot of games to play and we can’t rely on other teams to help us out. It’s got to be us. It’s going to be a fun run.” Florida has scored 19 goals and allowed 12 during its season high-tying five-game winning streak as it prepares to take on the Flyers, who have earned a point in 13 of their last 14 contests (10-1-3). Philadelphia coughed up a pair of two-goal leads but scored late in regulation Saturday to earn a point in a wild 7-6 shootout loss at Tampa Bay on the first leg of its brief Sunshine State trip after a lackluster 4-1 home setback against Carolina two days earlier. “As we go through this road trip and start this next stretch, we’ve got to raise our level quite a bit from where we were (Thursday),” Flyers coach Dave Hakstol told reporters. “We just wanted to get back to it (Saturday), and I thought our guys did that.”
TV: 3 p.m. ET, TVA, NBCS Philadelphia, FS Florida
ABOUT THE FLYERS (34-20-11): Captain Claude Giroux scored the tying goal Saturday with 2:53 left in the third period and added an assist to give him 19 points in his last 12 contests and increase his team-leading total to 77. Jakub Voracek matched Giroux with a tally and an assist against the Lightning and has notched 71 points while Sean Couturier has recorded 63 after setting up a score but remained one goal shy of 100 for his career. Rookie Nolan Patrick continues to show progress, recording his fifth goal in seven contests on Saturday to reach double digits on the season.
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (31-25-6): All-Star Aleksander Barkov has been one of the key contributors during Florida’s surge, posting eight of his team-leading 62 points in the last five games while scoring at least one goal in three straight. Evgenii Dadonov also has been a force with three goals and five assists over his last five contests, playing primarily on a line with Barkov and Bjugstad. In addition, the Panthers are receiving contributions from their defensemen as Keith Yandle has notched four assists in his last five contests while Aaron Ekblad has collected 11 points over his last 13 games.
OVERTIME
1. Bjugstad has recorded a career-high 23 assists and posted five points (one goal) in his last five games.
2. Hakstol told reporters after the game he had not decided whether Petr Mrazek (six goals allowed against Tampa Bay) or rookie Alex Lyon would start in net on Sunday.
3. The teams have split a pair of meetings this season, but the Flyers are 5-1-1 in the last seven matchups.