Lightning at Flyers
The red-hot Tampa Bay Lightning attempt to match the longest winning streak in franchise history and equal the longest in the league this season when they visit the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday night. The Lightning have outscored opponents 42-17, including 12-2 in the third period, during their nine-game run and earned the first shutout of the season Thursday with a 4-0 triumph over Pacific Division-leading Arizona at home.
“It’s been a while,” Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy told reporters of the shutout after improving his save percentage to .966 in four January games. “I thought we played very well, all 60 minutes. We had some games in the past when I could’ve had a shutout, but we gave up a late goal. Tonight I thought we played perfectly and the whole team deserved it.” The Lightning won a record 10 in a row from Feb. 9-27 last year and need one victory to tie the New York Islanders for the best winning run of the season as they go for a sixth straight triumph against Philadelphia. The Flyers will be a tough nut to crack after improving their home record to 14-2-4 with a 3-2 victory over league-best Washington on Wednesday that snapped a four-game losing streak. “We played the right way,” Flyers center Kevin Hayes told reporters after scoring his 13th goal Wednesday. “Started with our goalie, our (defensemen) played well, we got the puck out as quick as we can, got it behind their defensemen, and I thought it was a full 60-minute effort.”
TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: FS Sun, NBCS Philadelphia Plus
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (26-13-4): Right wing Nikita Kucherov hit the back of the net twice in Thursday’s win and has made the scoresheet in six straight games to push his team-leading total to 49 points. Center Brayden Point boasts a seven-game point streak and shares the team lead at 18 goals with Alex Killorn, who is one away from his career high after scoring eight times in nine contests. Ryan McDonagh (upper body) has missed three straight games and is questionable while forwards Ondrej Palat (knee) and Pat Maroon (upper body) were injured Thursday, but coach Jon Cooper told reporters he does think either one is serious.
ABOUT THE FLYERS (23-15-6): Forward Travis Konecny has scored three times in four games this month to push his team-leading totals to 14 goals and 38 points. Center Sean Couturier registered six of his 36 points (12 goals) in the past four games and captain Claude Giroux owns seven of his 31 in the last eight contests. Philadelphia extinguished all five power-play attempts by Washington after allowing five goals in 10 tries over the previous three contests and coach Alain Vigneault told reporters of the team’s fourth-ranked penalty-killing unit at home: “I thought our execution was a little bit better and we got a couple big saves at the right time.”
OVERTIME
1. Philadelphia G Carter Hart (14-10-3, .906 save percentage) made 26 saves Wednesday for his first win since Dec. 23.
2. Tampa Bay F Steven Stamkos on Thursday became the third player in franchise history (joining Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier) to log 400 assists.
3. The Flyers entered Friday leading the league in faceoff percentage (54.9) and allowing the third least shots per game (29.0).