Lightning at Flyers
THE STORY: The Tampa Bay Lightning showed plenty of character to come from behind and win at the New York Rangers on Thursday without injured All-Star Marty St. Louis. They hope to build off that emotion Saturday when they visit the red-hot Philadelphia Flyers, who have won four straight and six of seven. St. Louis is out indefinitely after suffering facial and nasal fractures at the morning skate Thursday. The Flyers announced Friday that captain Chris Pronger is also out indefinitely with concussion symptoms. It will be the first meeting between the teams since the Flyers held the puck several times and did not attack the Lightning’s 1-3-1 trap on Nov. 9, causing a heated debate around the NHL. Philadelphia’s high-scoring offense only produced 15 shots in a 2-1 overtime loss. Tampa Bay is 4-0-1 in the last five against the Flyers.
TV: 7 p.m. ET; NHL Network, SunSports (Tampa), CSN (Philadelphia).
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (12-14-2): Defenseman Pavel Kubina and forward Nate Thompson were back on the ice for practice Friday. Kubina sat out the last three games and Thompson missed one. The Lightning released 19-year-old forward Brett Connolly, who scored the winner Nov. 9, to play for Team Canada at the World Junior Championships over the holidays. Leading scorer Steven Stamkos, who has 16 goals and 14 assists, had his eight-game point streak broken Thursday.
ABOUT THE FLYERS (17-7-3): Claude Giroux has 10 points in six games to take over the league lead in points with 37, keying an offense that tops the NHL with 3.56 goals a game. Jaromir Jagr has come back strong from a groin injury with three goals and two assists during the four-game win streak. Scott Hartnell may be playing the best hockey of his career, with 13 goals, 24 points and a team-high plus-15. Goalie Ilya Bryzgalov still has a .898 save percentage, but has won his last three starts.
OVERTIME:
1. The Flyers are 3-4-1 against Southeast Division teams this season.
2. Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman played 28:58 and earned his first point in 17 games Thursday.
3. Jagr has 69 points in 59 career games against the Lightning.