Flyers at Panthers
THE STORY: Sustaining any form of momentum has proved to be a
challenging task for Philadelphia of late. The Flyers have alternated
wins and losses over their past five games, including a loss to Boston
their last time out. But it wasn’t for a lack of trying. "Our guys
showed up and competed," coach Peter Laviolette said. "We did a couple
of things wrong that ended up working against us, but overall the effort
was some of the best I've seen all year." The trend would indicate that
the Flyers are next due for a win when they travel to face the Florida
Panthers on Tuesday. It seems like a highly likely feat considering
Philadelphia has beaten the Panthers three straight times – all in
Florida. This is both teams’ final game prior to the All-Star break.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, CS Philadelphia, FS Florida
ABOUT THE FLYERS (28-14-5):
Philadelphia is one of the rare NHL teams that has a better record on
the road than at home. The Flyers own a league-best 17 road victories
but could use some reinforcements. Chris Pronger, Danny Briere, Jaromir
Jagr and James van Riemsdyk are all out with injuries. Jagr is the only
one of the bunch who could take the ice Tuesday. Goaltender Ilya
Bryzgalov is 3-0-1 with a 1.68 goals against average in four overall
starts against the Panthers.
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (22-15-10):
A season-high four-game losing skid came to an end with Saturday’s 4-3
shootout victory over Winnipeg. "We just needed a win. It didn't matter
what the shot count was or what happened out there," goaltender Scott
Clemmensen said. Kris Versteeg, who has a team-leading 19 goals, had a
pair of goals and an assist. It snapped a season-long nine-game goalless
drought for the 25-year-old winger.
OVERTIME:
1. Flyers veteran left wing Scott Hartnell has five goals in his past two games.
2. The Panthers will likely be without defenseman Dmitry Kulikov (lower body) and forward Jack Skille (upper body).