Hurricanes at Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers attempt to end a three-game losing streak when they begin a four-game homestand against the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday. Since posting a 7-1 victory over the Panthers in Florida on Jan. 26 in the opener of a four-game road trip, Philadelphia has scored a total of four goals in setbacks at Tampa Bay, the New York Rangers and Washington. The Flyers opened the scoring against the Capitals on Friday but allowed three unanswered goals en route to a 3-2 defeat.
Carolina is coming off its first win over a team other than the Buffalo Sabres. Captain Eric Staal scored late in the first period and Dan Ellis made the goal stand, making 33 saves en route to his 13th career shutout and a 1-0 triumph over the Ottawa Senators on Friday. The Hurricanes' matchup against the Flyers on Saturday begins a six-game road trip that includes another stop in Philadelphia on Feb. 9.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN (Carolina), CSN (Philadelphia)
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (3-3-0): Ellis' shutout was his first since Nov. 9, 2010 while with the Tampa Bay Lightning. He credited the team in front of him for the blanking. "We've really worked on blocking shots, boxing guys out, giving the goalie a chance to see the puck," he said. "We cleared a lot of rebounds out." Staal's goal extended his point streak to four games.
ABOUT THE FLYERS (2-6-0): Already without right wing Scott Hartnell and defenseman Andrej Meszaros, Philadelphia may have lost another player for a significant amount of time as left wing Wayne Simmonds was injured in Friday's loss. Simmonds was elbowed in the head by Washington defenseman John Erskine in the first period, then hit his head on the ice after falling. "He's got a head injury and probably a little bit of whiplash going on right now," Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said. "He seemed OK after the game. We're just going to have to wait and see how he is."
OVERTIME
1. Neither team has done well on the power play as Carolina ranks 28th in the league (10 percent) and Philadelphia 24th (12.5).
2. Ellis is 2-0-0 with a 0.75 goals-against average as he has allowed two goals on 87 shots.
3. The road team has won each of the last three games in the all-time series.