Lightning at Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers look to extend their home winning streak to 11 games on Saturday afternoon, when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Flyers skated to their third straight victory and eighth in nine contests on Wednesday, a 3-1 triumph over Montreal. Defenseman Andrej Meszaros set up all three tallies for Philadelphia, which can match the third-longest home winning streak in franchise history with a victory on Saturday.
Speaking of streaks, Tampa Bay's Ondrej Palat recorded a goal and an assist in Thursday's 4-3 loss to Washington to extend his point run to eight games. The streak is the longest by an NHL rookie this season and also tops the franchise mark. Palat also scored in Tampa Bay's 4-2 victory over Philadelphia on Nov. 27 in a contest that saw Vincent Lecavalier tally against the team that selected him with the first overall pick of the 1998 draft.
TV: 1 p.m. ET, NHLN, Sun Sports (Tampa Bay), CSN (Philadelphia)
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (26-14-4): Defenseman Victor Hedman has been a steady offensive contributor with nine points in his last 10 games, but he erupted for two goals and an assist against the Flyers. Tampa Bay rookie C Tyler Johnson also scored in that meeting - as well as on Thursday. Anders Lindback yielded four goals on 20 shots versus the Capitals but made 19 saves in the previous contest against Philadelphia.
ABOUT THE FLYERS (23-17-4): Fourth-liner Zac Rinaldo scored to snap a 54-game goalless drought on Wednesday but suffered a high-ankle sprain that will keep him sidelined for six weeks. With Rinaldo on injured reserve, Philadelphia recalled forward Tye McGinn from Adirondack of the American Hockey League on Friday. McGinn fared well in his initial stint with the Flyers, recording three goals and four penalty minutes in six games.
OVERTIME
1. Philadelphia hasn't lost at home since suffering a 3-0 setback to New Jersey on Nov. 7.
2. The Lightning have collected points in 10 of their last 12 meetings with the Flyers (9-2-1).
3. Philadelphia has killed off 19 consecutive short-handed situations over a six-game stretch.