Flyers at Blues
After testing the mettle of one Presidents' Trophy contender, the Philadelphia Flyers hit the road to face another on Tuesday as they visit the Central Division-leading St. Louis Blues. Philadelphia gave red-hot Boston all it could handle on Sunday as Vincent Lecavalier scored two goals, including the tying tally late in the third period, before suffering a 4-3 shootout loss. The Flyers dropped two points behind the second-place New York Rangers in the Metropolitan Division but have two games in hand as they vie for home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Philadelphia's third setback in four games (1-2-1) certainly didn't help St. Louis, which fell three points behind the surging Bruins in the race for the Presidents' Trophy. The Blues stumbled in their last contest, suffering a 4-2 defeat to Dallas despite receiving two power-play goals from Alex Steen. "What I'm troubled by that I'd like to see changed is, we're in the 40-50 minute range for hockey, not the 60-minute," St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock said Monday. "... You all know what the playoffs are like; you can't sleep for 10 minutes. It's game over, not game on."
TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBCSN, TSN2, CSN (Philadelphia)
ABOUT THE FLYERS (39-27-8): Jakub Voracek notched two assists on Sunday and also registered a two-point performance by scoring and setting up a goal in Philadelphia's 4-1 home victory over St. Louis on March 22. Steve Downie exited that contest after the opening shift following a brutal collision with Blues forward Patrik Berglund. Downie has since passed his concussion baseline testing and is listed as day-to-day but is not expected to play on Tuesday.
ABOUT THE BLUES (50-17-7): T.J. Oshie was named the NHL's Third Star of the Week on Monday. The United States Olympian collected four goals and two assists in three games, a stretch highlighted by his first career hat trick in a 5-1 win over Minnesota on Thursday. Captain David Backes, who also netted a hat trick versus Toronto last Tuesday, has scored four goals and set up three others during his four-game point streak.
OVERTIME
1. Philadelphia D Kimmo Timonen is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Should the veteran Finn be sidelined, D Erik Gustafsson likely would see his first action since Feb. 27.
2. St. Louis is 5-for-12 on the power play in its last three games but went 0-for-7 with the man advantage in the first meeting versus the Flyers.
3. Lecavalier has scored three goals in his last two games since being demoted to the fourth line.