Flyers at Hurricanes
The light at the end of the tunnel is in sight for the Philadelphia Flyers, who continue their eight-game road trip against the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday. Philadelphia got off to a great start on its trek, winning the first three contests to reach the .500 mark. The Flyers have yet to get into the win column since the Christmas break, however, losing in regulation at Nashville and Arizona before falling to Colorado in overtime on Wednesday.
Philadelphia looks to halt the slide in the penultimate game of the lengthy trip against Carolina, which went 3-10-1 in December. The Hurricanes scored more than two goals just once last month and were limited to one on nine occasions, including each of their last four contests. One of those instances was on Dec. 13, when they dropped a 5-1 decision at Philadelphia during a six-game losing streak.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, CSN Philadelphia, FSN Carolinas
ABOUT THE FLYERS (14-16-7): Jakub Voracek added to his league-leading point total (47) Wednesday, ending a three-game drought with his 15th goal. The 25-year-old Czech has recorded three tallies and six assists over the first six games of the road trip. Captain Claude Giroux and veteran Vincent Lecavalier also have been contributing offensively, with the former collecting five goals and three assists on the trek and the latter netting four tallies in his last five contests.
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (10-23-4): Carolina has scored a total of four goals in its last five games, with captain Eric Staal netting the lone tally in each of the last two contests - a 3-1 home loss to Montreal on Monday and a 2-1 setback at Pittsburgh two days later. The team's power play miraculously has avoided a bottom-10 ranking despite going 3-for-39 over its last 14 games. Cam Ward has deserved a better fate of late, as he is 1-3-1 over his last five starts despite allowing fewer than three goals in each contest.
OVERTIME
1. Flyers G Steve Mason is 1-7-4 on the road this season, with the lone victory being a shutout against the New York Islanders.
2. Hurricanes C Jordan Staal notched an assist in his season debut Monday and sat out the next contest due to an illness but is expected to play versus Philadelphia.
3. Flyers D Michael Del Zotto returned to the lineup Wednesday after being a healthy scratch for the previous nine games and received a laceration on his neck early in the first period that required 20 stitches. He returned for the second session.