5 THINGS: Flyers @ Hurricanes

GAME NOTES
Interim head coach Mike Yeo's Philadelphia Flyers (18-29-10) are in Raleigh on Saturday afternoon to take on Rod Brind'Amour's Carolina Hurricanes (40-12-5). Game time at PNC Arena is 3:00 p.m. ET (ABC, 97.5 The Fanatic).

This is the fourth and final meeting of the season between the Metro Division teams, and the second game in Raleigh. The Flyers are 1-1-1 against the Hurricanes this season.
On Nov. 12 in Raleigh, a spectacular 39-save goaltending performance by Carter Hart highlighted a 2-1 Flyers victory. Trailing 1-0 in the third period, the Flyers rallied for goals by Joel Farabee and Zack MacEwen to win the game. Outshot by a 28-13 margin through two periods, the Flyers generated a 15-12 shot advantage in the final stanza.
The teams rematched at the Wells Fargo Center on the afternoon of Nov. 26. The Flyers got off to a fast start, as Ivan Provorov scored in the game's opening minute. Philadelphia led 2-1 by the end of the first period as Farabee notched a shorthanded goal. After Sebastian Aho's second goal of the game knotted the score at 2-2 on the opening shift of the second period, Rasmus Ristolainen answered right back to restore a Flyers' lead. On the very next shift, Carolina's Jesper Fast made it 3-3. It was all Hurricanes thereafter, as Carolina scored two more unanswered goals to take a 5-3 edge into the third period. Andrei Svechnikov added insult to injury in the third period. Carolina won, 6-3, and outshot the Flyers by a final margin of 36-23.
On Feb. 21 in Philadelphia, a rested Flyers team took the play to a tired Hurricanes club but only came away with one point from a 4-3 overtime loss. The Flyers battled back from three separate one goal deficits but it wasn't good enough. Brett Pesce scored the game winner at 4:42 of overtime. Martin Jones stopped 27 of 31 shots in a losing cause. Victorious goaltender Frederik Andersen denied 38 of 41 Flyers' shots.
The Flyers enter Saturday afternoon's game coming off a 6-3 road loss to the Florida Panthers. Philadelphia found itself in a 4-0 hole after the first period but clawed back to within 4-3 in the second stanza. In the third period, Florida got a fluky goal on a deflected pass attempt by Anthony Duclair plus an empty netter to seal the final three-goal margin. The loss ended a modest stretch of back-to-back wins for the Flyers.
The Hurricanes have won three games in a row. Brind'Amour's team enters this match coming off a 2-0 home shutout victory against the Colorado Avalanche as the Eastern Conference leaders downed th. Ethan Bear (3rd goal of the season) snapped a scoreless tie with 5:40 remaining in the third period before Sebastian Aho (25th) added some insurance with an empty-net goal. Antti Raanta stopped all 36 shots he faced.
Here are five things to watch in this game:
1. Playing with discipline
Last game in Florida, the Flyers played the NHL's highest-scoring team. This time in Raleigh, Philly is up against the club with the league's best goals against average (2.35). Carolina can score, too, however. The Hurricanes enter this match ranked eighth offensively with an average 3.37 goals scored per game.
The Flyers have played the Canes tough this season. Even the one game in Philadelphia that ended up as a blowout started out in seesaw fashion for the first period into the early portion of the middle frame. Ultimately, it was the Flyers' own lack of discipline -- bad turnovers proved very costly -- that was their undoing in a 6-3 loss.
Two nights ago, three needless penalties by the Flyers and an 0-for-3 night on the penalty kill (1-for-3 on the power play) scuttled their chances against the Panthers. Two of the Florida power play goals came off favorable bounces of the puck but the Flyers put themselves behind the 8-ball in the first place. Additionally, Florida feasted off Flyers' giveaways in the neutral and defensive zone as well as scoring a transition goal that started with a long rebound in the Panthers' end of the ice.
The Flyers have seen firsthand that the Hurricanes are another team that is capable of turning defense into offense in a flash and generating turnovers off the forecheck. The Canes also defend better than Florida. That combination is why Carolina sits atop the Eastern Conference standings.
Another reason why playing with discipline is critical for the Flyers in this game: Carolina has a major on-paper edge in special teams. The Hurricanes are the NHL's No. 1 penalty killing team (89.1 percent) and No. 4 power play team (25.3 percent) while the Flyers enter ranked 30th on the power play (13.9 percent) and 25th on the penalty kill (75.3 percent).
2. Coping without Laughton
Despite the Flyers' dismal record since mid-November, Scott Laughton has continued to bring an admirable level of intensity, competitive drive, hunger for the puck and speed to most games. He's been centering one of the top two lines ever since Sean Couturier was lost for the season.
On Thursday in Sunrise, Laughton suffered an apparent concussion when he got twisted and crashed awkwardly into boards on a hit by Florida's Petteri Lindbohm. Laughton was down on the ice for an extended period of time and required assistance to leave the ice.
Laughton had scored 19 points in his last 23 games. His presence will be missed in the lineup.
The Flyers have recalled rookie center Morgan Frost from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. It's Frost's third NHL recall of the season. In his most recent stint with Lehigh Valley,
Frost played an outstanding first game against the Providence Bruins. He was in the middle of a half-dozen scoring chances, turnstiling defenders by playing at his fastest pace, defending well and engaging (and winning) puck battles with regularity.
His next two games, both against Charlotte, were not as good. However, Frost scored a deflection goal in the latter game. On Tuesday, the entire Phantoms team including Frost, had a rough night in a 4-0 loss to the Hershey Bears.
Along with the Frost recall, the Flyers reassigned Max Willman to the Phantoms on Friday afternoon.
3. Inside the Numbers: Chasing the Game
On Thursday, the Flyers still had a hill to climb in the third period despite shaving a 4-0 deficit down to 4-3. The Panthers entered the game unbeaten when leading after two periods. Sure enough, Florida ran their record when leading after two periods 30-0-0 after retaking control in the final stanza against the Flyers.
The Flyers actually managed to pull out a regulation win against Carolina earlier this season after trailing 1-0 at the second intermission. The last time the teams played, the Flyers were able to force overtime despite 2-1 and 3-2 deficits in the third period. Overall, though, the Hurricanes are 26-1-1 when leading at the end of two periods while the Flyers are 2-24-4 when trailing entering the third period.

4. Behind Enemy Lines: Carolina Hurricanes
The Hurricanes are playing the front end of a weekend back-to-back set, as are the Flyers. While the Flyers will return home after this game to host the Montreal Canadiens, the Canes will visit the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday afternoon. Carolina is 8-1-1 over its last 10 games.
Familiar names sit atop the Carolina scoring leaderboard. Aho leads the club with 59 points (25g, 34a) while Andrei Svechnikov has 23 goals and 51 points. A frequent nemesis to the Flyers Teuvo Teräväinen is third on the team this season with 16 goals and 46 points. Nino Neiderreiter has tallied 17 goals among his 31 points, while Vincent Trocheck has 15 goals and 38 points. Jesperi Kotkaniemi (23 points) and Jesper Fast (22 points) have scored 11 goals apiece.
On the injury front, offensive defenseman Anthony DeAngelo is on injured reserve. A reclamation project before the season, DeAngelo has rewarded Carolina with 40 points (9g, 31a) in 43 games played but had to leave the game the Hurricanes played in Philadelphia on Feb. 21 with a mid-body injury and has been out since then. He is expected to miss approximately four weeks from the time of the injury.
Goaltender Andersen (undisclosed) is considered day-to-day. He missed the last two games, both which Raanta stepped up to win. Former Flyers/Phantoms goaltender Alex Lyon has been backing up Raanta in Andersen's absence.
Over the Hurricanes five games played so far in March, veteran two-way center Jordan Staal has chipped in five goals. That includes a two-goal performance the last time that Carolina played his former team, Pittsburgh.
5. Players to Watch: Giroux and Aho
Flyers captain Claude Giroux seemed to get banged up last game in Florida on a questionable hit by Lindbohm but stayed in the rest of the game. The career milestone watch for Giroux: 1) This game will be the 998th of his NHL career. After Giroux skates his first shift, he will be two games away from joining Bobby Clarke as the only two players to suit up in 1,000 games as a Flyer; 2) Giroux's next point will be the 900th of his career; 3) Giroux's next goal will move him past Eric Lindros into sole possession of eighth place on the franchise's all-time regular season goal list. For his career, Giroux has posted 46 points (13g, 33a) in 46 games against Carolina.
Over Sebastian Aho's last 11 games, the talented Finn has posted 11 points (4g, 7a). For his career against the Flyers, Aho has racked up nine goals and 21 points in 20 games.