1. SHOOTING FOR SIX
The Flyers are the hottest team in the NHL coming into tonight with five straight wins and are looking to make it six in-a-row, which would be the most since last season... If they win in regulation, it is the longest regulation winning streak since 2010, when they won six straight in regulation from Oct. 26-Nov. 6... During the streak, Nolan Patrick and Sean Couturier lead the team with six points, James van Riemsdyk leads in goals (5), while Oskar Lindblom leads with a +7 rating and Ivan Provorov leads in average ice time (25:32)... The Flyers have also outscored the opposition 20 to 10.
2. BEANTOWN BUMP
While the Flyers are streaking, the Bruins have been sinking recently with losses in four of their last five, including two straight entering tonight... They have also had four of their last five decided by one goal... The Bruins have the second-most home wins in the Eastern Conference and are tied for the third-most home wins in the NHL with a record of 17-7-2... The B's have lost two straight at home, but have not lost three in-a-row in any fashion at home in over two years (Dec. 8-15, 2016).
3. US, THEM, US vs. THEM
Its the 198th all-time meeting against the two rivals as well as the third and final meeting of the season series... They have split the first two meetings with each team winning on home ice and the Flyers winning the last meeting on Jan. 16 (4-3)... The Flyers have won two of the last three meetings, but have lost nine of their last 10 games at TD Garden, including their last four trips... Claude Giroux leads the team with 28 points (9g-19a) in 35 games against the Bruins, while Zdeno Chara leads the Bruins with 40 points (17g-23a) in 68 games against the Flyers in his career.
4. THIS, THAT & THE OTHER
THIS:The Flyers penalty kill has been in the NHL's Top 10 since Nov. 23, operating at 83.3 percent by killing off 70 of 84 times shorthanded over the course of 29 games... They have not allowed a power-play goal in their last three road games (8-for-8)... THAT: The Bruins have the NHL's second-best power play, operating at 27.3 percent, and are even better on home ice at 32.2 percent and have scored on the man advantage in five of their last six home games... THE OTHER: While the Flyers are three wins away from their 2,000th NHL victory (1,997), a win tonight will give them their 2,000th point on the road in franchise history with a current road record of 826-836-264-82 (1,998pts).
5. PLAYERS TO WATCH:
FLYERS (C: #14 - Sean Couturier)
Couturier has been the Flyers leading scorer since the New Year began, posting 12 points (5g-7a) as well as a plus-minus rating of +6 and 37 shots on goal... He has recorded at least a point in seven of his last eight games where he is also a +8 and logged an average of 22:24 of ice time per-game... He also leads the Flyers in the season series against the Bruins with three goals, coming in the form of a hat trick in the last meeting.
BRUINS (LW: #63 - Brad Marchand)
Marchand enters tonight's game on a five-game point streak in which he has nine points (3g-6a)... He also leads the team since the New Year began with 15 points (7g-8a) in 11 games... Marchand has two assists in the season series and averages a point per-game against the Flyers in his last 17 meetings over the last six seasons (17pts--8g-9a).
