2. GETTIN BUSY
Tonight's game kicks off the Flyers fifth back-to-back set in the last 16 contests since Nov. 23... It also marks the beginning of a schedule that sees the Flyers play eight games in a 13 day span, and 11 games in 20 days leading up to the club's bye week (Jan. 20-25)... The Flyers come into tonight's game having dropped two straight, but have earned points in four of their last six games - all six games have also been decided by one goal.
3. CANES COUNTRY
For Carolina, they have also dropped back-to-back games, both against Metropolitan Division opponents, and lost four of their last five coming into tonight... The Hurricanes have dropped five straight (0-4-1) and are 3-6-2 against Metro opponents this season... Carolina ranks 30th in the NHL in goals scored (90), and average goals per-game (2.43)... The Hurricanes also leads all NHL teams for the most shots on goal, averaging 37.3 per-game and lead the NHL in fewest shots against, averaging 28.1 per-game.
4. ROCK YOU LIKE A HURRICANE
This is the first of four meetings against the Hurricanes and first of two in a span of four days as the teams will play in Philly on Jan. 3... The Flyers have earned points in 10 of their last 13 games against the Hurricanes (9-3-1), including four of the last six at Carolina, and a current two-game winning streak in Raleigh... Sebastian Aho has six goals and 12 points in nine career games against the Flyers... James van Riemsdyk, Shayne Gostisbehere, Phil Varone and Oskar Lindblom all recorded their first NHL point, while Scott Laughton scored his first NHL goal against the Hurricanes.
5. PLAYERS TO WATCH:
FLYERS (RW: #93 - Jake Voracek)
Voracek has points in 10 of 13 games in December, including four of his last five games... He ranks second on the team in both assists (20) and points (29)... Jake also has 14 points (6g-8a) in his last 13 games against the Hurricanes... Voracek will also be playing in his 215th consecutive game tonight which is the active iron-man streak for the Flyers.
HURRICANES (RW: #14 - Justin Williams)
Williams is third on the team in scoring with 20 points (7g-20a)... The former Flyer will be playing in his 1,200th game in the NHL tonight and has 753 points (296g-457a) during his 18-year NHL career... Over the last eight seasons, he has missed just three games, playing in 574 of possible 577 games... Against the Flyers, he had four points (2g-2a) in the four-game season series last year and has 14 goals and 28 points in 35 games in his career.
