Drop The Puck Already: Flyers-Canes
Changes in store for tonight's game and other notes to come out of the morning skate
by PhiladelphiaFlyers.com @NHLFlyers
The Flyers wrap up their two-game road set in Raleigh tonight when Alain Vigneault's Flyers (10-7-4, 24pts) take on Rod Brind'Amour's Hurricanes (13-7-1, 27pts). The Flyers are looking to snap a four-game skid and based off the morning skate, tonight's game will see plenty of changes. Below are news, notes & quotes from earlier in the day.
* The Flyers switched up all forward lines, except the Giroux-Frost-Konecny trio which had sustained pressure and success against Florida on Tuesday.
* Frost will play his second NHL game after an impressive NHL debut in which he scored his first goal and three shots on goal in 14:16 of ice time.
GIROUX: "It's not a secret. Offensively we're not generating a lot of opportunities 5 on 5. We need to find chemistry and we need to find it quick. Sometimes it's good to play with different players. When you have a lot of faces on a new team like we do this year, I think it's good to change the lines to see what really helps and what makes us a better hockey team."
* Jake Voracek will be up front with Sean Couturier at center and Oskar Lindblom on the other wing, while Kevin Hayes will center Joel Farabee and Tyler Pitlick.
* Hayes got on the board in Florida, setting up the first Flyers goal, and has also had some success as of late in the Canes building - posting five points in his last five games at PNC Arena (2g-3a).
* James van Riemsdyk took rushes in the morning with Michael Raffl at center and Andy Andreoff on the other wing, but Vigneault announced that line may not be intact for the opening face-off.
VIGNEAULT: "I'm not sure tonight if we're going to put four lines or play seven [defensemen]. Thinking about the seven D possibility tonight, it might give a couple more shifts to a couple more forwards and help them get their game going."
* Should they go with seven defensemen Vigneault said that forward Andy Andreoff would be the odd man out.
* Brian Elliott will get the call in net, getting his ninth start this season, after coming in relief of Carter Hart in Florida, stopping all seven shots he faced... He is 4-2-2 with a 2.72 GAA.
* Vigneault also updated the condition of forward Scott Laughton, who is not on the team's trip, but could see action very soon.
LINE PLAY - FLYERS
Lindblom-Couturier-Voracek
Giroux-Frost-Konecny
Farabee-Hayes-Pitlick
van Riemsdyk-Raffl-Andreoff
Provorov-Niskanen
Gostisbehere-Braun
Sanheim-Myers
Elliott
Hart
BEHIND ENEMY LINES
* It will be the second straight game the Flyers face off against one of their former netminders as Petr Mrazek will get the start in net... Mrazek has won his last three starts as well as six of his last eight, posting a 2.38 GAA and .918 save percentage since Oct. 28.
* In addition to riding a four-game winning streak, the Canes have four players who are riding point streaks of four or more games - Dougie Hamilton leads the way with points in six straight (7pts, 3g-4a), Andrei Svechnikov in five straight (8pts, 4g-4a), Martin Necas (5pts, 2g-3a) and Joel Edmundson (6pts, 2g-4a) each have four-game point streaks.
BRIND'AMOUR (on Svechnikov): "I think he's comfortable now playing in this league. I think in his first year, especially the first 45-50 games, he was still figuring it out a little. You're not sure what you can get away with or how you fit in the whole league. Now, he's very comfortable playing against anybody."
* Two players not named above are equally as deadly, especially to the Flyers... Sebastian Aho averages over a point per-game against the Flyers with 15 points (6g-9a) in 14 games while Teuvo Teravainen averages a point per-game against the Flyers (16pts, 5g-11a).
LINE PLAY - HURRICANES (Courtesy @Canes)
Dzingel-Staal-Foegele
Svechnikov-Aho-Teravainen
Niederreiter-Wallmark-Necas
McGinn-Luostarinen-Martinook
Slavin-Hamilton
Edmundson-Pesce
Gardiner-van Riemsdyk
Mrazek
Reimer