Hurricanes at Flyers preview

HURRICANES (45-29-7) at FLYERS (37-36-8)
7 p.m. ET; NBCSP, FS-CR, NHL.TV

The Hurricanes, 14-6-1 in their past 21 games, are two points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins, who hold third place in the Metropolitan. Carolina can finish in third place with a win in any fashion and a Penguins regulation loss against the New York Rangers on Saturday.
Carolina holds the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Hurricanes need a win to stay ahead of the Blue Jackets, who play at the Ottawa Senators. If Carolina and Columbus finish tied in points, the Blue Jackets would own the first tiebreaker with one more regulation/overtime win.
The Flyers have lost four straight games, including 5-2 against the Hurricanes on March 30, which eliminated them from playoff contention.

Players to watch

Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho is three points from 200 in the NHL. He has three assists in three games against the Flyers this season.
Flyers forward Claude Giroux has 22 points (five goals, 17 assists) in his past 20 games.

They said it

"It's going to be tough, I know, because we put so much emotional and mental stress into this year, but I know the guys will play hard. The good news is, no matter what happens, we're still playing." -- Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour
"You can't really describe it. It's through the roof. Just super-excited that a dream finally came true." -- Flyers defenseman Mark Friedman, who will make his NHL debut

Hurricanes projected lineup

Nino Niederreiter -- Sebastian Aho -- Justin Williams
Micheal Ferland -- Jordan Staal -- Teuvo Teravainen
Andrei Svechnikov -- Lucas Wallmark -- Jordan Martinook
Warren Foegele -- Greg McKegg -- Brock McGinn
Jaccob Slavin -- Dougie Hamilton
Brett Pesce -- Justin Faulk
Haydn Fleury -- Trevor van Riemsdyk
Curtis McElhinney

Petr Mrazek
Scratched: Saku Maenalanen
Injured: Calvin de Haan (upper body)

Flyers projected lineup

Oskar Lindblom -- Sean Couturier -- Claude Giroux
James van Riemsdyk -- Corban Knight -- Jakub Voracek
Ryan Hartman -- Scott Laughton -- Travis Konecny
Michael Raffl -- Phil Varone
Ivan Provorov -- Travis Sanheim
Shayne Gostisbehere -- Samuel Morin
Robert Hagg -- Radko Gudas
Mark Friedman
Carter Hart
Brian Elliott
Scratched: Cam Talbot, Andrew MacDonald, Justin Bailey
Injured: Michal Neuvirth (lower body), Nolan Patrick (upper body)

Status report

The Hurricanes did not hold a morning skate. ... Friedman was called up from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League on Friday and defenseman Philippe Myers was sent to the AHL. … The Flyers will go with seven defensemen and 11 forwards, with Bailey scratched. ... Philadelphia held an optional morning skate that included nine skaters and two goalies.

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Stat pack

A Hurricanes win would be their 46th, which would mark the second-most in Carolina/Hartford Whalers history (52, 2005-06). ... Couturier has two points (one goal, one assist) in his past six games after he had 26 points (nine goals, 17 assists) in his previous 21.