Canucks at Flyers preview

CANUCKS (9-8-3) at FLYERS (8-8-4)
7 p.m. ET; SNE, SNO, SNP, NBCSP, NHL.TV

Goalie Michal Neuvirth will start for the Flyers in the first of a back-to-back set. It will be Neuvirth's first appearance since a 5-4 shootout loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Nov. 4.
Goalie Jacob Markstrom starts the opener of a six-game trip for the Canucks, who also play the first of a back to back. Vancouver is 6-3-0 on the road compared to 3-5-3 at home.

Players to watch

Canucks forward Sam Gagner has six points (two goals, four assists) in 20 games. He had 50 points (18 goals, 32 assists) in 81 games with the Columbus Blue Jackets last season.
Forward Sean Couturier has 15 points (eight goals, seven assists) in his past 12 games and is part of a first line that has totaled 26 of the Flyers' 56 goals.

They said it

"I'm very anxious. Hopefully I'll get the good word (to play) at some point on this trip." -- Canucks defenseman Chris Tanev after skating while wearing a brace on his injured thumb Tuesday.
"We've put a lot of miles on with a hard schedule so far. We're not doing as good as we'd like to do, but we're not doing horrible." -- Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds on playing 16 of their first 20 games against Western Conference teams.

Canucks projected lineup

Sven Baertschi -- Bo Horvat -- Brock Boeser
Daniel Sedin -- Henrik Sedin -- Jake Virtanen
Thomas Vanek -- Markus Granlund -- Loui Eriksson
Sam Gagner -- Brandon Sutter -- Derek Dorsett
Alexander Edler -- Derrick Pouliot
Michael Del Zotto -- Alex Biega
Ben Hutton -- Erik Gudbranson
Jacob Markstrom
Anders Nilsson
Scratched: Philip Holm
Injured: Christopher Tanev, Troy Stecher

Flyers projected lineup

Claude Giroux -- Sean Couturier -- Jakub Voracek
Jordan Weal -- Nolan Patrick -- Wayne Simmonds
Michael Raffl -- Valtteri Filppula -- Travis Konecny
Taylor Leier -- Scott Laughton -- Jori Lehtera
Ivan Provorov -- Robert Hagg
Brandon Manning -- Shayne Gostisbehere
Travis Sanheim -- Mark Alt
Michal Neuvirth
Brian Elliott
Scratched:Dale Weise, Matt Read
Injured:Andrew MacDonald (lower body)
Suspended:Radko Gudas

Status report

The Canucks released forward Anton Rodin and recalled Holm from Utica of the American Hockey League on Monday. … Weal is set to return from a one-game absence (upper body). … Gudas is serving a 10-game suspension for a slash to the head of Winnipeg Jets forward Mathieu Perreault on Thursday.

Stat pack

Horvat has nine points (four goals, five assists) in his past eight games. … Giroux has 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in his past 10 games.