Flyers-Bruins: Game 69 Preview

The Flyers have entered the final 14 games of the regular season, and while it really is no question that they will be part of the playoffs, there is plenty at stake.

For one, the Flyers will enter Tuesday's game looking for their 10th straight win. They will face the Boston Bruins, the team ranked at the top of the NHL standings. It is hardly the first time the Flyers have gone against the top team in the league this season. And finally, with Washington's shootout loss on Monday, a win of any kind will put the Flyers in sole possession of first place.

Game time is 7 p.m.

Team Leaders

Philadelphia Flyers	GP	G	A	P	Boston Bruins	GP	G	A	P
Travis Konecny	65	24	37	61	David Pastrnak	69	48	46	94
Sean Couturier	68	22	37	59	Brad Marchand	69	28	58	86
Jake Voracek	68	12	44	56	Patrice Bergeron	60	30	25	55
Claude Giroux	68	21	32	53	Torey Krug	61	9	40	49
Kevin Hayes	68	23	18	41	David Krejci	60	13	29	42

Player to Watch
14 Sean Couturier	63 Brad Marchand
Last 5 Games: 3 G, 1 A, 4 P, +3	Last 5 Games: 3 G, 4 A, 7 P, E

Sean Couturier has had some big games against top teams, but the bigger reason to watch the Flyers top-line center is because of his task in trying to shut down the Boston top line centered by Patrice Bergeron. It will take quite the effort to keep that line quiet for most of the night and position the Flyers to win their 10th straight game.

Who can forget the way the last meeting between the Flyers and Bruins ended? Brad Marchand had a chance to answer in the shootout, over-skated the puck and played it, resulting in the end of the shootout without a shot getting on goal. Marchand has been on a roll lately, though, bringing a 12-game points streak into Tuesday's game. He has five goals and 12 assists in that time.

Projected Goalie Matchup
79 Carter Hart	40 Tuukka Rask
42 GP, 24-12-3, 2.43 GAA, .913 SV%	40 GP, 25-8-6, 2.18 GAA, .926 SV%

The Flyers needed Carter Hart to be spectacular on Saturday and he was, making 38 saves in a 3-1 win over Buffalo. Hart has made both starts agains the Bruins this season and while both have been wins, the last one was certainly a struggle in the first half of the game. Hart will be back in goal on Tuesday as the Flyers push for the top spot in the Metro once again.

Tuukka Rask was on the hook for the loss, allowing four goals on 24 shots to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday. Rask got back to his winning ways after two rough starts by shutting out the Islanders on Feb. 29 and following it up with a win over the Lightning a week ago on March 3. In his two starts prior, he had allowed 10 goals on 57 shots. This is Rask's first start against the Flyers this season.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Injuries: James van Riemsdyk (broken right hand, out indefinitely), Nolan Patrick (migrane disorder, out indefinitely), Oskar Lindblom (Ewing's sarcoma, out for season)

Scratches: Phil Myers

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
28 Claude Giroux	14 Sean Couturier	93 Jake Voracek
49 Joel Farabee	13 Kevin Hayes	11 Travis Konecny
21 Scott Laughton	38 Derek Grant	18 Tyler Pitlick
12 Michael Raffl	44 Nate Thompson	62 Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Defense
9 Ivan Provorov	15 Matt Niskanen
6 Travis Sanheim	61 Justin Braun
8 Robert Hagg	53 Shayne Gostisbehere
Goalie
79 Carter Hart	37 Brian Elliott

Lineup Notes

Shayne Gostisbehere will be in the lineup for the first time since Feb. 6. Phil Myers is scratched as he is dealing with an injury.

Bruins Projected Lineup

Injuries: Torey Krug, Brandon Carlo, Kevan Miller

Scratches: Anders Bjork, Anton Blidh

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
63 Brad Marchand	37 Patrice Bergeron	88 David Pastrnak
21 Nick Ritchie	46 David Krejci	28 Ondrej Kase
52 Sean Kuraly	13 Charlie Coyle	74 Jake DeBrusk
20 Joakim Nordstrom	26 Par Lindholm	14 Chris Wagner
Defense
33 Zdeno Chara	73 Charlie McAvoy
48 Matt Grzelcyk	79 Jeremy Lauzon
27 John Moore	75 Connor Clifton
Goalie
40 Tuukka Rask	41 Jaroslav Halak

Game Notes

Power Play: Flyers (12th), Bruins (2nd)
Penalty Kill: Flyers (T-10th), Bruins (3rd)
Recent History vs. Bruins
- Nov. 10, 2019 - Flyers 3, Bruins 2 (F/SO) (at BOS)
- Jan. 13, 2020 - Flyers 6, Bruins 5 (F/SO) (at PHI)
Flyers Leaders vs. Bruins
- Jake Voracek - 30 GP, 6 G, 21 A, 27 P
- Claude Giroux - 38 GP, 10 G, 19 A, 29 P
- Travis Sanheim - 7 GP, 3 G, 2 A, 5 P
- Carter Hart - 4 GP, 4-0-0, 2.85 GAA, .905 SV%
Milestone Watch
- Travis Sanheim will play in his 200th game tonight.

Where to Watch
TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic/97.3 ESPN

Kevin Durso is Flyers insider for 97.3 ESPN and Flyers editor for SportsTalkPhilly.com. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.