Flyers-Hurricanes: Game 67 Preview

The Flyers moved a step closer to first place in the Metropolitan Division with Wednesday's win in Washington. There is no time to celebrate beating the division leaders, as the Flyers are right back on the ice to continue the stretch run on Thursday.

The Flyers will face a well-rested Carolina Hurricanes team that has not played since a 4-3 overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens last Saturday. The Hurricanes are currently the first team out of the playoffs, three points behind the Islanders for the final wildcard spot. They have lost three straight games and five of their last seven games.

Game time is 7 p.m.

Team Leaders

Philadelphia Flyers	GP	G	A	P	Carolina Hurricanes	GP	G	A	P
Travis Konecny	63	24	37	61	Sebastian Aho	64	36	26	62
Sean Couturier	66	21	37	58	Teuvo Teravainen	64	15	45	60
Jake Voracek	66	12	41	53	Andrei Svechnikov	64	24	34	58
Claude Giroux	66	19	31	50	Dougie Hamilton	47	14	26	40
Kevin Hayes	66	23	18	41	Vincent Trocheck	58	10	26	36

Player to Watch
11 Travis Konecny	20 Sebastian Aho
Last 5 Games: 3 G, 4 A, 7 P, +1	Last 5 Games: 2 G, 3 A, 5 P, -3

Travis Konecny has points in four straight games and tied his career-high in goals with his 24th of the season on Wednesday night in Washington. It's only a matter of time before he breaks through with his 25th to set a new career high. In the meantime, he's also leading the way on the Flyers with 61 points on the season.

Prior to the Hurricanes loss to the Canadiens last Saturday, Sebastian Aho was on a 14-game points streak, scoring 12 goals and adding nine assists for 21 points in that time. Aho has a goal and two assists in the three games against the Flyers this season.

Projected Goalie Matchup
79 Carter Hart	39 Alex Nedeljkovic
40 GP, 22-12-3, 2.51 GAA, .909 SV%	2 GP, 0-1-1, 3.11 GAA, .857 SV%

It's been quite a run recently for Carter Hart. He has won five straight starts and eight of his last nine. On his current five-game streak, Hart has allowed a total of 10 goals while recording a .929 save percentage.

Alex Nedeljkovic makes his fifth career NHL appearance and third career start on Thursday night. Nedeljkovic made 12 saves on 16 shots in his only other start this season, allowing four goals in a loss to Dallas.

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: Shayne Gostisbehere

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	5 Phil Myers
8 Robert Hagg	61 Justin Braun
Goalie
79 Carter Hart	37 Brian Elliott

Lineup Notes

The only change to the lineup comes with Joel Farabee entering for the injured James van Riemsdyk. Farabee will play on the second line with Kevin Hayes and Travis Konecny. Scott Laughton drops into van Riemsdyk's spot on the third line. No other changes are expected.

Hurricanes Projected Lineup

Injuries: Dougie Hamilton, Sami Vatanen, Brett Pesce, Petr Mrazek, James Reimer

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
21 Nino Niederreiter	20 Sebastian Aho	86 Teuvo Teravainen
18 Ryan Dzingel	11 Jordan Staal	14 Justin Williams
37 Andrei Svechnikov	16 Vincent Trocheck	88 Martin Necas
13 Warren Foegele	48 Jordan Martinook	23 Brock McGinn
Defense
6 Joel Edmundson	74 Jaccob Slavin
4 Haydn Fleury	76 Brady Skjei
51 Jake Gardiner	57 Trevor van Riemsdyk
Goalie
39 Alex Nedeljkovic	31 Anton Forsberg

Game Notes

Power Play: Flyers (T-9th), Hurricanes (12th)
Penalty Kill: Flyers (12th), Hurricanes (5th)
Recent History vs. Hurricanes
- Nov. 5, 2019 - Flyers 4, Hurricanes 1 (at PHI)
- Nov. 21, 2019 - Flyers 5, Hurricanes 3 (at CAR)
- Jan. 7, 2020 - Hurricanes 5, Flyers 4 (F/OT) (at CAR)
Flyers Leaders vs. Hurricanes
- Claude Giroux - 43 GP, 13 G, 31 A, 44 P
- Jake Voracek - 39 GP, 10 G, 20 A, 30 P
- Sean Couturier - 36 GP, 9 G, 16 A, 25 P
- Travis Konecny - 16 GP, 6 G, 5 A, 11 P
- Carter Hart - 3 GP, 1-2-0, 3.40 GAA, .889 SV%

Where to Watch
TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 93.3 WMMR/97.3 ESPN

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