Flyers-Panthers: Game 58 Preview

This could be the Flyers biggest test yet. Thursday night marks the first game back on the ice since a crushing 5-3 defeat to the Islanders where at least one standings point was snatched from their grasp with a last-minute goal.

The Flyers next opponent is one they defeated just days ago. The Flyers took care of the Florida Panthers in a 4-1 win on Monday night. Now the two teams meet again in Florida on Thursday night.

Game time is 7 p.m.

Team Leaders

Philadelphia Flyers	GP	G	A	P	Florida Panthers	GP	G	A	P
Sean Couturier	57	16	34	50	Jonathan Huberdeau	56	19	49	68
Travis Konecny	54	19	28	47	Aleksander Barkov	53	16	39	55
Jake Voracek	57	11	32	43	Mike Hoffman	56	21	25	46
Claude Giroux	57	15	26	41	Evgenii Dadonov	56	23	18	41
James van Riemsdyk	57	16	18	34	Keith Yandle	56	5	35	40

Player to Watch
14 Sean Couturier	11 Jonathan Huberdeau
Last 5 Games: 3 G, 1 A, 4 P, +4	Last 5 Games: 0 G, 2 A, 2 P, -2

Sean Couturier didn't have the strongest game against the Islanders, despite getting the game-tying goal in the closing moments of the third period, and he has another tough task having to defend one of the best two-way forwards in the game in Aleksander Barkov. As one of the leaders of the team, he will need to deliver a solid performance to get the Flyers back on the right track.

Jonathan Huberdeau has struggled lately with just two points in the last five games and no goals in that time. With that in mind, Huberdeau came close to scoring several times in Monday's game, none closer than when he hit the post with a wide open net in the final minute of the third. He could be close to breaking out with a great performance.

Projected Goalie Matchup
79 Carter Hart	72 Sergei Bobrovsky
33 GP, 16-11-3, 2.55 GAA, .908 SV%	43 GP, 20-16-5, 3.27 GAA, .898 SV%

Carter Hart made his return from injury against Florida on Monday night, making 30 saves in a 4-1 win. Hart allowed an early goal to the Panthers in the first period before locking things down to secure the win.

Sergei Bobrovsky allowed three goals on 33 shots in Monday's loss, the fourth straight for him. In the last three games, Bobrovsky has allowed 12 goals. Bobrovsky has typically been a thorn in the Flyers side for years, but this season, he has struggled at times and looked much more beatable than in past years. He will be looking to snap his losing streak on Thursday.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Injuries: Nolan Patrick (migrane disorder, out indefinitely), Oskar Lindblom (Ewing's sarcoma, out for season)

Scratches: Shayne Gostisbehere, Morgan Frost

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
28 Claude Giroux	14 Sean Couturier	93 Jake Voracek
49 Joel Farabee	13 Kevin Hayes	11 Travis Konecny
25 James van Riemsdyk	21 Scott Laughton	18 Tyler Pitlick
12 Michael Raffl	82 Connor Bunnaman	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 Flyers will make no changes to the lineup ahead of Thursday's game against the Panthers.

Panthers Projected Lineup

Injuries: Chris Drieder, Brian Boyle

Scratches: Denis Malgin, Jayce Hawryluk

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
11 Jonathan Huberdeau	16 Aleksander Barkov	63 Evgenii Dadonov
68 Mike Hoffman	21 Vincent Trocheck	10 Brett Connolly
77 Frank Vatrano	14 Dominic Toninato	7 Colton Sceviour
19 Michael Matheson	55 Noel Acciari	13 Mark Pysyk
Defense
52 MacKenzie Weegar	5 Aaron Ekblad
61 Riley Stillman	6 Anton Stralman
3 Keith Yandle	2 Josh Brown
Goalie
72 Sergei Bobrovsky	33 Samuel Montembeault

Game Notes

Power Play: Flyers (T-19th), Panthers (9th)
Penalty Kill: Flyers (12th), Panthers (24th)
Recent History vs. Panthers
- Nov. 19, 2019 - Panthers 5, Flyers 2 (at FLA)
- Feb. 10, 2020 - Flyers 4, Panthers 1 (at PHI)
Flyers Leaders vs. Panthers
- Claude Giroux - 39 GP, 10 G, 15 A, 25 P
- James van Riemsdyk - 31 GP, 9 G, 10 A, 19 P
- Travis Konecny - 10 GP, 1 G, 5 A, 6 P
- Carter Hart - 3 GP, 1-2-0, 2.82 GAA, .918 SV%
Milestone Watch
- Claude Giroux needs two power-play assists to pass Bobby Clarke for first on the Flyers all-time list.

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.