Philadelphia Flyers vs. Carolina Hurricanes – Game 3: How to Watch, Lineups, Keys to the Game

It was a much better showing in Game 2 for the Philadelphia Flyers, who seemed poised to even the series with a fast start and later a dominant overtime. The Carolina Hurricanes had other ideas, getting the goal in overtime to secure the 2-0 series lead.

Now things shift back to Philadelphia for Game 3 on Thursday night at 8 PM, where the Flyers essentially need a win just to make things interesting in the series again.

How to Watch

• Time: 8 PM
• Location: Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, PA
• TV: TNT
• Radio: 97.3 ESPN and the 97.3 ESPN Free Mobile App
• Streaming: HBO MAX

Projected Flyers Lines vs. Hurricanes

Forwards

20 Alex Bump - 46 Trevor Zegras - 94 Porter Martone
11 Travis Konecny - 22 Christian Dvorak - 71 Tyson Foerster
91 Carl Grundstrom - 52 Denver Barkey - 39 Matvei Michkov
41 Luke Glendening - 14 Sean Couturier - 19 Garnet Hathaway

Defense

6 Travis Sanheim - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
8 Cam York - 9 Jamie Drysdale
24 Nick Seeler - 36 Emil Andrae

Goalies

80 Dan Vladar
33 Sam Ersson

Scratches: Carson Bjarnason, Oliver Bonk, Oskar Eklind, Helge Grans, Jacob Gaucher, David Jiricek, Noah Juulsen, Aleksei Kolosov, Jett Luchanko, Hunter McDonald, Garrett Wilson

Injury & Roster Updates

• Lineup Updates: Noah Cates joins the list of injuries, out for the remainder of the series with a lower-body injury. Owen Tippett remains out due to an undisclosed injury. Christian Dvorak is expected to play, but it will depend on warmups, head coach Rick Tocchet said.
• Starting Goalie: Dan Vladar gets the start for the Flyers. Vladar made 40 saves on 43 shots in the Game 2 loss in overtime. Vladar is 4-4 with a 1.89 GAA and .928 save percentage in the playoffs.
• Injuries
  • Owen Tippett: undisclosed injury, out since Game 1 of the second round
  • Noah Cates: lower-body injury, out for the rest of the second round
  • Nikita Grebenkin: upper-body injury, out since March 26
  • Rodrigo Abols: fractured ankle, out at least two months from Jan. 21

Opponent Snapshot: Carolina Hurricanes

Hurricanes Projected Lineup vs. Flyers

37 Andrei Svechnikov - 20 Sebastian Aho - 24 Seth Jarvis
71 Taylor Hall - 22 Logan Stankoven - 53 Jackson Blake
27 Nikolaj Ehlers - 11 Jordan Staal - 48 Jordan Martinook
28 William Carrier - 77 Mark Jankowski - 50 Eric Robinson

74 Jaccob Slavin - 5 Jalen Chatfield
19 K'Andre Miller - 26 Sean Walker
4 Shayne Gostisbehere - 21 Alexander Nikishin

31 Frederik Andersen
32 Brandon Bussi

• Special Teams
  • Power Play: 12.0% (12th)
  • Penalty Kill: 93.8% (3rd)
• Who’s hot?: Logan Stankoven has six goals and seven points in the playoffs. Taylor Hall has three goals and six assists for nine points. Jackson Blake has two goals and eight points.
• Who’s in net?: Frederik Andersen gets the start for the Hurricanes. Andersen made 34 saves on 36 shots in the overtime win in Game 2. He is 6-0 with a 1.02 GAA and .958 save percentage in the playoffs.
• Injuries: No Carolina players are expected out of the lineup due to injury.

Keys to the Game

• Feed Off the Crowd: Facing a 2-0 series deficit, the Flyers are going to have to lean on the support of the fans and use it to their advantage.
• Hold Onto Pucks: The Flyers did really well in this area in overtime, providing them with prolonged shifts in the attacking zone. This can help them generated more in regulation and try to get the insurance needed to secure a win.
• Keep the Energy: After a lopsided Game 1, the Flyers delivered a more encouraging performance in Game 2, even in defeat. Replicating that can help them get the first win of the series, the first step to seeing just where this could go.

By the Numbers

• Game 2 was the first time Carolina had allowed the first goal of the game. It was the first time the Flyers lost in the playoffs when scoring first.
• Both teams have struggled on the power play in this series. The Flyers are now 3-for-28 in the playoffs after a 1-for-7 night in Game 2.
• The Flyers are 3-15 when trailing 2-0 in a series, but do have a 9-9 record in Game 3 when down 2-0.

Quotable

• "I think just the belief in the room, just staying with it. We've been dead before and we've climbed out of the grave. So we keep hearing that we're dead and done, but the guys won't give up." - Rick Tocchet on going into Game 3 down 2-0 in the series.

X-Factors

• Trevor Zegras: With the injury to Noah Cates, Trevor Zegras will get an even bigger responsibility at center. The Flyers could also use some offense from Zegras to get back into the series.
• Taylor Hall: Part of the most effective line in the playoffs right now, Hall has turned back the clock with his performance. Containing Hall and his linemates is especially critical to Game 3 success.

Kevin Durso is Flyers insider for 97.3 ESPN. Follow him on social media @Kevin_Durso.