Philadelphia Flyers vs. Carolina Hurricanes – Game 4: How to Watch, Lineups, Keys to the Game

The Philadelphia Flyers' backs are firmly against the wall now, trailing 3-0 against the Carolina Hurricanes and now one loss away from elimination. An unlikely run to the playoffs has appeared to meet its match.

The Hurricanes have yet to lose a game in the playoffs, and look for their second series sweep in the postseason, while the Flyers look to stave off elimination on Saturday night in Game 4 at 6 PM.

How to Watch

• Time: 6 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: No lineup changes are anticipated for the Flyers. Any changes that are made will be revealed in warmups.
• Starting Goalie: Dan Vladar gets the start for the Flyers. Vladar made 26 saves on 30 shots in the Game 3 loss to Carolina. He is 4-5 with a 2.11 GAA and .921 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: 14.7% (10th)
  • Penalty Kill: 94.6% (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 18 saves on 19 shots in the win in Game 3. He is 7-0 with a 1.02 GAA and .957 save percentage in the playoffs.
• Injuries: Carolina currently has no regulars out of the lineup due to injury.

Keys to the Game

• Score First: The Flyers hit the post twice in the first period of Game 3 before Carolina ultimately got the first goal. Scoring first can get the crowd into the game and take some of the edge off a potential elimination game.
• Stay Disciplined: The Flyers are not equipped for a special-teams dominant series and Game 3 was certainly that. Maintaining composure and keeping things even can only help the Flyers' cause.
• Just Win: It's win a game or the season is officially over. The Flyers should be doing everything they can to simply keep themselves alive for another day.

By the Numbers

• The Flyers are 1-for-16 on the power play in this series. They are 3-for-33 in the playoffs.
• It's a rare feat, but the Flyers are one of four franchises in NHL history to complete a series comeback after being down 3-0 in 2010. They join the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, the 1975 New York Islanders, and the 2014 Los Angeles Kings.
• Meanwhile, the Carolina Hurricanes could become the first team in NHL history to start the playoffs 8-0 since the format moved to four seven-game series in 1987 with a win in Game 4.

Quotable

• "Somebody told me, 'You can't climb Mount Everest without getting to the first base camp.' So we're trying to find that base camp, get some oxygen, refuel and get to the second base camp. That's the way you've got to think." - Rick Tocchet on the approach to Game 4 down 3-0 in the series.

X-Factors

• Sean Couturier: In Game 6 against Pittsburgh, as the Flyers were fighting for the only goal that would be needed to move on, the Flyers' captain seemed to be doing anything he could to will his team to a win. That kind of performance may be necessary again to avoid a sweep.
• Seth Jarvis: With the opportunity to clinch, this feels like a game where Seth Jarvis can put the Hurricanes on his back and carry them back to the conference finals.

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