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Flyers take on 2nd-best team in the league at preventing goals after scoring 5 against Buffalo

(Heather Barry Images, LLC)

A big win against the Buffalo Sabres on Friday night lifted a monkey off the backs of the Philadelphia Flyers as they ended their 4-game losing streak in a 5-2 finale, featuring Owen Tippett’s first NHL hattrick, on the one-year anniversary date of the Claude Giroux trade.

The Flyers face off against the Carolina Hurricanes, who lead the season series 3-0-0. After having a breakthrough in goals last night, the Flyers are going to be looking to take that momentum with them against the 2nd best team in goals allowed per game, and the 2nd-best penalty kill in the league.

The losing streak was rough for Philadelphia. The Flyers, who already stink at scoring goals (31st in the league with 2.59 goals scored per game), scored 1.2 goals per game over their losing streak. Things were already tough when it was Travis Konecny leading the charge in the offensive zone, but now that it’s up to Owen Tippett, who by all means did a great job of it last night but isn’t necessarily the guy you’d envision as your go-to guy for sparking the offense.

Taking penalties has also been a major problem. They allowed 6 Tampa Bay power plays (scored 3 times), 4 in Carolina, which lead to the game-winning goal, 4 in Pittsburgh, 4 versus Vegas, and even 4 against Buffalo. Despite winning last night, they allowed two power play goals in a 5-2 final. That is way too many power plays to kill, and when you’re the 28th-ranked penalty kill, you know you’re bound to forfeit goals.

Carolina continues their road trip in Philadelphia after a sour visit in Toronto. Ending in a 5-2 defeat, Carolina was unable to convert on 3 power play attempts, but it only took Toronto 1 power play to score, leaving more to be wanted by the Hurricanes. Despite outshooting Toronto 34-22, it was too little too late after allowing 3 goals in the first period.

Their two regular goaltenders in Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta have been phenomenal for the Hurricanes, both ranking in the top 10 in the league for goals against average. Raanta sits at #4 with an average of 2.32, and Andersen is a few spots below at #7 with 2.41.

PHI Record: 25-32-11, 61 pts, 7th in Metropolitan

CAR Record: 44-15-8, 96 pts, 1st in Metropolitan

Last Game PHI: 3/17/23, 5-2 W vs. Buffalo

Last Game CAR: 3/17/23, 5-2 L at Toronto

When: 5:00PM ET

Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA

PHI Goalie: Felix Sandström (1-10-1, .887 SV%, 3.37 GAA, 0 SO)

CAR Goalie: Frederik Andersen (17-7-0, .903 SV%, 2.41 GAA, 1 SO)

PHI Projected Lineup

#21 Scott Laughton – #49 Noah Cates – #74 Owen Tippett

#86 Joel Farabee – #13 Kevin Hayes – #52 Tyson Foerster

#22 Brendan Lemieux – #48 Morgan Frost – #25 James van Riemsdyk

#44 Nicolas Deslauriers – #58 Tanner Laczynski – #57 Wade Allison

#9 Ivan Provorov – #45 Cam York

#6 Travis Sanheim – #55 Rasmus Ristolainen

#24 Nick Seeler – #77 Tony DeAngelo

#32 Felix Sandström

#79 Carter Hart

CAR Projected Lineup

#13 Jesse Puljujärvi – #20 Sebastian Aho – #24 Seth Jarvis

#86 Teuvo Teräväinen – #82 Jesperi Kotkaniemi – #88 Martin Nečas

#48 Jordan Martinook – #11 Jordan Staal – #71 Jesper Fast

#23 Stefan Noesen – #18 Jack Drury – #21 Derek Stepan

#74 Jaccob Slavin – #8 Brent Burns

#76 Brady Skjei – #22 Brett Pesce

#41 Shayne Gostisbehere – #5 Jalen Chatfield

#31 Frederik Andersen

#52 Pyotr Kochetkov

PHI Injuries: Sean Couturier (back), Travis Konecny (upper-body), Ryan Ellis (hip), Cam Atkinson (neck)

Scratches: Justin Braun, Kieffer Bellows

CAR Injuries: Max Pacioretty (Achilles), Ondrej Kase (concussion), Antti Raanta (groin), Andrei Svechnikov (knee)

Scratches: Paul Stastny, Calvin de Haan, Dylan Coghlan

News and Notes

–  Carolina has won all 3 games against the Flyers by 1 goal (10/29/22: 4-3 OTL, 12/23/22: 6-5 L, 3/9/23: 1-0)

– Carter Hart became the youngest goalie in Flyers franchise history to win 80 games last night on St. Patrick’s Day.

– Reporter Marcus Hayes of The Philadelphia Inquirer reported earlier today that Dave Scott did not consult Bob Clarke, Paul Holgren, or Bill Barber before releasing Chuck Fletcher and naming Daniel Briere as Interim General Manager.

Broadcast Info: TV – Hulu/ESPN+, Radio – 93.3 WMMR

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