Starter Hart; Flyers Game 16 vs Hurricanes: Lines, Notes, How to Watch

After taking care of business in California, the Philadelphia Flyers (7-7-1) travel to Raleigh, NC to square off with the Carolina Hurricanes (9-6-0).

The Flyers won each of their two previous games, highlighted by a complete team effort against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday. That effort was spearheaded by goaltender Cal Petersen, who stopped 35 of 37 shots, and has since returned to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the AHL.

Speaking of goalies, Carter Hart is now over his illness, which was revealed on Tuesday to have been food poisoning. Despite being down a few pounds now, Hart figures to be good to go against Carolina.

For the Philadelphia Flyers, this is their last road game for a while, as they return home for a back-to-back this weekend. Their next road games will be Nov. 22 and Nov. 25 – both in Long Island, NY against the New York Islanders.

On Wednesday night, the Flyers face a tougher Metropolitan Division opponent. They are winless in their last five (0-3-2) against the Hurricanes, and lost 3-2 to Carolina on Oct. 30. The Flyers are also 7-2-0 when leading after the first period, which is the best such mark in the entire NHL. Suffice to say, scoring the first goal will be imperative.

Flyers game time

Tonight’s Flyers game should begin shortly after 7:30 p.m.

Flyers Preview

The Flyers are 3-1-0 in their last four road games, and have outscored their opponents 16-8 across that span. The Hurricanes, like the Kings, represent a difficult challenge for this Flyers squad, but if Saturday was proof of anything, it’s that this is just another game. On the heels of Petersen’s big weekend boost, Carter Hart finally returns, and that should be another shot in the arm for Philadelphia.

Head coach John Tortorella wasn’t ready to knight Hart as the team’s starter against the Hurricanes, nor was he ready to say whether or not Bobby Brink and Egor Zamula would return to the lineup. Tortorella was, however, very pleased with how Ryan Poehling played in his expanded role over the weekend. As far as an immediate return goes, Brink is far from a guarantee.

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The Hurricanes are 8-2-0 in their last 10 games against the Flyers, however, the Flyers are 4-0-1 when scoring four or more goals on the road. This season, they’ve done so in five away games out of a total of eight.

Goaltenders Antti Raanta and Pyotr Kochetkov have both struggled thus far, with their Goals Saved Above Expected marks of -2.4 and -3.4 ranking among the league’s worst, per MoneyPuck. It’s worth noting, though, that elite goaltenders like Juuse Saros (-7.3) and Ilya Sorokin (-1.1) are down there, too. Things can change very fast in this league.

Since Kochetkov posted a shutout on Saturday to finish the Hurricanes’ back-to-back, it’s likely Raanta will start against the Flyers.

Expected Flyers Lines

Cam Atkinson – Sean Couturier – Tyson Foerster

Owen Tippett – Morgan Frost – Travis Konecny

Joel Farabee – Ryan Poehling – Scott Laughton

Nicolas Deslauriers – Noah Cates – Garnet Hathaway

Defense

Cam York – Travis Sanheim

Nick Seeler – Sean Walker

Egor Zamula – Louie Belpedio

Goaltending

Carter Hart

Sam Ersson

Expected Hurricanes Lines

Andrei Svechnikov – Sebastian Aho – Seth Jarvis

Michael Bunting – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Martin Necas

Teuvo Teravainen – Jordan Staal – Jordan Martinook

Jesper Fast – Jack Drury – Stefan Noesen

Defense

Jaccob Slavin – Brent Burns

Brady Skjei – Brett Pesce

Dmitry Orlov – Tony DeAngelo

Goaltending

Antti Raanta

Pyotr Kochetkov

Flyers Special Teams

Flyers power play: 7.69%, t-31st

Flyers penalty kill: 19.17%, 15th

Hurricanes power play: 25.45%, 9th

Hurricanes penalty kill: 78.18%, 17th

Flyers Game Notes

Sean Couturier leads the Philadelphia Flyers in career scoring against the Carolina Hurricanes, with 10 goals, 17 assists, and 27 points in 40 games. Cam Atkinson is right behind him with 11 goals, 14 assists, and 25 points in 41 games.

The Flyers are second in the entire NHL in first period goals, with 21.

Including this game, three of the Flyer’ next four opponents will be Metropolitan Division rivals. Carter Hart is four wins from tying Roman Cechmanek and Bob Froese for the fifth-most wins in franchise history (102).

Nicolas Deslauriers is still one assist from 100 in his career, with 100 more still to come.

How to Watch the Flyers Game

TV: TNT

Radio: 93.3 WMMR

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