Canes at Flyers: Preview and Game Hub

Mar 18, 2023 - 5:53 PM

The Carolina Hurricanes are back in action tonight against the Philadelphia Flyers as they faceoff for the fourth and final time this season.

The Hurricanes are winners of the last three and are looking to finish off the season series strong and also get back in the win column after a tough loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs a day prior.

It’s been a tough stretch for the Hurricanes this month, as the team has had to deal with goalie inconsistency and a plethora of injuries, but all the team can do is keep pushing forward.

The Canes still sit in second place among the entire league and first in the Metropolitan Division, but with 15 games remaining this season, the end is getting closer and closer and they’ll need all the points they can muster to earn the best possible position for the playoffs.

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Game Notes

• With both teams on the second half of a back-to-back, it should mean a goaltending matchup of Felix Sandstrom versus Frederik Andersen. Sandstrom is 0-1-0 against the Hurricanes for his career (his only game against came earlier this month), and he has a 0.966 save percentage and 1.04 goals against average. Andersen is 10-4-3 against the Flyers, with a 0.911 save percentage and 3.00 goals against average.
• With a win, Andersen would also become the third Hurricanes goaltender to beat the Flyers this season as Antti Raanta (2-0-0) and Pyotr Kochetkov (1-0-0) have already beaten Philly this season.
• The Hurricanes are looking to sweep the season series against the Flyers, having had a 4-3 OT win (Oct. 29), a 6-5 win (Dec. 23), and a 1-0 win (March 9). The Canes have also not beaten the Flyers by more than a single goal all season.
• Brent Burns currently sits tied with Tony DeAngelo — who he’ll be facing off against tonight — for the most points by a Hurricanes defenseman in a single season (51). In just 67 games played, Burns is poised to set a new record for the team who just had it beaten last season.
• Burns is also the new team leader in power play assists by a defenseman with 19.

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Projected Lineups

Both teams played yesterday, so the likelihood of major lineup changes is low. That’s especially true for the Flyers, who are coming off a 5-2 demolition of the Sabres that saw Owen Tippett score his first career hat trick. The Hurricanes, meanwhile, were themselves taken down by the Leafs, so it’s entirely possible Rod Brind’Amour tries something else today. (Or not — the forward lines, to be sure, were not necessarily the issue yesterday.)

We know who the goaltenders will be, in all likelihood, and the rest is an educated guess based on how last night’s games ended:

Hurricanes

Seth Jarvis - Sebastian Aho - Jesse Puljujarvi
Teuvo Teravainen - Jesperi Kotkaniemi - Martin Necas
Jordan Martinook - Jordan Staal - Jesper Fast
Derek Stepan - Jack Drury - Stefan Noesen

Jaccob Slavin - Brent Burns
Brady Skjei - Brett Pesce
Shayne Gostisbehere - Jalen Chatfield

Frederik Andersen
Pyotr Kochetkov

Injuries and Scratches: Paul Stastny (healthy), Calvin de Haan (healthy), Dylan Coghlan (healthy), Antti Raanta (groin), Max Pacioretty (LTIR Achilles), Ondrej Kase (LTIR concussion), Andrei Svechnikov (LTIR knee)

Flyers

Scott Laughton - Noah Cates - Owen Tippett
Joel Farabee - Kevin Hayes - Tyson Foerster
Brendan Lemieux - Morgan Frost - James van Riemsdyk
Nicolas Deslauriers - Tanner Kaczynski - Wade Allison

Ivan Provorov - Cam York
Travis Sanheim - Rasmus Ristolainen
Nick Seeler - Tony DeAngelo

Felix Sandstrom
Carter Hart

Injuries and Scratches: Kieffer Bellows (healthy), Justin Braun (healthy), Cam Atkinson (IR neck), Travis Konecny (IR upper body), Sean Couturier (IR back), Ryan Ellis (LTIR back)

Tonight’s Officials
Referees: Chris Lee #28, Cody Beach #45
Linesmen: C.J. Murray #68, Devin Berg #87