[7:38 PM] Flyers @ Panthers

Who will WIN this matchup?

Philadelphia Flyers (8-8-3)

@ Florida Panthers (10-8-1)

 

Starting Goalies:

Steve Mason (PHI): Confirmed

Roberto Luongo(FLA): Confirmed

 

• The Florida Panthers come home after knocking off the top two teams in the Eastern Conference and hope to ride that wave of momentum when host the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night. The Panthers went 3-1-0 on the trek, including an overtime victory at red-hot Montreal and a 3-2 shootout triumph Sunday against the Metropolitan Division-leading New York Rangers.

• Offensive defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere was back in the lineup for Saturday’s 3-0 loss to Tampa Bay after being a healthy scratch against Winnipeg and had three shots on goal with a minus-1 rating in a team-high 23:32. Captain Claude Giroux shares the team lead at 17 points – 10 on the power play – with Jakub Voracek, who has seven goals on 70 shots. Philadelphia has been slightly better on the road with the man advantage, converting seven of 26 opportunities, and was still third in the league overall (25 percent) through Sunday despite recent struggles.

• Goaltender Roberto Luongo, who is expected to start Tuesday, won two games on the trip and James Reimer came up with a big effort in the win over the Rangers. Jonathan Marchessault leads the team with nine goals and 15 points while the Panthers hope Aleksander Barkov (two goals) gets a boost from his deciding shootout tally last time out and center Nick Bjugstad (broken hand) is expected to make his season debut. Keith Yandle scored his first goal with Florida on Sunday and fellow defenseman Aaron Ekblad has three goals in the last four games.

• Philadelphia rookie D Ivan Provorov registered seven assists in his first 19 NHL games, but owns a minus-8 rating.

• With Bjugstad back, the Panthers sent struggling C Jared McCann (one goal, 17 games) to Springfield of the American Hockey League.

• The Panthers have won two of three games against the Flyers in each of the last two seasons, including a pair of shootout triumphs

 

StreakSmarts Pick: Florida Panthers

Confidence: 5/10

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