Everything you need to know ahead of the Philadelphia Flyers matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
After breaking a four-game losing streak with a win over the Washington Capitals on Wednesday, the Philadelphia Flyers will face some more stiff competition as they play host to the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Wells Fargo Center. This will mark the first of three meetings between the Eastern Conference clubs, with the next two coming in February and March at the Amalie Arena. The Flyers will hope to start the season-series off with a win while trying to break a five-game losing skid against Tampa dating back to 2017-18.
So, I don’t know if you’ve heard this, but the Lightning have been preeeettttyyyy good as of late. The 2018-19 President Trophy winners have walked away with a victory in each of their last nine games, beating the likes of Carolina, Vancouver, and Arizona during that span. They’ve done so by racking up a whole bunch of goals, netting at least three in seven of those nine games.
While Philadelphia’s been rock solid defensively at home, Tampa Bay is a whole different offensive breed given all of the depth they have on the scoring front, with names such as Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos, Brayden Point, and Victor Hedman leading the way. The Lightning, who rank fourth in the NHL in total Goals Scored, will pose as a tough task for this Philly defense, and the Flyers must step up if they want to ignite of winning streak of their own. The same goes for Carter Hart, who will get the start between the pipes this evening.
Flyers Betting Odds
According to the Action Network, the Flyers were a +130 on the Moneyline while the Lightning were a -140 as of this morning. This is likely due to how good Tampa’s been in recent games and the success they’ve had against Philadelphia in past years.
Flyers Projected Lines and Pairings
Here are the Flyers projected line combos and defensive pairings for tonight, as per Dave Issac:
Claude Giroux–Sean Couturier–Travis Konecny
James van Riemsdyk–Kevin Hayes–Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Jakub Voracek–Michael Raffl–Tyler Pitlick
David Kase–Scott Laughton–Joel Farabee
Hart
Lightning Projected Lines and Pairings
Here are the Lightning’ projected line combos and defensive pairings for tonight, per Daily Faceoff:
Stamkos-Point-Kucherov
Ondrej Palat–Anthony Cirelli–Tyler Johnson
Alex Killorn–Cedric Paquette–Pat Maroon
Carter Verhaeghe–Mitchell Stephens–Yanni Gourde
Hedman-Jan Rutta
Mikhail Sergachev–Kevin Shattenkirk
Puck drop is set for 7 pm EST. You can watch the game on NBC Sports Philadelphia+ or Fox Sports Sun.