Florida: 31-22-12 (74PTS)
Philadelphia: 0-0-0 (0PTS)
Season Series: 0-1-1
Game Time: 7:00 PM EST
Television: Fox Sports Florida, CSN
Radio: 560 WQAM
The Panthers hope increase their slight lead in the Southeast Division tonight in Philadelphia as the Flyers look for their fourth straight win. The Flyers are fighting the Penguins for home ice in the 4-5 matchup in the Eastern Conference while the Panthers are trying to hold off the three headed hydra known as the Jets-Capitals–Lightning. The Lightning got a tough break this week, with goaltender Mathieu Garon out with a groin tear, and the Capitals are alternating good games with ones where it looks like they’re ready to completely implode. So let’s just say the Panthers are trying to keep a lead on the Winnipeg Jets, who have started to find some success on the road to match their solid home record. The Cats have two games in hand, but are not winning as many games as the Jets right now. They’re starting to get injured players back and that could make the difference tonight. On the Flyers end, they’re without several key players besides captain Chris Pronger, including Kimmo Timonen, Andrej Meszaros, James van Riemsdyk, Jakub Voracek and possibly Jaromir Jagr. That said, the Flyers are still winning games and goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov is starting to look like the guy the Flyers thought they were getting when they gave him that huge contract this summer.
More from our Philadelphia cohorts at Broad Street Hockey.
Panthers vs Flyers coverage at SB Nation.
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LBC Game Thread will open 30 minutes prior to puck drop.
News and Notes
Last meeting
Claude Giroux had the shootout winner and Sergei Bobrovsky the win as the Flyers won their second 3-2 victory in Sunrise in late January.
Last game
The Panthers finally beat the Ottawa Senators on Sunday evening. It was their first win against the Sens in ten games.
Lineup
D Erik Gudbranson returns to the lineup tonight after being scratched on Sunday.
Injuries
- F Scottie Upshall (core), 2/1, 6 to 8 weeks
- D Dmitry Kulikov (knee), 1/21, 6 to 8 weeks
- F Matt Bradley (concussion), 2/19, indefinitely
Possible Scratches
- F Kris Versteeg (lower body)
- F John Madden (healthy)
- F Marco Sturm (healthy)
- D Tyson Strachan (healthy)
Starting goaltenders:
Jose Theodore will face off against Mr. Universe himself, Ilya Bryzgalov.
Lines
Forwards
- Bergenheim-Weiss-Samuelsson
- Fleischmann-Matthias-Wolski
- Kopecky-Goc-Smithson
- Barch-Santorelli-Skille
Defense
- Campbell-Garrison
- Gudbranson-Jovanovski
- Weaver-Ellerby