Panthers Return From Successful Trip To Host Struggling Flyers
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SUNRISE (CBSMiami/SportsDirect) – Following an up-and-down start to the season, the Florida Panthers may finally be getting on track.
The Panthers come home after knocking off the top two teams in the Eastern Conference and hope to ride that wave of momentum when they host the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night.
Florida 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.
"This was a huge road trip for us," Florida coach Gerard Gallant told reporters. "Now we have to go home and take advantage of home ice. To win three of four against those teams (also beating Ottawa) was real good for us."
The Panthers will try to take care of the struggling Flyers, who have won twice in their last seven games (2-3-2) and went 0-for-10 on the power play the last three contests.
Philadelphia dropped to last in the league in goals-against (3.42) and their goalies have an NHL-worst .873 save percentage entering Monday's games.
The Flyers are near the top of the league with 60 goals - 13 from defensemen - and bruising forward Wayne Simmonds leads the way with nine.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, TVAS, CSN Philadelphia, FSN Florida
ABOUT THE FLYERS (8-8-3): 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.
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (10-8-1): 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.
OVERTIME
- 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.
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