Philadelphia enters tonight’s matchup coming off a 5-2 loss against the Penguins last night. The Flyers look to end a 4-game losing streak against a streaking Bruins team.
Boston enters tonight’s matchup coming off a 6-5 OT win over the Red Wings on Tuesday. The Bruins look to extend their win streak to 5 and get 2-points closer to the division leaders, the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Flyers Lineup (Projected 3/7)
Giroux – Couturier – Konecny
Lindblom – Patrick – Voracek
Weal – Filppula – Simmonds
Lehtera – Laughton – Raffl
Provorov – Gostisbehere
Hagg – MacDonald
Manning – Gudas
Starter – Lyon
Backup – Mrazek
Scratches
20 – Leier
22 – Weise
24 – Read
29 – Oduya
Back-To-Back
In what may be the hardest set of games the rest of the season, the Flyers conclude a tough 2-game stretch tonight against the Bruins. The Flyers enter after a tough rivalry game last on NBC Sports against the Penguins.
The Flyers are already at a disadvantage playing the night before, but also have less time to prepare. With the game being on NBC Sports, the game started at 8:00pm instead of the usual 7:00pm start time. That is one less hour the Flyers have to rest.
But, it also adds time to them leaving tonight for Boston with the Philadelphia airport in snow mode.
However, with all that, the Flyers have still faired pretty well in the 2nd half of a back-to-back. They are 3-4-2 in 2nd half of back-to-backs this season.
Goaltending Help
With Brian Elliott still 2-3 weeks out, the Flyers will more than likely turn to Alex Lyon to face the Bruins tonight. After being passed up on in Florida on a back-to-back, Coach Dave Hakstol after the game said he should have started Lyon to give Mrazek rest.
However, this time he looks like he will be doing just that. Hakstol said after practice on Tuesday that he is leaning towards starting both goalies, one in each game. With Mrazek starting against the Penguins, look for Alex Lyon to give Mrazek the night off.
But, if the game gets bad, it will be interesting to see what Hakstol will do. Will he pull Lyon or will he pull a Canadiens and let Lyon get scored on as many as times as he lets the puck in? Last year, to give Carey Price the night off, Al Montoya let in 10 goals during the game without being pulled.
Game 68 Boston Bruins, Boston MA, NBCSports Philadelphia + 7:00pm
Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
