Thursday night there are ten games on the slate in the NHL. The Carolina Hurricanes will travel to Philadelphia to meet the Flyers. Both teams are in the race for a playoff ticket, which of these division rivals will book an important win tonight?
Philadelphia Flyers: win streak continues
The Philadelphia Flyers are one of the biggest positive surprises in the NHL this season. The hockey team missed out on the playoffs last season, but are currently in fourth place in the Eastern Conference. Philadelphia still plays sixteen games in the regular season and with a second place in the Metro Division they currently holding a guaranteed ticket for the play-offs.
The Flyers are riding an 8-game win streak, which even gives them a chance to win a division title 'cause they are only one point behind the division leading Washington Capitals. What is especially impressive, is the strong home record of Philadelphia (23-5-4). Goalie Carter Hart returned three weeks ago from an abdominal injury and plays impresses since then with seven wins, one defeat and a save percentage of 0.9230.
Carolina Hurricanes: defensive injuries affect the team
The battle for play-off tickets is once again unprecedentedly exciting in the NHL this season. The Carolina Hurricanes are one of those teams that want to clinch a playoff spot, although the Canes are having a hard time at the moment. Tenth place in the Eastern Conference and sixth place in the strong Metro Division are not enough for Carolina. The hockey team lost their last four games in a row and now has to make up for a three-point deficit on the New York Islanders, who currently hold the last wildcard ticket in the Eastern Conference.
Carolina is currently struggling with defensive problems, which are a major cause for the recent disappointing results. The goalies Petr Mrazek and James Reimer were injured a week and a half ago during a 6-3 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs. As a result, head coach Rod Brindamour currently has to fall back to Anton Forsberg and Alex Nedeljkovic. Both AHL-goals are struggling in the NHL, so the Canes have to survive another week without Mrazek and Reimer.
Flyers incl. OT & Penalty Shootout
The Flyers play the second half of back-to-back games tonight, after beating the Capitals 5-2 on Wednesday night in Washington. As said, Philadelphia is performing very strong at home this season, and goalie Carter Hart, who will start tonight, is also in great shape. The Canes lost four games with Forsberg and Nedeljkovic in net (both played two games) and together they were good for a moderate save percentage of 0.864. I expect the problems to continue for Carolina without the presence of one of their first two goalies, against an in-form Philadelphia.
