Hurricanes vs Flyers: Preview

Carolina Hurricanes vs Philadelphia Flyers
November 14, 2015 - 7:00 pm ET
PNC Arena - Raleigh, NC
Fox Sports Carolinas - 99.9 FM - WRALSportsFan app
SB Nation Rivals - Broad Street Hockey

Vital Statistics

*Stats from NHL.com and War on Ice

Game Notes

• For many years the Hurricanes were owned by the Flyers, at one point going five years without a regulation win. But things have changed over the last two seasons, perhaps fortuitous now that the opponent is a division rival. The Canes swept the Flyers in 2013-14 and were 4-1-0 against them last season, winning five straight within the friendly confines of PNC Arena. The teams will face each other four times this season.
• The Flyers are struggling. After an uninspiring 4-0 loss to the Colorado Avalanche Tuesday night, the players held a closed-door meeting, which was followed by a hard practice the next day where head coach Dave Hakstol pushed the players to take it to each other. It didn't pay immediate dividends as the Flyers were on the wrong side of a 5-2 loss to the Capitals Thursday night.
• As difficult as it may be to believe, the Flyers are actually ranked lower in goal scoring than the Canes are, averaging 1.81 goals per game. Jakub Voracek, the NHL's fourth best last season with 81 points, has yet to find the back of the net, and Michael Raffl, who shares top line duties with Voracek and Claude Giroux, has just one goal. Giroux leads the team in scoring with 10 points (5g, 5a).
• The Flyers will be without the services of R.J. Umberger tonight as he is out for at least a week with a lower body injury. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, also out with a lower body injury, is close to returning and may be in the lineup tonight.
• In his post-game comments following Thursday's loss to the Minnesota Wild, head coach Bill Peters voiced his displeasure with his team's effort in the second period, but "upon further review" he recanted a bit, saying the team played better than he originally thought and had enough scoring chances to win (two versions of yesterday's media scrum are linked below). The team held a brief, low-intensity practice session on Friday, and there were a few forward line and defensive pair mixes, but Peters explained it was more about getting players comfortable playing with different line mates than anything more permanent.
• Neither team reported lineup changes coming out of their practice sessions yesterday so stay tuned for updates following the respective pre-game skates later this morning.
• Hurricanes CEO and owner Peter Karmanos will be honored in a pre-game ceremony for his recent induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Governor Pat McCrory and other dignitaries will be on hand to celebrate this achievement.

Projected Lineups

Hurricanes (Updated 11:15 am from morning skate)

Eric Staal - Jordan Staal - Elias Lindholm
Jeff Skinner - Riley Nash - Kris Versteeg
Chris Terry -Victor Rask- Joakim Nordstrom
Nathan Gerbe - Jay McClement - Andrej Nestrasil

Ron Hainsey - Justin Faulk
John-Michael Liles - Brett Pesce
Noah Hanifin - Ryan Murphy

Cam Ward
Eddie Lack

Injuries and scratches: James Wisniewski (IR - ACL), Brad Malone (healthy), Michal Jordan (healthy)

Flyers (from Saturday morning Flyers press, see comments for additional updates)

Michael Raffl - Claude Giroux - Jakub Voracek
Matt Read - Sean Couturier - Wayne Simmonds
Brayden Schenn - Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - Sam Gagner/Vincent Lecavalier
Chris VandeVelde - Scott Laughton - Ryan White

Michael Del Zotto - Radko Gudas
Nick Schultz - Luke Schenn
Evgeny Medvedev - Shayne Gostisbehere

Steve Mason
Michal Neuvirth

Injuries and Scratches: Mark Streit (IR lower body), R.J. Umberger (lower body), Brandon Manning

Storm Debris

• Bill Peters post-practice video 11/13/15 [CH.com] [N&O]
• Canes Gameday Hub [CH.com]
• Canes to Honor Karmanos Saturday Night [CH.com]
• Canes Corner Podcast: Make-or-break homestand [WRALSportsFan]
• Elliotte Friedman talks a possible Eric Staal trade scenario [Today's Slapshot].
• Another great read/interview with Noah Hanifin, who is getting schooled on NHL life [ESPN].
• Elias Lindholm tries to stay positive in the midst of a scoring slump [N&O].
• Flyers pulling for Jake [Flyers.com].
• Five Flyers things learned at Friday's practice [NJ.com].
• Dave Hakstol holds Flyers accountable with hard practice [CSN Philly].
• Former Hurricanes/Flyers goalie Brian Boucher talks about the size of goalie equipment [NHL Network].
• Finally, The Hockey News ranks the NHL's most miserable fan bases (hint, the Canes aren't anywhere near the top of the list) [THN].