Flyers at Hurricanes: Lineups and Game Discussion

Who would’ve thought that a mid-season game against the Flyers would be one of the most important games of the season? After two embarrassing losses at home, the Hurricanes will try to right the ship...or any ship...tonight at home versus Philly, a town that may still be in ashes from the Super Bowl.

Bill Peters said there were going to be changes made the lineup, possibly including callups from Charlotte. However, no Checkers were called up or in morning skate, as reported by Michael Smith, so to those who want Zykov now, you’ll have to wait a bit longer.

(But with John Forslund in St. Louis for tonight’s Wild vs Blues game, Checkers play-by-play commentator Jason Shaya is back in the booth, so kind of a Charlotte callup?)

Marcus Kruger will drop out of the lineup, replaced by Phil Di Giuseppe, who will man the third line. Haydn Fleury also will be a healthy scratch tonight as Klas Dahlbeck takes over the second pairing with Justin Faulk.

Cam Ward (15-7-2/2.68 GAA/.909 SV) gets the start in net again after a 23-for-26 performance in his loss against San Jose on Sunday.

Here’s what the lines will look like to begin the game tonight (God knows how many times they could change):

Sebastian Aho - Jordan Staal - Teuvo Teravainen

Brock McGinn - Victor Rask - Justin Williams

Jeff Skinner - Elias Lindholm - Phil Di Giuseppe

Joakim Nordstrom - Derek Ryan - Lee Stempniak

Jaccob Slavin - Brett Pesce

Klas Dahlbeck - Justin Faulk

Noah Hanifin - Trevor van Riemsdyk

Cam Ward

Scott Darling

Scratches: Marcus Kruger, Josh Jooris, Haydn Fleury (all heathy)

The Flyers are on a four-game losing streak, though three were to pretty fearsome opponents (Lightning, Capitals, Devils). Philadelphia and Carolina have yet to play this season.

The biggest news is Brian Elliott (19-11-7/2.77 GAA/.908 SV) will return to the Flyers after missing four games with a lower body injury. Let’s tab him as the goalie tonight.

According to Sam Carchidi of the Inquirer, Scott Leier and Michael Raffl will switch spots in the bottom line pairings.

Here’s what to expect from the Flyers:

Claude Giroux - Sean Couturier - Travis Konecny

Jakub Voracek - Nolan Patrick - Wayne Simmonds

Michael Raffl - Scott Laughton - Jordan Weal

Jori Lehtera - Valtteri Filppula - Taylor Leier

Ivan Provorov - Shayne Gostisbehere

Robert Hagg - Andrew Macdonald

Brandon Manning - Radko Gudas

Brian Elliott

Michal Neuvirth