Flyers vs. Hurricanes Preview
RALEIGH, NC – An overtime loss might have cooled off the Philadelphia Flyers a bit, and now they hope a three-day break hasn’t further done so.
Recently denied their longest win streak in nearly nine years, the Flyers try to avoid becoming the latest blowout victim at the RBC Center by posting an eighth straight victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night.
Oddsmakers from online sports book SBGGlobal.com have made the Flyers –120 money line favorites for Thursday’s game against the Hurricanes. Current NHL Public Betting Information shows that 72% of more than 98 bets for this game have been placed on the Hurricanes.
Philadelphia (9-4-2) had won six in a row before falling 3-2 in overtime at Washington on Sunday despite Sergei Bobrovsky’s career-high 36 saves. Despite missing a chance to win seven straight for the first time since January 2002, the Flyers weren’t particularly discouraged by the effort.
“We fought hard today for that one point,” center Mike Richards said before his team began its only layoff of more than one day in a three-week span. “I thought we probably could have played better, but Bob kept us in the game. He had some big saves.”
Bobrovsky missed a chance to match the team rookie record of seven straight wins, but it was another solid performance by the 22-year-old Russian. He’s given up 10 goals in his last six starts.
Bobrovsky stopped 26 shots in a 3-2 home win over the Hurricanes on Nov. 1 as Philadelphia ran its win streak in this series to seven. The Flyers are 13-0-3 against Carolina since a 2-1 regulation home loss Dec. 19, 2006.
They’ve also won six straight at the RBC Center, but the Hurricanes (8-7-0) have been impressive in three games there this month. They’ve won them all while outscoring the opposition 17-5, including a 7-1 victory over Edmonton on Tuesday.
Carolina was 5 for 16 on the power play in those three wins after going scoreless in 12 chances through its first two games in North Carolina.
“It’s been really fun, with some of the bounces we’ve got,” said rookie forward Jeff Skinner, who has three goals and four assists during the three-game home win streak. “But at the same time, we’ve earned our bounces. We had to work hard for them. When things go well, it’s nice.”
Joe Corvo had two goals Tuesday, giving him four in five games after failing to score in his first 10. Eric Staal added four assists, posting eight points in the last three home games.
While Staal and Skinner top the Hurricanes with six goals and nine assists apiece, Claude Giroux leads the Flyers with 14 points and was rewarded Monday with a three-year contract extension.
“He’s somebody we count on to play in every situation and he’s proving himself to be a clutch player,” said current Flyers and former Carolina coach Peter Laviolette. “He’s had big games in playoffs and big games when you need a performance out of somebody. He seems to be stepping up.”
Giroux had a power-play goal Nov. 1 against Carolina and Scott Hartnell scored twice.
