Hurricanes vs. Flyers Preview
Philadelphia, PA – The Philadelphia Flyers have had little trouble scoring during their last three games. If history tells the story, the Flyers may not have much difficulty continuing their winning ways.
Having scored 15 goals during its three-game winning streak, Philadelphia looks to extend its recent dominance of the visiting Carolina Hurricanes on Monday night.
Oddsmakers from online sports book BroburySports.com have made the Flyers –170 money line favorites for Monday’s game against the Hurricanes. Current MLB Public Betting Information shows that 65% of more than 637 bets for this game have been placed on the Flyers -170.
Philadelphia (6-4-1) is coming off a 6-1 victory Saturday night against the New York Islanders after defeating Pittsburgh 3-2 and Buffalo 6-3 over the past week. Jeff Carter and Claude Giroux are each averaging a goal and an assist during the streak.
In the most recent win, Kimmo Timonen had a goal and two assists – both to Chris Pronger, who scored his first two goals of the season.
“It was a good team effort,” forward Dan Carcillo said. “We came out skating, we came out hitting, and everything fell into place.”
Philadelphia had lost four of five before its recent surge.
“We’re starting to see things in our game that we like,” coach Peter Laviolette said. “Things are starting to get better, but there’s still a lot of things we can do to improve.”
Laviolette certainly wasn’t referring to the penalty kill, which has held opponents without a goal in 12 chances over the last two games.
Rookie goalie Sergei Bobrovsky has played a large role, winning his last three starts while lowering his goals-against average to 2.44. The only goal Bobrovsky allowed Saturday came on Frans Nielsen’s penalty shot.
After Bobrovsky played Friday and Saturday, it’s possible Brian Boucher could start against Carolina. Boucher is 5-1-0 with a 1.67 GAA in his career against the Hurricanes, although he hasn’t faced them since winning Jan. 4, 2004, while with Phoenix.
The Flyers have dominated Carolina in recent years, winning the last six meetings and going 12-0-3 since their last regulation loss in the series Dec. 19, 2006.
Carolina (5-5-0) will be away from home for the ninth time in 11 games and is coming off a 3-0 home loss to Pittsburgh on Saturday night. The Hurricanes have been shut out in two of their last three games.
“We just have to be a little grittier in front of their net,” forward Tuomo Ruutu told the team’s official website. “It’s small things like stopping in front of the net, being right in front of the goal and not on the side, and shooting pucks every time we get the chance. I think we’re going to get some goals in the future.”
Rookie Jeff Skinner, the seventh overall pick in the 2010 draft, is tied with captain Eric Staal for the team lead in points with seven. He scored two goals and added an assist in Friday night’s 4-3 win against the New York Rangers.
Coach Paul Maurice said he’s happy where Carolina stands entering November after starting its season with two games in Finland, then a five-game road trip in North America.
“There was the possibility that when you looked at that schedule and you looked at where we’re at, it could have been a very difficult start with the youth we have,” Maurice said. “That didn’t happen.”
Philadelphia swept the 2009-10 season series by outscoring Carolina 15-6 in four wins.