Five things to know about the Flyers today
UPDATED after the morning skate Tuesday....
Five things to know about the surging Flyers (14-10-3) as they host Florida (12-11-3) on Tuesday night:
1. The Flyers, who will have left winger Taylor Leier on a line with Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Dale Weise, are aiming for their sixth straight win, which would equal their longest winning streak since 2011. During the last five games, the Flyers have outscored their opponents, 18-10.
2. Florida defenseman Keith Yandle, who was injured blocking a shot Monday, was supposed to have his streak of playing 577 straight games end tonight. On Monday night, Florida coach Tom Rowe said Yandle would not play Tuesday. But he's in the lineup. Yandle is tied for Florida's lead with a plus-4 rating. Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad is a team-worst minus-10.
3. Jon Marchessault, Florida's leading scorer, was injured in Ottawa on Saturday and is listed as day to day. On Monday, the Panthers replaced Marchessault by moving rookie Denis Malgin from the third to first line, playing alongside Jaromir Jagr and Aleksander Barkov. The 44-year-old Jagr (13 points) lifted his career total Monday to 1,881 points, six away from tying Mark Messier for second on the NHL's all-time scoring list.
4. Defenseman Radko Gudas will miss his third straight game. He has recovered from the flu and skated Monday and with the team Tuesday morning, but he said having a full practice Wednesday will make him more prepared to return Thursday against Edmonton.
5. The Flyers have allowed just one power-play goal in the last four games, successfully killing eight of nine penalties. The PK's recent success has helped the Flyers (31 points) move into the Eastern Conference's last wild-card spot. Florida (27 points) is one of many teams they will have to beat out to earn a playoff berth.