VOORHEES, N.J. - With two games remaining in the Flyers' preseason, will we see something close to a regular season lineup?
The Flyers battle the Rangers for the second time during the exhibition period after the orange and black won a high-scoring 6-4 game Sept. 19 at Madison Square Garden. The line of Oskar Lindblom, Corban Knight and Scott Laughton combined for three goals and six assists, all in the opening period. Laughton and Knight will be paired together for tonight's rematch.
• Sean Couturier skated for the first time Wednesday morning and again Thursday after he left the Voorhees ice prematurely Saturday. Couturier had been dealing with soreness, according to general manager Ron Hextall, who was hoping to have Couturier available to play in the preseason finale Saturday in Boston. Couturier wants one preseason game to work out the bad habits of playing summer hockey.
"In the summer, it's like ‘screw it, I'm not backchecking,' I'm just coasting at the red line and then someone hitting you for a breakaway," Couturier said. "That's not how it is in a real game and in the season."
• Tonight's game could also serve as the final audition for the backup role to Brian Elliott, who's expected to play the full game Saturday in Boston. Carter Hart will receive the start against the Rangers. Head coach Dave Hakstol did not specify how much Hart would play but added it's another position up for competition. Judging purely by their preseason performance, Hart (1.20 GAA, .957 save percentage) has outplayed Stolarz (3.00 GAA, .895 save percentage) so far.
• Left winger Tyrell Goulbourne was expected to clear waivers. Hextall stated Monday he wasn't sure whether Goulbourne would be kept on the Flyers' roster or if he would be loaned back to the Phantoms.
Here are the essentials for tonight:
Philadelphia Flyers
Complete coverage of the Philadelphia Flyers and their rivals in the NHL from NBC Sports Philadelphia.
When: 7 p.m.
Where: Wells Fargo Center
Broadcast: NBCSP+
Stream: NBCSportsPhiladelphia.com
Projected lineup
Forwards
James van Riemsdyk-Nolan Patrick-Jake Voracek
Oskar Lindblom-Mikhail Vorobyev-Carsen Twarynski
Michael Raffl-Scott Laughton-Corban Knight
Taylor Leier-Jordan Weal-Dale Weise
Defensemen
Ivan Provorov-Shayne Gostisbehere
Andrew MacDonald-Radko Gudas
Travis Sanheim-Christian Folin
Goaltenders
Carter Hart
Anthony Stolarz
