Among hockey fans, there's hashtag on Twitter growing in popularity: #LoseForHughes.
It revolves around teams near the basement of the league who might have a shot at the 2019 NHL draft's No. 1 overall pick, which will presumably be used on center Jack Hughes.
You'll probably see that hashtag trending a lot more Monday night when the Flyers (15-20-6) host the Blues (16-19-4).
Let's look at the essentials:
• When: 7 p.m. ET with Flyers Pregame Live at 6:30 p.m.
• Where: Wells Fargo Center
• Broadcast: NBC Sports Philadelphia
• Live stream: NBCSportsPhiladelphia.com and the NBC Sports MyTeams app
• The Flyers and Blues have had a similar 2018-19 season full of struggles, change and uncertainty.
Philadelphia Flyers
Complete coverage of the Philadelphia Flyers and their rivals in the NHL from NBC Sports Philadelphia.
St. Louis fired its head coach Mike Yeo after a 7-9-3 start and general manager Doug Armstrong is reportedly in listening mode on everyone ahead of the Feb. 25 trade deadline (see story).
Meanwhile, the Flyers also axed their head coach Dave Hakstol after firing general manager Ron Hextall, assistant general manager Chris Pryor and assistant coach Gord Murphy.
At 36 points apiece, the Flyers and Blues are ahead of just one NHL team: the Senators, who have 35 points. St. Louis, however, has played two fewer games than the Flyers.
The Blues have played better of late, going 7-6-0 since Dec. 7 with wins over the Jets, Flames and Capitals, all first-place clubs.
The Flyers, on the other hand, have lost a season-worst six straight games and are 6-13-5 with an NHL-low 17 points since Nov. 13.
• When Carter Hart takes the net for his seventh career start, he'll actually have more experience than the opposing goalie.
St. Louis netminder Jordan Binnington is set to make his first career start after playing two games in relief this season. Overall, the 25-year-old has three games of NHL experience. For AHL affiliate San Antonio this season, the 2011 third-round draft pick was 11-4-0 with a 2.08 goals-against average and .927 save percentage.
Hart, 20, hasn't won since his first two starts, but he's been a positive at 2-3-1 with a 2.80 goals-against average and .901 save percentage. He had held the Western Conference-leading Flames to one goal last Saturday until 4:17 left in the third period.
• The Blues have some talented pieces underperforming this season, namely Vladimir Tarasenko, Brayden Schenn and Jaden Schwartz.
Tarasenko, who scored 40 goals in 2015-16 and has eclipsed 30 three other times, is projected to finish with 23. Schenn, the former Flyer, has eight goals after putting up a career-high 28 last season, while Schwartz is on pace to finish with his fewest goals and points in a full season.
• The Flyers' last regulation win came on Dec. 20 with a 2-1 decision over the Predators.
Projected lineup
Forwards
Claude Giroux-Sean Couturier-Travis Konecny
Oskar Lindblom-Nolan Patrick-Jakub Voracek
James van Riemsdyk-Jordan Weal-Wayne Simmonds
Michael Raffl-Scott Laughton-Dale Weise
Defensemen
Ivan Provorov-Travis Sanheim
Shayne Gostisbehere-Radko Gudas
Robert Hagg-Christian Folin
Goalies
Carter Hart
Mike McKenna
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