NHL Preview: Tampa Bay Lightning (13-8-1) at Philadelphia Flyers (8-10-5)

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING NOTES:

LAST GAME
Lightning 1 at Boston 3
The Tampa Bay Lightning fell to the Boston Bruins 3-1 on Tuesday night at TD Garden…The Bolts fell to 13-8-1 on the season with a road record of 6-5-0…Tampa Bay is 0-2-0 against the Bruins this season…Taylor Hall opened the scoring for Boston just 1:07 into the first period…Steven Stamkos tied the game at one with a quick one-timer on the power play at the 18:20 mark of the first period with Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point picking up the assists…Stamkos has picked up points in eight of his last 10 games vs. BOS (8-4—12) and has points in five consecutive games at TD Garden (4-1—5)…Kucherov has picked up 10 points in his last 10 games at BOS (5-5—10)…Point has collected points in three straight games at BOS (1-4— 5)…Hall gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead with a power-play goal in the third period with 17:11 remaining in regulation…Brad Marchand added an empty-net goal at the 19:19 mark of the third…Andrei Vasilevskiy got the start in goal for Tampa Bay and made 23 saves on 25 shots against…Pierre-Edouard Bellemare returned to the lineup for the Lightning after missing the past two games…Sixteen of Tampa Bay’s 18
skaters recorded a shot on goal.
PP: TBL – 1-2 BOS – 1-1
SOG: TBL – 28 BOS – 26
Attendance: 17,850

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP
The Lightning and the Flyers are playing the second of three matchups this season and the only meeting at Wells Fargo Center…Tampa Bay fell to Philadelphia 3-2 in the first meeting Oct. 18 at AMALIE Arena…Steven Stamkos scored both of the Bolts goals in the second period with both tallies coming on the power play…Nikita Kucherov assisted on both of the Stamkos goals, while Victor Hedman and Vladislav Namestnikov also picked up a helper in the loss…Scott Laughton made it a 2-1 game with 9:17 left in the second before Philadelphia scored twice in the third period to skate to a 3-2 win over Tampa Bay…Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 21 shots in the loss…The Bolts are 7-3-0 in their last 10 road games at PHI and 9-1-0 in the last 10 matchups overall…Stamkos has recorded points in five straight games vs. PHI (4-6—10) and 11 of the last 12 matchups (9-15—24)…Stamkos has pointed in 13 of 18 career games at PHI (9-9—18)…Kucherov has recorded four points in his last two games vs. PHI (1-3—4)…Kucherov has pointed in nine of his last 11 games vs. PHI (4-16—20)…Hedman has four points in his last two games vs. PHI (0-4—4)…Hedman has pointed in eight of his last 10 games vs. PHI (2-13—15)…Brayden Point has recorded points in eight of his 11 career games vs. PHI (7-4—11)…Vasilevskiy has won three straight starts at PHI…The Lightning are 50-45-3 with eight ties all-time vs. PHI, including a road record of 22-22-1 with seven ties…Martin St. Louis (15-43—58) holds the Lightning franchise records for career points and assists vs. PHI.

TBL ALL-TIME POINT LEADERS VS. PHI

1. Martin St. Louis – 58 pts. (15-43—58, 44 GP)
2. Steven Stamkos – 51 pts. (27-24—51, 38 GP)
3. Vincent Lecavalier – 42 pts. (15-27—42, 52 GP)
   T4. Victor Hedman – 28 pts. (7-21—28, 34 GP)
   T4. Brad Richards – 28 pts. (7-21—28, 26 GP)

TONIGHT’S STORYLINES
Tampa Bay is playing the third and final game of a three-game road trip, matching their longest road trip of the season thus far…The Bolts will play five of their 14 games in December on the road…The Lightning are 3-4-1 against Metropolitan Division opponents this season…Tampa Bay is 6-5-0 on the road this season and have won four of their last six road contests…Since the start of the 2017-18 season, the Bolts have posted an NHL-best .646 points percentage (121-63-14) on the road.

INJURIES
2022-23 Regular Season Man Games Lost: 59
Current Injuries:
Rudolfs Balcers (Upper-body injury; Out Indefinitely) 2 Games
Anthony Cirelli (Shoulder surgery; Out) 22 Games

TRANSACTIONS
Nov. 28 – Assigned F Alex Barre-Boulet to AHL Syracuse
Nov. 25 – Recalled F Alex Barre-Boulet from AHL Syracuse
Nov. 12 – Claimed F Rudolfs Balcers off waivers from FLA

STAMMER TIME
Lightning captain Steven Stamkos scored one goal Nov. 29 at BOS to extend his season-long point streak to eight games (6-8—14), the second-longest point streak among Tampa Bay skaters this season…Stamkos has now recorded 999 career points (494-505—999)…Stamkos finished November with points in 10 of the Lightning’s 13 contests (6-12—18)…Stamkos’s 18 points in November were tied for the eighth-most among NHL skaters…Stamkos (13-14—27) leads the Bolts in goals, ranks second behind Nikita Kucherov (10-25—35) in points and is tied with Brayden Point (10-14—24) for the third-most assists…Stamkos’s 13 goals are tied for the seventh-most in the NHL…Stamkos’s seven power-play goals lead all Tampa Bay skaters and trail only Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid (8 each) for the NHL lead…Stamkos’s 494 career goals are the 48th-most in NHL history…Stamkos became the second player in Lightning history to record 500 assists with the franchise Nov. 15 vs. DAL (also: Martin St. Louis, 588 assists)…Stamkos has recorded more career goals and points than any player in Tampa Bay franchise history.

TBL ALL-TIME POINT LEADERS

1. Steven Stamkos – 999 pts. (494-505—999, 944 GP)
2. Martin St. Louis – 953 pts. (365-588—953, 972 GP)
3. Vincent Lecavalier – 874 pts. (383-491—874, 1,037 GP)
4. Nikita Kucherov – 651 pts. (256-395—651, 584 GP)
5. Victor Hedman – 613 pts. (135-478—613, 918 GP)

KLUTCHEROV
Bolts forward Nikita Kucherov recorded one assist Nov. 29 at BOS and extended his point/assist streak to three games (0-7—7)…Kucherov (10-25—35) required just 20 games to hit the 30-point mark for the second time in his career (also: 2017-18, 18 games)…Kucherov leads the NHL in assists and ranks third in points…Kucherov’s 23 points (7-16—23) in November were tied with Jamie Benn (10-13—23) for the second-most among NHL skaters…Kucherov (256-395—651, 584 GP) has a career average of 1.11 points per game, tying him with Bryan Trottier (524-901-1425, 1279 GP) for the highest P/GP average of a second-round draft pick in NHL history and marking the highest P/GP average in Bolts franchise history…Kucherov leads all Tampa Bay skaters in points, assists, power-play points (17) and game-winning goals (3)…Kucherov has recorded points in nine of 11 road games this season (4-12—16) and 18 of 22 games overall…Kucherov is the only Bolts skater and one of seven NHL players to record a 10-game point streak this season…Kucherov also recorded an NHL-best (tied) six-game goal streak Oct. 25 – Nov. 5 (7- 5—12)…Kucherov’s 18 power-play points are the second-most among NHL skaters…Since the start of the 2016-17 season, only Connor McDavid (1.48 P/GP) has recorded a higher point-per-game average than Kucherov’s 1.35.

NHL P/GP LEADERS SINCE 2016-17 (MIN. 100 GP)

1. Connor McDavid – 1.48 P/GP (240-448-688, 464 GP)
2. Nikita Kucherov – 1.35 P/GP (188-314—502, 373 GP)
3. Leon Draisaitl – 1.25 P/GP (246-343—589, 471 GP)
4. Brad Marchand – 1.21 P/GP (205-319—524, 434 GP)

GAME POINT
Lightning forward Brayden Point recorded one assist Nov. 29 at BOS and extended his point streak to three games (4-2—6)…Point has eight points and three multi-point performances over his last five games (4-4—8)…Point (10-14—24) ranks third in points, tied for fourth in assists and tied for second in goals among all Tampa Bay skaters…Point (177-215—392, 439 GP) has posted a 0.89 career point-per-game average, the fifth-highest average for a third-round pick in NHL history.

NHL ALL-TIME P/GP LEADERS, THIRD-ROUND DRAFT SELECTIONS (MIN. 100 GP)

1. Mark Messier – 1.07 P/GP (694-1,193—1,887, 1,756 GP)
2. Charlie Simmer – 1.00 P/GP (342-369—711, 712 GP)
   T3. Jake Guentzel – 0.92 P/GP (172-190—362, 394 GP)
   T3. Brad Marchand – 0.92 P/GP (358-455—813, 888 GP)
3. Brayden Point – 0.89 P/GP (177-215—392, 439 GP)

POWER UP
The Lightning have scored a power-play goal in eight consecutive games and are 12-for-28 with the man advantage during that span…Since Nov. 13, the Bolts 12 power-play goals are tied with Boston for the most in the NHL while their 44.4% power-play percentage leads the league…The Lightning power play converted on 32% of its power-play chances in November, the third-highest conversion rate in the NHL…Tampa Bay’s 24 power-play goals this season are the second-most in the NHL (most: Boston, 25) and their 28.6% power-play percentage ranks fifth in the league.

STORM SERG
Bolts defenseman Mikhail Sergachev (4-18—22) has the fifth-most points, third-most power-play points (11) and is tied for the fifth-most assists among all NHL defensemen…Sergachev ranks second in assists, fourth in points and third in power-play points (11) among all Lightning skaters…Sergachev, who was drafted ninth overall by MTL in the 2016 NHL Draft, leads all defensemen selected in 2016 in games played (384) and points (40-156—196)…Sergachev is the only player in NHL history to have played more than 75 playoff games (91) and won two Stanley Cups by the
age of 24…Sergachev (0.51 P/GP) ranks fourth all-time among Russian defensemen in points per game (min. 100 GP), trailing only Sergei Zubov (0.72), Sergei Gonchar (0.62) and Andrei Markov (0.58).

NHL POWER-PLAY POINT LEADERS, DEFENSEMEN

1. Cale Makar – 13 pts. (4-9—13, 20 GP)
2. Rasmus Dahlin – 12 pts. (4-8—12, 21 GP)
3. Mikhail Sergachev – 11 pts. (2-9—11, 22 GP)
4. Quinn Hughes – 10 pts. (0-10—10, 19 GP)

BRAVO, BELLY
Tampa Bay forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare skated in his 607th career game Nov. 29 at BOS…Bellemare tied Antoine Roussel for the most games played by a France-born player in NHL history…Bellemare’s plus-20 rating over the past two seasons ranks third among Lightning skaters.

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS NOTES:

UPCOMING GAMES
DATE OPPONENT LOCATION TIME BROADCAST INFO.
Sat., Dec. 3 New Jersey Devils Wells Fargo Center 7 p.m. NBCSP, 97.5 The Fanatic
Mon., Dec. 5 Colorado Avalanche Wells Fargo Center 7 p.m. NBCSP, 93.3 WMMR
Wed., Dec. 7 Washington Capitals Wells Fargo Center 7 p.m. NBCSP, 97.5 The Fanatic

CURRENT INJURIES
PLAYER INJURY DATES GAMES MISSED
Wade Allison IR-oblique muscle strain, hip pointer 11/13-present 9
Cam Atkinson upper body 9/25-present 23
Sean Couturier IR-back 9/19-present 23
Tony DeAngelo lower body 11/29-present 1
Ryan Ellis LTIR-groin/hip/back 10/11-present 23
Travis Konecny IR-upper body 11/19-present 6
James van Riemsdyk IR-upper body 10/27-present 17
2022-23 TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 136

RECENT TRANSACTIONS
11/29 – Activated F Scott Laughton from Injured Reserve; Loaned F Jackson Cates to Lehigh Valley (AHL)
11/28 – Placed F Travis Konecny on IR; Recalled D Egor Zamula from Lehigh Valley
11/22 – Placed F Scott Laughton on IR; Recalled F Jackson Cates from Lehigh Valley

FLYERS VS. LIGHTNING: HEAD-TO-HEAD
FLYERS LIGHTNING
48-42-16 ALL-TIME RECORD 50-45-11
23-18-11 HOME 28-23-3
25-21-5 ROAD 22-22-8
1-3-1 LAST 5 MEETINGS 4-1-0
1-5-4 LAST 10 MEETINGS 9-1-0
314 GOALS SCORED 318
20.4% POWER PLAY 17.1%
82.9% PENALTY KILL 79.6%
Hayes: 11 pts (5-6=11) in 17 GP
Provorov: 9 pts (4-5=9) in 15 GP
Ristolainen: 9 pts (1-8=9) in 30 GP
TEAM SCORING LEADERS Stamkos: 51 pts (27-24=51) in 38 GP
Hedman: 28 pts (7-21=28) in 34 GP
Perry: 25 pts (9-16=25) in 23 GP
Hart: 1-5-1, 3.91 GAA, .878 SV% in 7 GP
Sandstrom: Has not faced TBL
TEAM GOALTENDERS
Vasilevskiy: 10-3-0, 2.35 GAA, .928 SV%, 3 SO in 14 GP
Elliott: 8-4-0, 2.01 GAA, .936 SV% 3 SO in 12 GP

2022-23 SEASON SERIES (ALL TIMES EASTERN)
October 18 Amalie Arena PHI (3), TB (2)
December 1 Wells Fargo Center 7 p.m.
March 7 Amalie Arena 7 p.m

TEAM NOTES
QUICK HITS

• Philadelphia plays 21 games in 40 days from Nov. 8-Dec. 17 – tied for the most games played among other NHL teams in that span (STL).
• The Flyers have allowed the opposing team to score first in 17 of its 23 games this season. Philadelphia ranks T-3rd in the NHL with six wins when trailinsg first in a game. The Flyers are 2-2-2 when scoring first.
• Philadelphia recorded a franchise-best 59 hits Nov. 12 vs. OTT. The 59 hits are tied for the ninth-most in a regular season game in NHL history.
• The Flyers rank second in the NHL with 417 blocked shots and with 700 hits.
• Philadelphia ranks sixth in the NHL in team rookie scoring percentage (11.0) and ninth in team rookie points (17).
• The rookies have netted a combined seven goals to rank fourth among NHL team rookie goal percentage (12.5) and seventh in rookie goals.

HOME SWEET HOME

• Philadelphia continues its five-game homestand Thursday – it’s second-longest homestand of the season. The Flyers will host a seven-game homestand, March 14-28.
• The Flyers are 5-5-1 on home ice this season, including a 1-1-0 record against an Atlantic Division opponent.
• Philadelphia ranks T-2nd in the NHL in shorthanded goals (2) and shorthanded assists (3) collected on home ice this season.
• The Flyers have scored 28 of its 56 goals this season on home ice (.500) and out of those 28 home goals, 22 have been tallied at even strength.
• The Flyers are 2-0-1 in one-goal games on home ice, ranking T-8th in the NHL in one-goal games win percentage (.667).

‘TIS THE SEASON

• The Flyers play 14 contests during the month of December, tied for their second-most in a month this season (also, March).
• Philadelphia will play six games at home and eight on the road, including the start to five road games in a row, Dec. 22-Jan. 2, that will be split up by the NHL Holiday Break, Dec. 24-26.
• Philadelphia owns a 352-221-82-30 all-time record for games played in the month of December – its second-most wins in a single month.
• The Flyers rank second in NHL history with a .596 winning percentage during the month of December (VGK – .750 in 56 all-time games) and rank seventh with 352 December wins.
• The December schedule also features Philadelphia’s 21st all-time game held on New Year’s Eve, its 20th on the road, when the Flyers visit the Kings on Dec. 31. Philadelphia is 9-7-2-2 all-time in New Year’s Eve contests, 8-7-2-2 on the road.

LUCKY NUMBER 13

• Kevin Hayes netted two goals Tuesday vs. NYI, including his first game-winning goal of the season, to stretch his point streak to three games (3-2=5). The contest marked his ninth career multi-goal game, first of the season.
• He owns back-to-back multi-point games (2-2=4) for the sixth time in his career and ranks T-1st on the team with seven multi-point games this season.
• He owns 14 points (7-7=14) in the last 13 games, including a season-high six-game point streak (Nov. 12-21).
• The 30-year-old leads the team in goals (8), assists (16), PPA (6) and points (24) this season.
• He collected eight points (1-7=8) in a career-high five-game season-opening point streak, Oct. 13-22.
• He tallied his 200th career assist Oct. 19 at FLA.
• Set a career-high three-game PPP streak (3a) from Oct. 13-18.

IVAN THE GREAT

• Ivan Provorov tallied an assist Tuesday, his second helper in as many games and his third assist in the last four contests.
• He recorded his 200th career NHL point (assist) Nov. 26 at NYI to become the seventh defenseman in Flyers history to reach the 200-plus point milestone.
• He ranks T-4th in team history for goals by a defenseman with Shayne Gostisbehere (60).
• The blueliner ranks third on the team in assists (10) and shots (51), fourth in scoring (11) and sixth in hits (38) this season.
• The 25-year-old leads the Flyers and ranks third in the NHL with 60 blocked shots.
• He tallied two assists, a plus-4 rating and 10 blocked shots in Philadelphia’s season opener on Oct. 13 vs. NJ.
• The Russian native’s 10 blocked shots tied the franchise record for most in a game for the third time: Andrew MacDonald (3/11/16); Provorov (11/2/17 & 10/13/22).

CZECH HIM OUT

• Lukas Sedlak registered two assists Tuesday night, including his first career shorthanded assist.
• He owns back-to-back multi-point games for the first time in his career (1-3=4) and has three multi-point games on the season.
• The forward has seven points (2-5=7) with the Flyers since being claimed on waivers from Colorado on Oct. 19.
• The Czech Republic native’s five assists are his second-most in a season (6 in 2016-17) and his seven points are his third-most in a season (13 in 2016-17, 8 in 2017-18).

SANNY ON A ROLL

• Travis Sanheim netted his first career shorthanded goal Tuesday vs. NYI to become the 41st defenseman in Flyers history to record a SHG.
• He went scoreless in the first nine games of the season but now owns seven points (2-5=7) in the last 14 contests, including five points (2-3=5) in the last six games.
• The blueliner ranks T-1st on the team in assists, second in scoring and T-2nd in goals since Nov. 19 and ranks T-4th among NHL defensemen in even-strength points (4), T-6th in goals and T-8th in points in that span.
• The 26-year-old signed an eight-year, $50 million contract extension ($6.25 AAV) on Oct. 13.

EMERGING TALENT

• Noah Cates recorded his first career shorthanded point (assist) on Tuesday night vs. NYI.
• He owns seven points (3-4=7) in the last 12 games.
• He tallied his first power-play point of the season (assist), Nov. 15 at CBJ.
• The 23-year-old recoded his first game-winning goal of the season, second career, Oct. 18 at TBL.
• The forward leads team rookies with eight points (3-5=8) and ranks T-10th among NHL rookies in goals and is one of 17 rookies to register a GWG.

WHOLE LOT OF HART

• Carter Hart has seen 30-plus shots in 11 of his 16 games this season – he is 6-1-4 in those contests.
• He ranks T-4th among NHL goaltenders in shots against (519) and saves (476).
• He opened the season on an eight-game point streak (6-0-2) to become the fourth goaltender in team history to have started a season on an eight-game plus point streak: Pete Peeters (22-0-5 in 1979-80), Bob Froese (9-0-1 in 1982-83) and Dominic Roussel (8-0-0 in 1993-94). (NHL Stats)
• He made a career-high 48 shots and tied his career high with 51 shots faced vs. FLA on Oct. 27.
• He recorded a career-high season-opening five-game win streak.
• Per NHL Stats, he became the seventh goaltender in Flyers history to win each of his first five games of a season and first since Ron Hextall (5-0-0 in 1995-96). The longest such stretch in franchise history is eight straight games, achieved by Dominic Roussel (1993-94) and Bob Froese (1982-83).
• The 24-year-old’s 48 saves tied for the eighth-most by a Flyers goaltender while his 51 shots faced T-10th. Per NHL Stats, his 48 saves mark the highest single game save total by a Flyers goaltenders since Steve Mason on March 22, 2016 (51 at CBJ).
• Outside of Philadelphia, he only has two NHL teams he has not earned a win against: Colorado and St. Louis.

BUZZIN’ JOEL

• Joel Farabee has four points (2-2=4) in the last six games.
• He owns eight points (2-6=8) in the last 12 games, including a season-high three-game assist streak, Nov. 8-12, and two three-game point streaks, Nov. 8-12 & Nov. 19-23.
• He ranks third on the Flyers in scoring (14) and fourth in goals and assists (9) this season.
• The forward tallied a season-high three points (1-2=3) on Oct. 22 at NSH.
• He tied his career-high five shots for the seventh time on Oct. 19 at FLA.
• The 22-year-old is one of six Flyers players with a GWG this season, notching his fourth career on Oct. 27 vs. FLA.

TIP OF THE HAT

• Owen Tippett recorded a career-high 21:14 TOI Nov. 21 vs. CGY.
• He registered his first career multi-goal game and a season-high six shots Nov. 19 at MTL.
• The Ontario native collected five points (3-2=5) in a four-game point streak (Nov. 13-19), matching his career-best four-game point streak also set March 9-15, 2021.
• He has seven points (4-3=7) in the last 12 contests.
• He owns 10 points (6-4=10) in 18 games this season, setting a career best in a Flyers sweater.
• He leads the team in PPG (3), ranks second in shooting percentage (14.3), third in goals and T-5th in scoring this season.
• The forward recorded his first multi-point game (1-1=2) of the season vs. STL (11/8).
• The 23-year-old has 17 points (10-7=17) in 39 career games with the Flyers in two seasons.