Philadelphia Flyers (41-21-7, second in the Metropolitan Division) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (43-21-6, second in the Atlantic Division)
Tampa, Florida; Thursday, 7 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: The Tampa Bay Lightning and the Philadelphia Flyers meet in a matchup of two of the top teams in the Eastern Conference.
The Lightning are 28-12-3 against Eastern Conference opponents. Tampa Bay leads the league averaging 3.5 goals per game, led by Nikita Kucherov with 33.
The Flyers are 30-10-5 in Eastern Conference play. Philadelphia has scored 227 goals and ranks seventh in the NHL averaging 3.3 goals per game. Travis Konecny leads the team with 24.
In their last meeting on Feb. 15, Tampa Bay won 5-3.
TOP PERFORMERS: Kucherov leads the Lightning with 33 goals, adding 52 assists and recording 85 points. Yanni Gourde has
Sean Couturier leads the Flyers with a plus-21 in 69 games played this season. Kevin Hayes has scored six goals over the last 10 games for Philadelphia.
LAST 10 GAMES: Flyers: 9-1-0, averaging 3.9 goals, seven assists, 3.7 penalties and eight penalty minutes while giving up 1.9 goals per game with a .936 save percentage.
Lightning: 3-6-1, averaging three goals, 4.9 assists, 5.5 penalties and 15.2 penalty minutes while giving up 3.4 goals per game with a .891 save percentage.
INJURIES: Lightning: Steven Stamkos: out (core muscle), Victor Hedman: day to day (lower-body).
Flyers: Philippe Myers: out (leg), James van Riemsdyk: out (hand).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
The Associated Press
