Panthers vs. Flyers Preview: Looking to stay hot

On Wednesday night, the Florida Panthers will be taking on the Philadelphia Flyers. Heading into the match-up, the Panthers have won their last three games, so they certainly are coming in with a lot of momentum. Before their much-needed winning streak, Florida lost four straight games. This turnaround has been very pleasant to see to say the least.

The Flyers, on the other hand, have lost their last two contests. Therefore, it will not be surprising in the slightest to see them play with a real edge. Philadelphia is certainly not a team to take lightly. At this juncture, they sport an 8-5-3 record and are sixth in the very deep Metropolitan Division. Although they aren’t at the top of the league, they still have a playoff caliber roster.

One important to thing to note is that the Flyers actually play the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight first. Therefore, they are set to play on back-to-back nights and that is never an easy task for any club. This may end up working in Florida’s favor, especially if Philadelphia tires out tonight. That is certainly likely against a true contender like the Lightning. Still, though, the Panthers absolutely need to bring forth their best effort.

This is the second time that the Panthers will be facing the Flyers this season. When these two teams met in October, Florida defeated them with ease, as they won by a 5-0 final score. This is only another reason why the Flyers should play strongly tomorrow. Furthermore, old friend Keith Yandle returns to FLA Live Arena for the first time since being bought out over the summer.

In 16 games with Philadelphia this season, Yandle has five assists and possesses a minus-7 rating. It hasn’t been the greatest start for him there, but he is capable of producing offense well, so he’s a player to keep a close eye on tomorrow.

Nonetheless, this should be a very entertaining contest to watch. One could argue that the Panthers are the favorites to win, but we’ll have to see how they perform before getting too confident.