2. LATELY THE TEAMS...
Flyers look to bounce back after a 4-1 loss to the LA Kings snapped a six-game winning streak on Monday... The Flyers discipline hockey continued however, allowing just two power-plays and killing off both... They have now allowed the opposition two power-plays or less in each game in the month of December, killing off 12 of the 13 times shorthanded in the last eight games... The Red Wings come into tonight's game playing the second of a back-to-back after earning a 6-3 win over the Islanders in Brooklyn last night... Detroit has also won two straight entering tonight and will be looking for three consecutive wins for the first time this season and first time since Jan. 14-18 of last season.
3. SIXTY PLUS
Last year's season series saw all three games go past regulation play with the Flyers winning twice, posting a 2-0-1 record... In fact, four of the last six meetings against the Red Wings have been decided by one goal... Over the past three seasons, the Flyers and Red Wings are tied for second among all NHL teams with 60 games played past regulation (Carolina leads with 61)... Both the Flyers & Red Wings have played nine games past regulation this season.
4. PHILADELPHIA FREEDOM
This is the first of three meetings against the Red Wings and only meeting in Philadelphia this season with the other two games begin played at Detroit... The Flyers have had plenty of success on home ice against the Red Wings - they have earned at least a point in 13 consecutive games, but their streak of 12 straight wins was snapped in last year's 3-2 shootout loss on Nov. 8... The last regulation loss to the Red Wings at the Wells Fargo Center came on Jan. 25, 1997 (4-1).
5. PLAYERS TO WATCH:
FLYERS (LW: #12 - Michael Raffl)
Raffl loves playing against the Red Wings... He has eight points (4g-4a) in 11 games against Detroit giving him the highest points per-game against the Red Wings (0.73) than any other team in his career... After recording just three points (2g-1a) in the first two months of the season, Raffl has six points (3g-3a) in eight games in the month of December.
RED WINGS (C: #40 - Henrik Zetterberg)
Zetterberg is coming off a three assist night in the Wings' 6-3 win over the Islanders and is riding a four-game point streak with seven points (1g-6a) entering tonight... In his 14th NHL season, all with Detroit, the 210th overall pick in 1999 is four assists shy of 600 in his career (596)... He also averages over a point per-game against the Flyers, recording 11 goals and nine assists for 20 points in 19 regular season games.
