Tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins faceoff in their first game of the NHL season when they take the ice at the TD Garden in Boston for Opening Night action. The game can be live streamed for free here. Philadelphia fans can hear all of the action on 97.5 The Fanatic while Boston fans can do the same on WEEI 93.7.
Boston is coming off of a tremendous season in 2013-14 where it finished with a 54-19-9 record and NHL-best 117 points before falling to the Montreal Canadiens in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Philadelphia finished in third place in the Metropolitan Division last season and put up a 42-30-10 record along with 94 points before falling to the eventual Eastern Conference champion New York Rangers in seven games in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Flyers big move of the offseason was trading Scotty Hartnell, who had 20 goals, 32 assists and 52 points last season, to the Columbus Blue Jackets for R.J. Umberger, who had 18 tallies, 16 helpers and 34 points last campaign.
Claude Giroux was the best player for Philadelphia in 2013-14, ranking third in the NHL with 86 points and fourth in the league with 58 assists while being nominated for the Hart Trophy.
Jakub Voracek was second on the Flyers in 2013-14 with 62 points off of 23 markers and 39 helpers while Wayne Simmonds found the twine 29 times and added 31 helpers to finish third on the team with 60 points.
Simmonds is day-to-day with a foot injury after blocking a shot in the preseason, but he hopes to skate tonight.
Steve Mason returns to the crease for Philadelphia after going 33-18-7 with a .917 save percentage and 2.50 goals-against average last year.
The Bruins have plenty of firepower even with the loss of Jarome Iginla to the Colorado Avalanche through free agency.
Boston forward David Krejci led the team with 69 points off of 19 goals and 50 assists last season while Patrice Bergeron had 30 tallies and 32 helpers for 62 points and Milan Lucic found the back of the net 24 times and added 35 assists for 59 points.
Krejci led the NHL with a plus-39 ranking last season, but he was placed on injured reserve with what the team called an unspecified "minor issue" on Tuesday and will not play tonight.
Tuukka Rask mans the crease for Boston after leading the NHL with seven shutouts last season and ranking second with a .930 save percentage and fourth with a 2.04 goals-against average.
Boston defeated Philadelphia in all three meetings between these teams last season.
The Flyers and Bruins kick off their respective NHL seasons when they take the ice tonight at the TD Garden in Boston as part of NHL Opening Night.
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