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Hot Flyers try to contain high-flying Lightning; Carter Hart gets the call

The Bolts lead the NHL in goals per game, and their power play is first in the league.

Tampa Bay goalie Louis Domingue defending against the Flyers' Wayne Simmonds in a game earlier this season.
Tampa Bay goalie Louis Domingue defending against the Flyers' Wayne Simmonds in a game earlier this season.Read moreTom Mihalek / AP

The surging Flyers will face a major challenge Tuesday night when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning, a team that has won six straight and has the NHL’s best record — by far.

The Bolts lead the league in goals per game (3.88), and their power play is first in the NHL (30.3 percent) and their penalty kill is second (84.9 percent). They have three of the league’s top eight scorers: Nikita Kucherov (99 points, first), Brayden Point (78, tied for fourth), and Steven Stamkos (72, tied for eighth).

“They’re a team that, if you give them opportunities, they’re going to find ways to hurt you. They have a lot of tools,” Flyers captain Claude Giroux said after Tuesday’s morning skate in Voorhees. “They have a lot of players who can make special plays, and for us it’s a very good challenge, a good test to see where we stand. It’s two big points for us.”

The Flyers (28-24-7) have lost a pair of 6-5 overtime decisions to Tampa (45-11-4) this season. The losing goalies in those games: Cal Pickard and Michal Neuvirth.

Carter Hart, who has won 10 of his last 11 starts, will get the call Tuesday and is expected to face backup Louis Domingue. Despite pedestrian numbers (2.90 GAA, .907 save percentage), Domingue has won 10 straight since a 3-1 loss to Anaheim on Nov. 27.

The Flyers’ defense had problems getting out of their zone in Sunday’s 3-1 win in Detroit, but Hart (2.53 GAA, .924 save percentage) bailed them out with 37 saves, many from point-blank range.

After facing Tampa, the Flyers will play Montreal and Pittsburgh, two teams they are chasing for a wild-card spot. The Flyers trail those teams by six points with 23 games left.

“We have to focus on Tampa. … I mean, it’s not a secret that the two other games are going to be big, but for us, but it’s about Tampa right now,” Giroux said.

Tampa is on an 8-0-2 run. The Flyers have won three in a row and are 12-1-1 in their last 14 games.

“They’re all pretty big now from where we’re at in the standings and where we want to be,” left winger James van Riemsdyk said.

Elliott returns

Brian Elliott, who looked rusty in a two-game rehab stint with the Phantoms over the weekend, returned to the Flyers and was activated Tuesday. He will be Hart’s backup Tuesday night.

“It was good to get down there and see some pucks and game action and some chaos in the defensive zone,” Elliott said. “I’m happy to be feeling healthy enough to get back in the lineup here.”

Elliott is one of five goalies with a locker at the Flyers’ practice facility in Voorhees.

Bailey back in lineup

Fourth-line right winger Justin Bailey will return to the lineup Tuesday, and defenseman Phil Myers, who had a solid NHL debut Sunday, will be a healthy scratch.

Alumni game

In a charity game Friday, the Flyers alumni will face alumni from the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation at 7 p.m. at the Class of ’23 Arena on the University of Pennsylvania campus.

There are plans to renovate the facility in a project largely possible because of a $2 million pledge by the Flyers’ alumni to support Snider Hockey and honor Ed Snider’s legacy.

The Flyers alumni will have 35 players on the roster, including Scott Hartnell, Danny Briere, Nick Schultz, Brian Boucher, Brad Marsh, and Joe Watson.

Tickets are $15.

Breakaways

Victor Hedman, Tampa’s star defenseman, had to leave Monday’s 5-1 win in Columbus with a lower-body injury and is questionable for Tuesday’s game. … Samuel Morin didn’t play in the last two games with the Phantoms because of cramping, said interim coach Scott Gordon, adding he expects the big defenseman to be able to return to Lehigh Valley’s lineup this weekend. … The Flyers are 13-2-1 since Jan. 9, the league’s second-best record in that span. In those 16 games, the Flyers’ power play has clicked at 29.2 percent (14-for-48) and their penalty kill has clicked at 82.9 percent (34-for-41). … Stamkos has 40 points, including 23 goals, in 31 career games against the Flyers. …. Giroux has 36 points in 34 career games against the Lightning.