1. MR. ONE THOUSAND
Kimmo Timonen will be playing his 1,000th game in the NHL tonight, becoming the 281st player in NHL history to accomplish that feat, which is approximately four percent of all NHL players in history… He is the first Flyer to reach that mark since Derian Hatcher did it on Apr. 7, 2007 and sixth defenseman to reach that mark with the Flyers… It is also Timonen's 38th birthday today, he is the only player in NHL history to play his 1,000th game on his birthday… Timonen is only the second Finnish NHL defenseman to reach the 1,000 game mark (Teppo Numminen - 1372 gp)… Of his 999 games, he has played 426 as a Flyer.

2. WRAPPING UP THE SERIES
This is the third and final meeting of the season against the Lightning… The team's split the first two meetings with each team winning on home ice… The Flyers took the most recent meeting with a 2-1 victory on Feb. 5… The Flyers have lost their last three games playing down in Tampa… The Lightning come into today having won two of their last three games, while the Flyers have also won two of their last three and look for their second straight win… The Flyers have the 6th best power-play in the NHL, but have failed to score on the man-advantage against Tampa Bay this year, going 0-for-8.

3. THIS, THAT & THE OTHER
The Lightning have the 2nd most power offense in the NHL, recording 3.3 goals-per-game, 92 goals in total and 39 goals in the third period… The Flyers have a 7-3-1 record against teams from the Southeast Division, while the Lightning own a 2-9-0 record against the Atlantic Division… Steven Stamkos leads the NHL with 20 goals and ranks third in points (39)… Jake Voracek has points in 10 of his last 14 games, recording 10 goals and 11 assists for 21 points in that stretch.

4. Player to watch FLYERS: Max Talbot - (C) #25
Talbot recorded the Flyers lone goal in their 2-1 shootout victory against the Devils, and has posted three points in the last five games for the Flyers, including a shorthanded tally in the Flyers' 3-2 win over Buffalo… He ranks second on the team, by one second, in shorthanded time-on-ice per-game (3:29)… In two games against Tampa Bay this season, Talbot has two assists… In his career, Talbot has nine points (3g-6a) in 26 games against the Lightning.

5. Player to watch LIGHTNING: Martin St. Louis - (RW) #26
St. Louis leads the Lightning with 30 assists, which also ranks 2nd in the NHL, and second on the squad with 37 points, which ranks 4th in the League… He has recorded at least a point in eight of his last nine games, including four multi-point games, where he has posted 10 assists and 13 points during that span… In 28 games, St. Louis has gone just six games where he has failed to score a point… St. Louis has four assists in two games against the Flyers this season, while owning 56 points, including 42 assists in 42 games in his career against the Flyers.

QUOTABLE
"This is huge. These are points we can't blow away; we can't say 'oh we'll get it next game'. We need every point in every possible game."
- Scott Hartnell

---

Last 10: Philadelphia 5-5-0; Tampa Bay 3-7-0

Season series: This is the third and final game this season. Each club earned a win at home in the two previous meetings.

Big story: The race for the playoffs in the Eastern Conference is beginning to take shape, with the Lightning and Flyers both trying to get into the top eight in the standings. Each team has won two of its last three games, but there is still plenty of ground to be made up. Lightning forward Steven Stamkos, the NHL's leading goal scorer this season, will try for his 200th career goal Monday.

Team Scope:

Flyers: Philadelphia makes a stop in Tampa to begin a brief two-game road trip and will try to end a three-game road losing streak. The Flyers haven't made much movement in the East standings this month with just a 3-4-0 record thus far. They hope to get things going at the Tampa Bay Times Forum, where the Flyers are 1-3-0 in their past four games.

On Monday, Philadelphia will hope to duplicate its effort from Friday when it played a very disciplined game that led to a 2-1 shootout victory at home against the New Jersey Devils. The team was patient and focused and got a regulation goal from Max Talbot and the shootout winner from Claude Giroux.

"The most important part I think is we waited for our chances. We didn't force anything for no reason. It paid off for us in the shootout," forward Danny Briere told the team's official website.

Lightning: Coming off a solid 4-1 win against the Southeast rival Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday, the Lightning will try for just their second win in the last seven home games. But if Tampa Bay can get secondary scoring Monday similar to what it received Saturday, then its chances for a win will be much greater. Rookie forwards Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat both scored their first career NHL goals against the Hurricanes.

"I’m pleased with the result,” Tampa Bay coach Guy Boucher told the team's official website after the game. “We’ve played this way in 14 of our last 16 games, but we just didn’t get the result. So, I was pleased tonight."

Who's hot: For the Flyers, Talbot has goals in two of his last three games. ... Martin St. Louis has a goal and six assists over his last five games for the Lightning.

Injury report: Luke Schenn returned to the Flyers lineup Friday after sitting out the game Wednesday with the flu. The Flyers will be without forwards Tye McGinn (orbital) and Jody Shelley (hip). ... Tom Pyatt returned to the Lightning lineup Saturday after missing one game with an upper-body injury. Captain and forward Vincent Lecavalier (lower body) and forward Benoit Pouliot (shoulder) are on injured reserve.