The Philadelphia Flyers are a really bad team. We knew this. However, tonight, there’s a new face on the roster that is a part of the solution. They face off against the Washington Capitals in the nation’s capital.
The Flyers are coming off of a 5-3 loss to the Anaheim Ducks that saw Trevor Zegras embarrass the defense by doing a quick spin-o-Rama pass to Troy Terry in front of the net that resulted in a goal credited to him, thanks to Ivan Provorov backhanding the puck into his own net, instead of his usual lacrosse-style goal. Now, they head to face the Capitals in the nation’s capital. The Flyers are currently ahead in the season series 2-1.
The Capitals are sitting on a three-game winning streak with victories against some very strong teams. The Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Tampa Bay Lightning are teams that could all be contending for the Stanley Cup by the time the playoffs roll around. The Capitals are 6-4-0 in their last 10 games, and they’re going to be a big test for a young team that has been struggling. They sit with a season record of 40-22-10 and in the fourth spot of the Metropolitan Division.
In the last five games, John Carlson leads in goals (3), assists (5), and points (8). On the season, it’s Alex Ovechkin leading the charge in both the goals (45) and points (83) department. Following him is Evgeny Kuznetsov with 70 points in 69 games. Ilya Samsonov is the projected starter for the Capitals. He has a 21-9-5 record, but his stats suggest that it could be worse than that. He owns a 2.95 goals-against average and a .899 save percentage. Although, this could be the perfect game for him to bring those stats up slightly.
As for the Flyers, with their loss to the Ducks, their record is brought to 23-38-11 on the season with a 3-7-0 record in their last 10 games. Provorov is holding the lead in goals (3) and points (5) over the team’s last five games, but Kevin Hayes leads in assists with four over that span. The projected starter for tonight is Carter Hart, who owns a 3.11 goals-against average and .906 save percentage on the season. He got the night off with Martin Jones taking the reins against the Ducks.
The biggest story coming out of the night is the young prospect Bobby Brink making his NHL debut. Fresh off of a NCAA Frozen Four tournament victory, Brink is looking to make an immediate impact on a Flyers team that needs all the help it can get. He’s getting afforded the opportunity to play on the second line with Travis Konecny and Scott Laughton, which is the ideal scenario for a player of his caliber. It’s only a one game sample size, but watching people overreact to prospects that play towards the end of the NHL season on bad teams is always entertaining. In the end, it’s going to be a fun night for Philadelphia hockey fans, as they get to take a look at one of the premier prospects in the entire NHL landscape and another piece of the future for the team. The Capitals are always a hard team to play, but at this point in the season, watching a guy like Brink and bettering the team’s draft stock isn’t the worst thing in the world.
Projected Lineup
Joel Farabee — Kevin Hayes — Cam Atkinson
Travis Konecny — Scott Laughton — Bobby Brink
James van Riemsdyk — Morgan Frost — Owen Tippett
Noah Cates — Nate Thompson — Oskar Lindblom
Ivan Provorov — Travis Sanheim
Cam York — Rasmus Ristolainen
Kevin Connauton — Ronnie Attard
Carter Hart
(Martin Jones)
That’s all from me, everybody! Go Flyers and good luck, Bobby!
