The final week of the regular season is upon us, and with just five games remaining on the schedule, the Flyers are looking to keep the ball rolling and hold on to their recently grabbed playoff spot. It won’t be easy, but they’ve got some momentum behind them, coming off a massive overtime win over the Bruins on Sunday, and they’ll be hoping that they can keep it rolling into a win over their rivals in the Devils.
Puck drop: 7:00 p.m.
How to watch/listen:
📺: ESPN/NBCSP
📻: 97.5 The Fanatic
Pregame reading
- It’s a big news day! The Flyers have named Garnet Hathaway their nominee for the NHL’s King Clancy Memorial Trophy. [BSH]
- Also, Matvei Michkov’s gotten himself slapped with a fine. [BSH]
- And finally, checking in with the Flyers’ playoff odds as we head into this final week of the season. [BSH]
Pregame watching
By the numbers
Philadelphia Flyers – 39-26-12 (3rd in Metro)
Goals: Owen Tippett (28)
Assists: Travis Konecny (39)
Points: Travis Konecny (66)
New Jersey Devils – 40-34-3 (7th in Metro)
Goals: Nico Hischier (26)
Assists: Jesper Bratt (48)
Points: Jack Hughes (72)
Projected lineups
Tyson Foerster — Trevor Zegras — Owen Tippett
Travis Konecny — Christian Dvorak — Porter Martone
Alex Bump — Noah Cates — Matvei Michkov
Sean Couturier — Luke Glendening — Carl Grundstrom
Travis Sanheim — Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York — Jamie Drysdale
Nick Seeler — Emil Andrae
Dan Vladar
(Sam Ersson)
Timo Meier — Nico Hischier — Dawson Mercer
Jesper Bratt — Jack Hughes — Connor Brown
Lenni Hameenaho — Cody Glass — Nick Bjugstad
Paul Cotter — Marc McLaughlin — Brian Halonen
Jonas Siegenthaler — Dougie Hamilton
Luke Hughes — Jonathan Kovacevic
Brenden Dillon — Simon Nemec
Jacob Markstrom
(Jake Allen)
Storylines to watch
Can Porter Martone get on a roll?
It’s certainly been a flashy start to his NHL career for Porter Martone, who’s been able to deliver some jump in his game and create excellent scoring chances in bunches from his very first game, before finally breaking through to pick up his first NHL goal on Sunday with the overtime winner over the Bruins. Everything’s clicking well for him right now, and with the sound underlying process remaining for him, it’s not hard to imagine the production continuing to come for him, now that he’s broken the proverbial dam. But can he turn that into the beginning of a goal scoring streak? That would be huge for him and the team alike, and he’ll be looking for that next clutch goal tonight to keep the ball rolling.
Vladar gets the nod again
In something of a surprise departure from the expected plan for the lineup — Sam Ersson was the first goaltender off at practice yesterday, which would have led one to believe that he was set to start tonight, but it seems that has changed — the Flyers will be going back to Dan Vladar for the start in tonight’s game. But despite it being a bit of a surprise change, it’s no surprise that they would be eager to do it, all the same. After all, Vladar was stellar in his last start against the Bruins on Sunday, and he’s been rested enough that being tasked with making two starts in three days won’t be an overly heavy lift. All of these games to close out the regular season will be big ones for the Flyers, as they look to hold on to their playoff position, and if Vladar’s on his game, he gives them a great chance to do that.
Can the power play break through*?
*under more normal circumstances?
The Flyers obviously got just about as big of a power play goal to end their last game against the Bruins, scoring on the 5-on-3 to secure the win, and that’s not something to discount, but throughout regulation, their play on the man-advantage left quite a bit to be desired. It’s something of a weak point that the Flyers are acutely aware of, and while they know that they don’t have the runway left on the season to completely overhaul it in hopes of finding a fix, they are still continuing to tinker with it in hopes of making some improvements. It’s an ongoing process, to be sure, and we’ll see if tonight sees them looking any better.
