The game: 7:00 p.m. streaming (tentatively) on Flyers official site and 97.5 The Fanatic
Two games remain in the preseason and, after last night’s game with the Isles which featured primarily the Flyers “B” team in terms of talent, look for the bigger stars to dress for the Bruins contest at TD Center. The Flyers beat the Bruins 3-2 in overtime thanks to Matvei Michkov’s winner but should probably be facing a better Bruins lineup Tuesday night.
The Flyers, who lost last night to the Islanders 4-3, will go with a far more Flyers-looking lineup although Nic Deslauriers will not be in the lineup which might be a little bit of a surprise given how the Bruins tried to tussle with Michkov a few times last game, leaving Sean Couturier to step in and fight Billy Sweezey. Regardless, the game could be (should be) the last exhibition game for many of the Flyers as Thursday’s game against the Devils is against the Devils minor leaguers. The Devils open their regular season Friday in Prague and their top talent will be across the Atlantic, nowhere near Wells Fargo Center.
Players to watch
Jett Luchanko
In what some may argue will be his final game to prove himself (or give himself another game) to the Flyers coaching staff and Danny Briere, Jett Luchanko will be the Flyer to watch most of the evening. While he’s showed spurts of high-end talent in both the Rookie Camp and the preseason, he hasn’t done enough to prove he’s guaranteed a spot on the 23-man roster which he essentially had to do. Luchanko might blow the doors off with a multi-goal or multi-point performance in Boston and make a great case for himself. But another year in junior developing is certainly not going to hamper his game.
The center has two assists in three games thus far but perhaps one of the stranger stats is that he was tied with Rodrigo Abols and Oscar Eklind with four blocked shots, the most among all forwards with only defensemen Adam Ginning, Egor Zamula and Jamie Drysdale ahead of him. Another building block in his two-way game obviously. But I think the fact he’s made himself noticeable is a huge win for him regardless of whether or not he cracks the lineup (or gets the nine-game run) when the games matter.
Tyson Foerster
After playing two of the first five exhibition games, Tyson Foerster unfortunately has a clean sheet with no points, two minutes in penalties and two blocked shots. He does have six shots which is a sign he’s been involved at least. He’s one of the players who seems to have been lost in the weeds a bit so far this season which could be a blessing as with little focus there’ll be pressure only put on by himself and John Tortorella. Foerster hopefully also doesn’t get off to the start last season where he went quite a while without putting his first goal in. An early goal in the first few games of the West Coast swing (or in the final exhibitions contests) could do his confidence a world of good.
Sam Ersson
With both Ivan Fedotov and Alexei Kolosov dressing for the Islanders game Monday night, there’s a good chance Ersson sees some action in Boston. Or possibly all of it. Ersson looked good in his game against the Islanders, making 37 stops and earning a shutout. Look for Ersson to get one or possibly both of the last two games of the preseason to ensure he’s ready for Vancouver on Oct. 11.
John Tortorella acknowledged recently that he ran Ersson into the ground down the stretch in 2023-24 because essentially it was Ersson or go with six skaters to have a chance to win. The goaltending tandem the first half of last season was surprisingly good, but that duo is history. Now Ersson and Fedotov have to sink or swim and hopefully they can stay afloat throughout.
Anthony Richard
Richard has made his presence felt as a possible 13th forward this preseason, appearing in tonight’s game after also playing against the Isles Monday night. Richard has a goal in four games and is a -4 thus far but has a bit of speed and size and obviously something that both John Tortorella and Danny Briere find attractive, otherwise he would’ve been cut late last week.
Whether Richard does enough to keep him with the big club remains to be seen but it’s apparent the Flyers have plans on using Richard at some point, especially if the team’s bottom six run into some injury problems during the season.
The lineup
Philadelphia Flyers
Tyson Foerster – Sean Couturier – Travis Konecny
Owen Tippett – Morgan Frost – Matvei Michkov
Anthony Richard – Jett Luchanko – Bobby Brink
Elliot Desnoyers – Jacob Gaucher – Garnet Hathaway
Cam York – Travis Sanheim
Nick Seeler – Jamie Drysdale
Hunter McDonald – Oliver Bonk
Sam Ersson
Cal Petersen
Boston Bruins
Pavel Zacha – Elias Lindholm – DavidPastrnak
Brad Marchand – Charlie Coyle – Morgan Geekie
Trent Frederic – Tyler Johnson -Justin Brazeau
Johnny Beecher – Mark Kastelic – Cole Koepke
Hampus Lindholm – Charlie McAvoy
Mason Lohrei – Brandon Carlo
Nikita Zadorov – Andrew Peeke
Brandon Bussi
Michael DiPietro
