Okay, well the Philadelphia Flyers didn’t start the second round all that well. After a brutal 3-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes for Game 1, the Flyers are searching their first goal of the series and even still looking for their first stretch of solid offense.
Maybe it will come Monday night, but it’s going to take a fairly large change.
Puck drop: 7:00 p.m.
How to watch/listen:
📺: ABC/ESPN+
📻: 97.5 The Fanatic
Pregame reading
- Rick Tocchet said exactly what he’s looking at from the Flyers in Game 2 and what might come on the ice. [BSH]
- The Flyers’ fourth line really played well in Game 1. But, that might be just the problem that the fourth line was the best line for Philadelphia. [BSH]
- Hey, the general manager of the other team used to write for this hockey blog. Check out five of his articles here: [BSH]
Pregame watching
By the numbers
Philadelphia Flyers – 4-3-0
Goals: Porter Martone/Travis Sanheim (2)
Assists: Rasmus Ristolainen (4)
Points: Rasmus Ristolainen (5)
Carolina Hurricanes – 5-0-0
Goals: Logan Stankoven (6)
Assists: Taylor Hall (6)
Points: Taylor Hall (8)
Projected lineups
Alex Bump — Trevor Zegras — Porter Martone
Denver Barkey — Christian Dvorak — Travis Konecny
Tyson Foerster — Noah Cates — Matvei Michkov
Luke Glendening — Sean Couturier — Garnet Hathaway
Travis Sanheim — Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York — Jamie Drysdale
Nick Seeler — Noah Juulsen
Dan Vladar
(Sam Ersson)
Andrei Svechnikov — Sebastian Aho — Seth Jarvis
Taylor Hall — Logan Stankoven — Jackson Blake
Nikolaj Ehlers — Jordan Staal — Jordan Martinook
William Carrier — Mark Jankowski — Eric Robinson
Jaccob Slavin — Jalen Chatfield
K’Andre Miller — Sean Walker
Shayne Gostisbehere — Alexander Nikishin
Frederik Andersen
(Brandon Bussi)
Storylines to watch
Will we see a new Flyers lineup?
In the middle of Game 1, Tocchet decided to switch up the lines and it had a really interesting twist. Denver Barkey was playing in between Alex Bump and Matvei Michkov, and then that meant Trevor Zegras back to left wing with Christian Dvorak and Travis Konecny — those were the two notable moves. Without a morning skate and Tocchet not speaking with the media until 4:00 p.m. (a couple hours after this is being written), we don’t know for sure if the Flyers will continue with those changes or return to the lineup we saw from Game 1 up above.
It will be an interesting look if Tocchet commits to the changes or decides to return to the lines we’ve seen through the playoffs so far. But, the scoring issues have been there and very prominent.
Can they have any answer at all for the Hall-Stankoven-Blake line?
It was almost hilarious watching the Flyers try to keep up with the Hurricanes’ second line. This trio of players who have just gelled so well together all season long and are relentless in pursuit of the puck if they don’t have it, and will then cycle it to death until you notice Stankoven is basically standing on top of your goalie as all five defenders are somehow in the neutral zone by themselves. It’s astounding.
So, is there an answer? Is it being physical? Is it making their bodies hurt and not letting them skate circles around you? We truly don’t know and we’re not sure the Flyers know either.
