The Game: 7:00 p.m. EST on ESPN+/Hulu, and 93.3 WMMR
We’re back for a bit of weekend hockey, as the Kraken come to town and the Flyers are trying to keep the good vibes going after a strong return to play after the All Star break. Last time out, the Flyers met the hot Winnipeg Jets and, looking to put their five game losing streak to a halt, came out hot, putting themselves ahead early, and while the skaters coasted a little bit through the final two frames, they were able to coast on the stellar performance from Sam Ersson to a commanding win over one of the best teams in the league at the moment.
We’re hoping that this one goes better for the Flyers than their first meeting of the season — when the Kraken tied the game in the third period and went on to win it in overtime — but it won’t be an easy time for them. The Kraken haven’t had the smoothest of seasons up to this point, but they’re still a dangerous team, and as they’re well within their fight to get back in the playoff mix, they’re going to be a tough matchup.
Players to Watch
Cal Petersen
Ersson had a huge game on Thursday, but there’s a lot of season left, and it was never going to be just him getting all of the starts through the rest of the year. As such, it means that Cal Petersen is getting his first start of the new year and since his most recent recall, and that certainly complicates the equation. He’s struggled at times while he was down with the Phantoms, and if that fact makes you nervous coming into this one… that feels valid. But to put it more gently: there’s a big opportunity here for Petersen to get himself back on track and boost his stock within the organization, and it will be interesting to see how he fares with that.
Travis Konecny
If there’s anyone coming into this game with some real momentum, it’s Konecny. He’s been great this season, he’s coming off of his second appearance in the All Star Game, and he returned to regular game action with a Gordie Howe hat trick in the first period of Thursday’s game against the Jets. Truly, he’s doing it all right now, and it seems like he couldn’t slow down if he tried (please, we beg, do not try). Following up a game as big as Thursday’s isn’t an easy task, but we’ll see what Konecny has up his sleeve.
Matty Beniers
He’s having a bit of a down season — sophomore slump, anyone? — but last year’s Calder winner in Beniers is still a good and exciting player, and capable of doing good and exciting things. That considered, it feels like only a matter of time before things start breaking for him in a bigger way. Will tonight be the start of that? Who’s to say. Time will tell.
Projected Lineups
Philadelphia Flyers
Owen Tippett – Sean Couturier – Cam Atkinson
Joel Farabee – Morgan Frost – Travis Konecny
Tyson Foerster – Ryan Poehling – Noah Cates
Scott Laughton – Garnet Hathaway — Nic Deslauriers
Travis Sanheim – Jamie Drysdale
Cam York – Sean Walker
Nick Seeler – Rasmus Ristolainen
Cal Petersen
(Sam Ersson)
Seattle Kraken
Tomas Tatar – Matty Beniers – Jordan Eberle
Jared Schwartz – Alex Wennberg – Jared McCann
Eeli Tolvanen – Yanni Gourde – Oliver Bjorkstrand
Brandon Tanev – Kailer Yamamoto – Tye Kartye
Vince Dunn – Adam Larsson
Jamie Oleksiak – Will Borgen
Brian Dumoulin – Ryker Evans
Joey D’Accord
(Philipp Grubauer)
Gameday Tunes
We’re avoiding one bit of low hanging fruit (a Seattle and grunge pairing) for another bit of low hanging fruit (a new release called Philadelphia).
