The game: 7:30 p.m. Eastern, TNT/truTV/Max, 97.5 The Fanatic
With a week that saw Jett Luchanko as an extra in practice, Nick Seeler back in the lineup and Matvei Michkov on a line in practice centered by Ryan Poehling, the Flyers look to earn two points against their Metropolitan Division rivals from Washington. After a rather lackluster 4-1 loss to Washington Tuesday night that saw very few bright spots, the Flyers look to stop what is now a five-game winless streak. The tail end of the home-and-home, back-to-back games should see Ivan Fedotov in the goal but according to coach John Tortorella on Monday anything at all wasn’t off the table. So there’s a small chance that Ersson could see action in both games but it’s expected calmer heads will prevail.
Look for the Flyers to throw more changes into the lineup after Tyson Foerster and Jett Luchanko didn’t play Tuesday evening, meaning perhaps Noah Cates and/or Nic Deslauriers is back in the press box. No mattter what happens, if the Flyers don’t start at least hitting the net to maybe get some rebounds this streak looks like it could be another….no I won’t say it.
Players to watch
Nick Seeler
After his first night back after a few weeks where speculation grew about his injury status, Flyers defenseman Nick Seeler should find himself settling in a bit more. The addition might seem small but Seeler’s presence should solidify a blueline that hasn’t looked great. Of course if the forwards do their job and cut down on the ridiculous amount of stick infractions this year, that would make Seeler and company look much, much better. As it stands Seeler should be a steadying force on the back end, giving everyone a little bit of a lift. At least that’s the hope.
Look for Seeler to get in the middle of anything should Tom Wilson decide it’s time to cheap shot somebody and Nic Deslauriers remains out of the lineup. It’s nice seeing the six blueliners they were thinking of riding the season with finally all healthy. And Seeler managed to look fine on Tuesday night, breaking up a few plays while making a few crisp, quick passes to Michkov and others who were just picking up speed in the neutral zone.
Sean Couturier
What hasn’t been said about Sean Couturier just six games into the season? He’s been in the top six, on the top line, not killing penalties often (if at all), not on either power play unit, then relegated to the bottom six and then against Vancouver in the home opener (in game #800 for him), he’s a fourth-line winger. One has to think that the offseason should’ve been a reset for the Flyers forward to get back on track and look like the player he did the first half of 2023-24. But so far it’s been a rather trying 12 days since the season opened.
With any luck, or if the stars align, Couturier somehow finds the back of the net on a dirty goal, a greasy goal, a fluke goal or he’s the last player to touch the puck on an own goal. He looked to hold his own on a line with Michkov Tuesday night in terms of keeping pace and making some plays. But right now anything at all where he’s credited for scoring will be a huge boost to him, to Tortorella perhaps and to a fan base who have to be wondering if that extension Couturier and the team agreed to is going to be much more of an anchor than it is fair market value.
Alex Ovechkin
As the league continues to salivate over this player and how close he is to becoming the all-time leading scorer, it’s worth noting Ovechkin has 49 goals against the Flyers over his career so the next goal he puts behind a Flyers goal will be a milestone of sorts. Although this writer has about as much interest in his chase as he does wondering if Sidney Crosby has woke up with bed hair or not, people are interested any time the Capitals forward scores. After a terrible start in 2023-24, Ovechkin warmed up some to put him within some kind of striking distance.
It’s important to stop Ovechkin at every turn, whether it’s using Couturier against him or having someone trailing him from start to finish. The Flyers managed to stop him Tuesday night on the power play by simply having someone in the lane where he’s often winding up for a howitzer of a shot. He’s not nearly the presence or player he once was, but that doesn’t mean he can’t burn the Flyers with a game-winner or a game-tying goal.
Projected lineups
Philadelphia Flyers
Owen Tippett — Sean Couturier — Matvei Michkov
Tyson Foerster — Morgan Frost — Travis Konecny
Joel Farabee — Ryan Poehling — Scott Laughton
Nic Deslauriers — Noah Cates — Garnet Hathaway
Cam York – Travis Sanheim
Nick Seeler – Jamie Drysdale
Egor Zamula – Rasmus Ristolainen
Ivan Fedotov
(Sam Ersson)
Washington Capitals
Aliaksei Protas – Dylan Strome – Alex Ovechkin
Connor McMichael – Pierre-Luc Dubois – Tom Wilson
Jacob Vrana – Hendrix Lapierre – Andrew Mangiapane
Brandon Duhaime – Nic Dowd – Taylor Raddysh
Jakob Chychrun – John Carlson
Martin Fehervary – Dylan McIlrath
Rasmus Sandin – TvR
Thompson
(Lindgren)
