We’ve just about made it to the break. The Flyers are back in action tonight against the Penguins for their final game on the schedule before we break for the 4 Nations tournament. The Flyers, still a little depleted in their lineup, are coming off of a reasonably competitive loss to the Capitals on Thursday, but a loss all the same, stretching their streak to five losses in a row.
This matchup is going to be an interesting one. The implications of this game on the standings aren’t exactly major — the Penguins are two points up and while going four points up would be a tough blow to the Flyers, if they’re able to pull off a win, this would pull them just even in points, and with the game in hand, the Penguins would still hold on to that seventh position regardless. But, of course, we know well that in these matchups, there’s a lot more at stake than just points in the standings. It’s still a big rivalry, and both sides are sure to be up for it.
Storylines To Watch
Abols Watch
The Flyers made a couple of roster moves yesterday to clear up some space on the roster, sending Jacob Gaucher back down to the Phantoms, and placing Anthony Richard on waivers with the intention of assigning him to the Phantoms as well, should he clear. None of that is much of a surprise, but it does feel notable that there’s still one AHL call-up hanging around. His stint might not be too much longer, as the Flyers will likely get some more guys back after the break, but Rodrigo Abols earned himself a longer look. He’s found some nice chemistry playing on a line with Matvei Michkov — he’s also been rewarded with points in his last two games — and they’re looking to keep things rolling tonight. Abols is certainly making the most of his stay, and we’ll see what he’s able to do from here with this extra time he’s bought himself.
Lineup news
Another day, another weird bit of lineup news to report. The Flyers announced this morning that, after being sent back down yesterday, Jacob Gaucher has been recalled again from Lehigh Valley (sympathies to Gaucher, who’s set to play his third game in three days after getting back in for one with the Phantoms last night). This is because, while he did make it to Philadelphia and was able to practice yesterday, the visa paperwork still isn’t completely finalized for Jakob Pelletier, so he won’t be available for tonight’s game.
But the Flyers will have one new guy making his debut tonight, at least, as everything with Andrei Kuzmenko is good to go. He skated on a line with Scott Laughton and Travis Konecny yesterday in practice, which suggests he’s looking to get some pretty meaningful minutes to work with right off the bat here. We’ll see how quickly he’s able to get up to speed with his new team, but this is certainly a decent position they’re putting him in, to start.
And, to round this out, Rasmus Ristolainen might be getting back into the lineup tonight. Maybe. Officially, he’s a gametime decision, so we’ll see how he’s feeling closer to gametime we suppose, but it would be nice to see him get in for this one, and get at least a few reps in as a bit of a springboard to the upcoming 4 Nations tournament.
Finishing strong
Of course, this is the last game before the 4 Nations break, and of course, it is a big one. The Flyers are coming off of an honestly pretty surprisingly competitive effort against the top team in the East on Thursday, they built up some strong play and good will with that, but now the challenge is to keep that going, and not turn around and backslide in a big way against the similarly cellar-dwelling Penguins. Consistency has been one of their bigger issues, and they’re arriving at another test of it tonight. While this might not be a season where the overall results are the focus, the process still matters, and it will be crucial to see the Flyers at least deliver in that regard. Here’s hoping they can buckle down here, and hit the break on a relatively positive note.
The Lineups
Philadelphia Flyers
Tyson Foerster — Noah Cates — Bobby Brink
Rodrigo Abols — Sean Couturier — Matvei Michkov
Andrei Kuzmenko — Scott Laughton — Travis Konecny
Nic Deslauriers — Jacob Gaucher — Garnet Hathaway
Cam York — Travis Sanheim
Emil Andrae — Erik Johnson
Nick Seeler — Jamie Drysdale
Sam Ersson
(Ivan Fedotov)
Pittsburgh Penguins
Anthony Beauvillier — Rickard Rakell — Brian Rust
Michael Bunting — Cody Glass — Danton Heinen
Emil Bemstrom — Kevin Hayes — Philip Tomasino
Bokondji Imama — Blake Lizotte — Noel Acciari
Pierre-Olivier Joseph — Kris Letang
Matt Grzelcyk — Erik Karlsson
Ryan Graves — Vincent Desharnais
Joel Blomqvist
(Alex Nedeljkovic)
