And for the first time since returning from the break, the Flyers are back at home for a bit of matinee action. Coming off of a huge overtime win over the Rangers on the road on Thursday, the Flyers will be looking to keep that positive momentum rolling in this matchup against a much tougher Bruins squad.
Puck drop: 3:00 p.m.
How to watch/listen:
📺: ABC
📻: 97.5 The Fanatic
Pregame reading
- With the deadline about a week away now, there’s no shortage of trade talk to dig into. First, the Rasmus Ristolainen saga might not be progressing so smoothly as we would hope. [BSH]
- But teams are still checking in about him, other reports say. [BSH]
- Also, word on the street is the Bruins have kicked the tires on Owen Tippett (wonder if they’ll like that they see today). [BSH]
Pregame watching
By the numbers
Philadelphia Flyers – 26-21-11 (6th in Metro)
Goals: Travis Konecny (22)
Assists: Travis Konecny (33)
Points: Travis Konecny (55)
Boston Bruins– 33-20-5 (5th in Atlantic)
Goals: Morgan Geekie (33)
Assists: David Pastrnak (50)
Points: David Pastrnak (72)
Projected lineups
Trevor Zegras — Christian Dvorak — Travis Konecny
Denver Barkey — Sean Couturier — Owen Tippett
Matvei Michkov — Noah Cates — Bobby Brink
Nikita Grebenkin — Carl Grundstrom — Garnet Hathaway
Travis Sanheim — Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York — Jamie Drysdale
Emil Andrae — Nick Seeler
Dan Vladar
(Sam Ersson)
Marat Khusnutdinov — Elias Lindholm — David Pastrnak
Casey Mittelstadt — Pavel Zacha — Viktor Arvidsson
Michael Eyssimont — Fraser Minten — Morgan Geekie
Tanner Jeannot — Sean Kuraly — Marc Kastelic
Jonathan Aspirot — Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm — Mason Lohrei
Nikita Zadorov — Henri Jokiharju
Jeremy Swayman
(Joonas Korpisalo)
Storylines to watch
Can Michkov stay hot?
Since returning from the break, things have been going very well for Matvei Michkov. He brought a solid showing in their first game back against the Capitals, but Thursday’s game against the Rangers was a real standout for him, as he picked up a power play goal to jumpstart the Flyers’ comeback, and then ultimately was the one to complete it, scoring a huge goal in overtime coming out of the penalty box. This final stretch of the season is going to be a big one for him, to get himself back on track and work to earn a bit more trust and usage from the coaching staff. That’s not something that he can accomplish overnight, of course, but he’s doing well to get things moving in the right direction, and this afternoon will be the next test of his ability to keep that individual success rolling.
Andrae gets another look
After nearly a month-long absence stretching back to the end of January, Emil Andrae was pulled in from the sidelines and gotten back into the lineup in New York on Thursday. And his game was somewhat unspectacular — used somewhat sparingly, his game wasn’t overly flashy (though he did have one big shot that was blocked and temporarily wounded a Rangers player, and you can decide whether that was a good or a bad thing), but he was as steady as we might have hoped to see from a player who, again, has not seen game action in about a month. But with that first game back in the books, Andrae’s getting another game this afternoon to see if he’s able to build on that performance. His spot in the lineup — rightfully or not — remains somewhat tenuous, and it seems that he’s buying himself more opportunities on a game by game basis. We’ll see what he’s able to do with this opportunity today.
Another momentum check
And finally, it’s the perpetual question of which Flyers team is going to show up for this next game, now that things are going well. Bouncing back from tough losses has been a pretty notable strength of this team for much of the season, but the bigger challenge is and has remained building on that positive momentum once they have it. This Bruins team is going to be a much tougher opponent, but they’re also a particularly meaningful one — they’re holding on to that final wildcard spot that the Flyers are trying to make a run for.
