And just like that, we’ve made it to the end of the preseason! The Flyers have one more game on deck tonight as they look to get things back on track and get a little bit of revenge on the Capitals, after taking a tough loss to them to start out this run of exhibition games. It’s another less loaded lineup on deck for the Flyers, which certainly helps their chances, so we’ll see what they’re able to do, after putting a bit more wind in their sails with Thursday’s win in the back pocket.
Puck drop: 5:00 p.m.
How to watch/listen:
📺: NBCSP
📻: 97.5 The Fanatic
Pregame reading
- Ahead of this last game, the Flyers made another round of cuts, sending four prospects down to the AHL. Which is understandable, if kind of a bummer. [BSH]
- Unsurprisingly, David Jiricek survived that round of cuts, so he’s pretty locked in with the big club to start what’s going to be a pretty important season for him. [BSH]
- Speaking of prospects, Max Westergard is really popping off to start his season over in the SHL. [BSH]
Pregame watching
Projected lineups
Philadelphia Flyers
It was another day where the Flyers held a limited morning skate, so the particular lineup will be a mystery until warmups roll around, but we can make a pretty educated guess on how things will look, based on the players still around and what they ran last time out.
Tyson Foerster — Trevor Zegras — Porter Martone
Travis Konecny — Christian Dvorak — Matvei Michkov
Alex Bump — Noah Cates — Carl Grundstrom
Nikita Grebenkin — Sean Couturier — Noel Acciari
Travis Sanheim — Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York — Jamie Drysdale
Nick Seeler — David Jiricek
Aleksei Kolosov
(????)
Washington Capitals
It’s a similar story to the one we saw playing out of Thursday, as the Capitals are bringing more of a B-squad to this game after most of their big guns played last night. No indication yet of how they’ll line up, but this is the group of players we’ll be seeing.
The roster for Washington’s exhibition finale tonight against Philadelphia.#CapsFlyers | #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/J1nvs1rSDa
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) September 26, 2026
Storylines to watch
Michkov watch
There was a lot to like in the Flyers’ performance against the Bruins on Thursday, but you’d be hard pressed to argue that Matvei Michkov wasn’t the biggest standout of that showing. He was able to bring some nice flash in picking up a goal early on, but his performance across the whole of the game was really quite solid. And indeed, it was was a positive extension of what he’s been showing in some of the practice settings — he’s looking like he’s gained some speed, he’s looking a bit more confident with the puck, and his game is hitting another level as a result. That first look of what his game could look like this season was about as positive as we might have hoped, but now the bigger question is just how well he’ll be able to sustain that high level of impact as he gets more and more games in.
One more Kolosov game
While this will be a good chance to get a look at what will likely be the opening night lineup for the skaters (more on that later), this game will notably not feature either of the Flyers’ main starters getting any playing time. Rather, Aleksei Kolosov is set to play the whole game, and he gets a chance to show a little more of what he can do against NHL competition.
As we alluded to up above, the question of just who will be backing up Kolosov in this one is a bit of a mystery, as the Flyers can’t have Woll do it, and Vladar, though he was able to get out there for the very optional morning skate, isn’t an option to fill in there either. So we’ll have a fun little surprise waiting for us at game time.
Vibe check
At the end of the day, this isn’t a game that we’re heading into with a huge number of really specific expectations, but it should be one that will be informative in terms of where the Flyers stand in their process of tinkering with some of their systems changes and building back up to their best game. It’s been a limited runway that they’ve had, up to this point, to work on those tweaks and build up some chemistry at different spots on the lineup, but tonight is a chance for them to take a next step forward, before they dive back into a few days of practice to begin the week. We’ll see if things can look a little more cohesive — particularly as they work on their approach to the power play — but we’re still holding on to the context that this is all part of a process.
