After a trip out West to wrap up the old year and welcome the new one, the Flyers are finally back on home ice to kick off a four-game homestand with a matchup against their budding rivals in the Anaheim Ducks.
Puck drop: 7:00 p.m.
How to watch/listen:
📺: NBCSP
📻: 97.5 The Fanatic
Pregame reading
Pregame watching
By the numbers
Philadelphia Flyers – 21-12-7 (4th in Metro)
Goals: Trevor Zegras (15)
Assists: Trevor Zegras (24)
Points: Trevor Zegras (39)
Anaheim Ducks – 21-18-3 (3rd in Pacific)
Goals: Cutter Gauther (19)
Assists: Troy Terry (27)
Points: Leo Carlsson (42)
Projected lineups
Trevor Zegras — Christian Dvorak — Travis Konecny
Denver Barkey — Sean Couturier — Owen Tippett
Matvei Michkov* — Noah Cates — Bobby Brink
Carl Grundstrom — Rodrigo Abols — Garnet Hathaway
Cam York — Travis Sanheim
Emil Andrae — Jamie Drysdale
Nick Seeler — Rasmus Ristolainen
Dan Vladar
(Sam Ersson)
Chris Kreider — Leo Carlsson — Troy Terry
Cutter Gauthier — Mason McTavish — Beckett Sennecke
Nikita Nesterenko* — Mikael Granlund — Ryan Strome
Ross Johnston — Ryan Poehling — Alex Killorn
Jackson LaCombe — Jacob Trouba
Olen Zellweger — Radko Gudas
Pavel Mintyukov — Ian Moore
Lukas Dostal
(Ville Husso)
Storylines to watch
Michkov’s status a question mark
The Flyers will be largely rolling with the same lineup as they did in their last game against the Oilers, but with one notable exception, at least potentially. As it stands, Matvei Michkov is a game-time decision for tonight’s game, after missing yesterday’s practice as he’s dealing with some swelling after taking a shot off the foot in Saturday’s game. If he’s good to go, he’ll slide back into that same spot on the third line alongside Cates and Brink, but if this is lingering on him a little more and they decide he’d be best served by another day off to rest it, based on the arrangements from practice yesterday, Nikita Grebenkin will come into the lineup in his place. The good news is that, either way, it doesn’t seem to be a serious situation that he’s dealing with, so it’s just the short-term management that we’ll have to keep an eye on.
Keeping the scoring balanced
There was a lot that was working for the Flyers last time out in Edmonton, but one of the biggest pieces which helped drive them to that win is the balanced scoring they were able to bring, the fact that they had three lines going while the Oilers spent the most of their energy trying to contain the top line proved to be too much for them. And the Flyers have the chance to do the same to the Ducks, who have also struggled defensively at times this season (they’re sitting with a -10 goal differential on the season), so long as they can overcome their own tendency to backslide after a good performance. But the opportunity is certainly there for them.
Getting the rest advantage again
Also of note in this one is that this will be something of a mismatch as far as rest is concerned. After wrapping up their road trip over the weekend, the Flyers were able to enjoy a day off on Sunday and a regular practice day yesterday, easing back into it ahead of a long homestand. On the flip side, the Ducks played last night in DC — and were beaten 7-4 by the Capitals — and will be having to find a way to respond both physically and emotionally quickly for this one. There’s an advantage to be found here, if the Flyers are able to make a statement early, but particularly continue to pour on chances as the game goes on and the Ducks’ energy begins to wear down. They’ve found some success recently in this type of setting — as recently as their game in Vancouver — but it will be up to them to keep that ball rolling.
Revenge, again?
Lest we forget, this is almost certainly going to be one of the more meaningful games on the calendar for the Flyers. It will feature Jamie Drysdale facing off against his old team, and now Trevor Zegras doing the same for the first time, and of course, Cutter Gauthier coming back to town to face off against the team he didn’t want to play for. Last year’s installment of the matchup here in Philly certainly turned into a spirited game, and we’d expect nothing less in the rematch, and it will sure make for appointment viewing.
