Riding high on a three-game winning streak, the Flyers are back on home ice tonight, set to face off against the Utah Mammoth for their final game ahead of tomorrow’s trade deadline. It’s the last game before a potential new normal sets in, depending on how tomorrow plays out, and the Flyers will be looking to make a statement and keep this streak rolling.
Puck drop: 7:00 p.m.
How to watch/listen:
📺: NBCSP
📻: 97.5 The Fanatic
Pregame reading
- Alright, let’s recap a bit more of where we’re at heading into the trade deadline. First, we’ve got Nic Deslauriers rumors. [BSH]
- Also, Bobby Brink’s name’s been kicking around, which tells us the Flyers might just be getting things moving already to deal with their logjam of wingers in the system. [BSH]
- And finally, the Phantoms’ captain has a new NHL contract. [BSH]
Pregame watching
By the numbers
Philadelphia Flyers – 28-21-11 (6th in Metro)
Goals: Travis Konecny (23)
Assists: Travis Konecny (34)
Points: Travis Konecny (57)
Utah Mammoth – 32-25-4 (4th in Central)
Goals: Dylan Guenther (28)
Assists: Clayton Keller (42)
Points: Clayton Keller (60)
Projected lineups
Trevor Zegras — Christian Dvorak — Owen Tippett
Matvei Michkov — Noah Cates — Bobby Brink
Denver Barkey — Sean Couturier — Nikita Grebenkin
Nic Deslauriers — Carl Grundstrom — Garnet Hathaway
Travis Sanheim — Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York — Jamie Drysdale
Emil Andrae — Noah Juulsen
Dan Vladar
(Sam Ersson)
Clayton Keller — Nick Schmaltz — Dylan Guenther
JJ Peterka — Logan Cooley — Lawson Crouse
Jack McBain — Barrett Hayton — Kailer Yamamoto
Alex Kerfoot — Kevin Stenlund — Michael Carcone
Mikhail Sergachev* — Sean Durzi
Nate Schmidt — John Marino
Ian Cole — Nick DeSimone
Karel Vejmelka
(Vitek Vanecek)
Storylines to watch
Lineup something of a mystery
We’ve dropped the lines from morning skate up above, and while there are a couple of things that we know for sure from them — at the top of the list, Travis Konecny and Nick Seeler will be out for tonight’s game — the rest of it has a bit of an asterisk attached. On the eve of the trade deadline, there’s always a bit of wondering going on about whether teams will be sitting any of their more major trade pieces in order to protect them from injury, but so far, it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.
For now, at least. Rick Tocchet acknowledged after the skate that things could change quickly and he could get a call this afternoon to keep one or several guys out of the lineup. So we’re taking the initial looks with a grain of salt, and we’ll see what things look like when warmups roll around.
Vladar starting is a certainty
While there are still some bits up in the air, it’s been confirmed that Vladar will be getting the start tonight against the Mammoth. It will be his third start in a row, and certainly feels quite deserved — he’s been putting up some of his very best efforts of the season, and has asserted himself pretty decisively as the team’s best option to start, if they want to give themselves their best chance of winning. And with the extra day between games this week, the extra bit of rest that came along with it should assuage any concerns that he’s getting overworked (at least for now). The Flyers are still trying to string together enough wins to go on a miracle run here, and we’ll see what Vladar’s able to do for them tonight as they work towards that aim.
Keeping it rolling
After the hiccup that was their first game back from the break last week, the Flyers have gotten themselves on a nice little run here. With wins in their last three games, the Flyers have gotten their game going again at a higher level, and while they’ve made a bit of progress in moving up the standings, with a few of the other teams between them and a wildcard spot also still finding, at the very least, moderate success, it’s remained something of an uphill battle for them. What happens from here is yet to be seen — if they have enough juice to go on an insane run down the stretch, and whether management will have them retain the pieces to do it, or sell at tomorrow’s deadline instead — but at the end of the day, the team’s done well to keep some positive momentum rolling, and done a lot of good work to improve morale in the process. This last game before the deadline feels like a particularly meaningful one, and they’ll be hoping that they can keep that momentum rolling, and cruise into deadline day on a high, still.
