The Pittsburgh Penguins are coming to town. Gross! Our Philadelphia Flyers will be hosting the other Pennsylvanian NHL team as they try to make their homestand full of wins and embarrass those Pens.
Puck drop: 6:00 p.m.
How to watch/listen:
📺: ESPN
📻: 97.5 The Fanatic
Pregame reading
- Emil Andrae is back! He most likely won’t be playing tonight but he’s officially on the roster and the reason why is basically head coach Rick Tocchet likes to have a certain number of defensemen — even if they’re in the middle of a homestand. [BSH]
- Jett Luchanko was sent back to the OHL yesterday and there’s some fallout. First, the Flyers basically mishandled or at least could have handled the start to his season better. [BSH]
- Second, how does Luchanko exiting Philadelphia affect the Flyers’ lineup? What does it mean for the fourth line that he was a part of? [BSH]
- Trick or Treat!? Looking at which players have been TRICKS and which have been TREATS to start the season. [BSH]
Pregame watching
Projected lineups
Philadelphia Flyers
Owen Tippett — Sean Couturier — Travis Konecny
Tyson Foerster — Noah Cates — Bobby Brink
Trevor Zegras — Christian Dvorak — Matvei Michkov
Nic Deslauriers — Rodrigo Abols — Garnet Hathaway
Cam York — Travis Sanheim
Nick Seeler — Jamie Drysdale
Egor Zamula — Noah Juulsen
Sam Ersson
(Dan Vladar)
Pittsburgh Penguins
Filip Hallander — Sidney Crosby — Bryan Rust
Anthony Mantha — Evgeni Malkin — Justin Brazeau
Tommy Nocak — Ben Kindel — Ville Koivunen
Connor Dewar — Blake Lizoette — Noel Acciari
Parker Wotherspoon — Erik Karlsson
Ryan Shea — Kris Letang
Owen Pickering — Matt Dumba
Arturs Silovs
(Tristan Jarry)
Storylines to watch
Grebenkin sits, Deslauriers in
Nic Deslauriers is getting in the lineup and we have to assume it’s because Rick Tocchet is predicting that some gloves will be dropped and punches thrown. Even if Nikita Grebenkin can do that too — he will be coming out of the lineup — Deslauriers is one of the best in the world at it. So, we guess that’s why.
Sam Ersson back-to-back
Now it’s Ersson’s turn to potentially earn a continued run in the crease. After Dan Vladar seemed to have snatched the starting job early this season, Tocchet is giving Ersson a consecutive start for the first time this season and we’ll have to see what happens.
Penguins’ massive line
There is something that is going to make Tocchet drool over there on the visitors’ bench. The Penguins’ second line consists of Anthony Mantha (6-foot-5), Evgeni Malkin (6-foot-3), and Justin Brazeau (6-foot-6). That’s a trio of big boys and for some reason, it’s working. Brazeau, a player that was a depth player on the Boston Bruins last season and just three years ago was in the ECHL, has five goals and 11 points in 10 games. He’s on a heater and it’s going to be disheartening to see him continue that in Philadelphia.
