Okay gang, football’s over now and that means we’re focusing one hundred percent on hockey now (whether we like it or not). The Flyers are back in action tonight against the Red Wings and it’s sure to be… well it’s sure to be a game, by definition.
The Flyers are coming off of a nice win over the Avalanche on Saturday, but despite that, they’ve still fallen to sixth in the Metro and out of a playoff spot (pesky, pesky other teams). But, that said, a win tonight would bump them up to third in the division, but still six points back of second place Pittsburgh. It’s a tight race, gang, and it feels like this is just how it’s going to be for the rest of the season.
The same concerns aren’t shared by the Red Wings right now, as they’re currently in sole possession of last place in the league, with 28 points. It’s been a tough go for them, this season, and it’s just gotten a little tougher, as it was announced yesterday that rookie Filip Zadina is set to miss 2-3 weeks with a lower body injury. Andreas Athanasiou will be back in the lineup tonight though, his first game back from taking an injury in their December 29 game against Tampa Bay.
But the point remains that the Flyers will be getting an even more diminished Red Wings team tonight, and they can do with that what they will.
Three players to watch
1. Joel Farabee
It was a two goal outing for Farabee on Saturday, and he’s really been running with the momentum he’s been picking up. He’s up on a line with Sean Couturier and Jake Voracek, and this promotion is serving him well so far. Even though this means facing some tougher matchups, he’s taking this in stride and still just doing his thing out there. He just keeps on rolling, and we’re hoping he can continue that into tonight’s game.
2. Sean Couturier
And, speaking of which, Couturier, though he wasn’t able to get in on the scoring on Saturday, did come out with three assists while also managing to shut down Nathan MacKinnon’s line, which is no small feat. His line seems to be finding some early success, and even though he hasn’t been bringing the most individual flash, he’s been more or less quietly driving a good bit of the line’s positive results.
That said, we know that he can be flashy, and it also feels like it might not be too long before we see him bringing some of that for himself, and tonight could well be the night.
3. Connor Bunnaman
It’s always worth paying attention to the big names who are probably going to give you the more consistent flashy results, but they shouldn’t be getting all of the the attention. Bunnaman started the season with the Flyers and just didn’t quite look NHL ready at that point, but he’s gotten another chance here to prove that he’s done some developing and now he’s more ready to contribute with the big club. We’ve seen some flashes, particularly of late, but we’re still waiting for it to all come together consistently. He may well be close, though, so it’s worth keeping an eye on.
Two big questions
1. Can the power play keep rolling?
The power play, despite a somewhat underwhelming overall process, did still pick up a goal on Saturday and that feels, in some ways, a step in the right direction. It’s something, and the next step is getting the process back on track, and then hopefully being able to get some more consistent results going. Now seems like as good a time as any to start that, as they’ll be facing a league worst penalty kill tonight. So let’s maybe take advantage of that? Maybe.
2. Will they fall for the trap?
We’ve had some mention already about how the Red Wings are just not a very good team, but they do still have some talent on this team, and they still have the ability to burn you if you take them too lightly. We’ve seen the Flyers fall for trap games before, and quite frankly, after collecting a point against the Penguins and beating the Avalanche this weekend, that simply can’t happen. No more two steps forward, one step back. This is a team they should beat, and they just have to do it.
Puck drops tonight at 7:30, and you can check out the projected lineup below.
Forwards
van Riemsdyk – Giroux – Konecny
Farabee – Couturier – Voracek
Laughton – Hayes – Raffl
Pitlick – Bunnaman – Aube-Kubel
Defensemen
Provorov – Niskanen
Sanheim – Myers
Hagg – Braun
Goaltender
Elliott
(Lyon)
