The Game: 7:00 p.m. EST on NBCSports Philadelphia, ESPN+/Hulu, and 93.3 WMMR
Well, that sucked.
In case you missed it, the Flyers lost an entirely winnable game against the Washington Capitals last night. It was ugly, with blown coverages, weak offense, and youngsters Bobby Brink and Olle Lycksell riding the bench for the entirety of the third period after making stupid mistakes earlier in the game. Whether either of them sees the ice today remains to be seen, and Torts might bring Cam Atkinson back in.
Tonight is the second half of the back-to-back, and the Flyers welcome a lowly Ottawa Senators team that’s been finding its way into the win column more often than we’ve come to expect. Still, the Sens have the worst record in the Atlantic–though not by much as the Montreal Canadiens have been in freefall for a couple weeks–with a meager 55 points and 25-30-3 record. They also got beat by the Arizona Coyotes last night, which snapped the Yotes’ 14-game losing streak. Yikes!
The Sens have been dealing with injuries once again: they’ve gotten Jake Sanderson back, but Josh Norris is now out, along with Travis Hamonic and both goaltenders (Joonas Korpisalo and Anton Forsberg). It’s another lost season for a team that was expected to make at least a little noise heading into the playoff chase, but it looks like they’ll be selling once again. Their top available player is obviously Vladimir Tarasenko, but Dominik Kubalik may end up a savvy depth add for some contender.
The Flyers, too, are likely to be sellers in the coming week, and it’s crucial they bank some points in winnable games with their “complete” roster before it’s gutted at the deadline–especially on the backend, as several available defensemen have already been moved, which makes Sean Walker and Nick Seeler (and Marc Staal, we suppose) even juicier trade targets.
There’s also a chance Ronnie Attard makes his season debut tonight, and that’d be fun! Maybe him entering the lineup would be exactly the kind of shakeup the roster needs to knock them out of whatever stupor they were in over the final two periods in Washington.
Players to Watch
Joel Farabee
The pucks have to start going in for him again at some point…right? Farabee’s goalless drought now sits at 14 (!!) games, and he’s only had five points in that time. He’s still driving play, but the scoring just isn’t there–and he feels so due. Also, Joel, buddy…maybe stop taking so many penalties?
Bobby Brink
This one’s a coin toss: Brink might not play tonight after last night’s benching. He’s scored a goal in both games back though, and the Flyers are desperate for any kind of offense while Travis Konecny remains out with injury. Tonight’s an opportunity for Brink to respond to yesterday’s benching and show he’s heard whatever message Torts was sending loud and clear.
Tim Stutzle
Future Flyer Tim Stutzle has been producing at just under a point per game this season, and is establishing himself as a top center in the league. Watch for him to make some high skill plays in the offensive zone that will remind you exactly what the Flyers lack up front.
Projected Lineups
Philadelphia Flyers
Tyson Foerster – Scott Laughton – Owen Tippett
Joel Farabee – Morgan Frost – Bobby Brink
Noah Cates – Ryan Poehling -Garnet Hathaway
Cam Atkinson- Sean Couturier – Olle Lycksell
Cam York – Travis Sanheim
Nick Seeler – Sean Walker
Marc Staal – Egor Zamula
Felix Sandstrom
(Sam Ersson)
Ottawa Senators
Brady Tkachuk – Shane Pinto – Vladimir Tarasenko
Drake Batherson – Tim Stutzle – Claude Giroux (miss u)
Mathieu Joseph – Ridly Greig – Dominik Kubalik
Parker Kelly – Mark Kastelic – Zack MacEwen
Jake Sanderson – Artem Zub
Thomas Chabot* – Jacob Bernard-Docker
Jakob Chychrun – Erik Brannstrom
Mads Sogaard
(Leevi Merilainen)
*Gametime decision
Gameday Tunes
It’s a dumb dreary day in Philadelphia. With two games between now and the deadline, this may be the final game we see a few players in the Orange’n’Black.
Stats via Hockey Reference
