Preview: A very late Knight

The Game : 11 p.m. EST (yes, really) on NBCSports Philadelphia, ESPN+/Hulu, and 93.3 WMMR

The NHL\'s Frozen Frenzy, where all 32 teams play on a single day, wraps up with the Philadelphia Flyers visiting the Vegas Golden Knights. Why have 16 games on a Tuesday? Your guess is as good as ours! The NHL: it just. makes. sense.

The Flyers will have their hands full with this matchup, too: the Golden Knights are 6-0-0 to start the season, and clearly aren\'t suffering any semblance of a hangover after winning the Stanley Cup. In fact, it\'s the longest winning streak to start a season by a Cup winner . There have been a few early injuries, namely Alex Pietrangelo (listed as day-to-day) and Zach Whitecloud (week-to-week), and Alec Martinez has missed a bit of time as well, but the Knights\' forward core has continued to roll despite the fluctuations in the defense.

The Golden Knights, for the most part, are running back the roster that won the Cup last season. They signed Ivan Barbashev to a five-year, $5 million AAV contract at the cost of sending Reilly Smith to the Pittsburgh Penguins, and re-upped goalie Adin Hill to a two-year, $4.9 million AAV contract. If it ain\'t broke, don\'t fix it--and the Knights\' hot start is proof of that. They also said goodbye to Phil \"The Thrill\" Kessel, and Laurent Brossoit is now backing up Connor Hellebuyck in Winnipeg.

That means the Flyers can do what Philly sports fans love and everybody else hates: play spoiler. With a refreshing 3-1-1 record, this still feels like an immediate loss for the Flyers (that nobody on the east coast will see). However, we\'ve said that about the Edmonton Oilers and the Dallas Stars, too--and the Flyers took the Oilers apart and hung right with Dallas until the very end. The advantage for the Flyers in those games was that their opponents weren\'t prepared for such a heavy forecheck and getting outworked this early in the season; Vegas, on the other hand, thrives on that style of gameplay, with a physical blue line that smothers scoring chances and will separate you from the puck.

Outside of the hockey itself, there are still some roster questions for the Flyers — namely, \"Will Morgan Frost return?\" With three consecutive healthy scratches, it\'s fair to wonder just how long head coach John Tortorella will keep Frost on the bench. Given how well the team\'s forwards have been playing together, though, it may be hard to justify his return to the lineup. Then there\'s Rasmus Ristolainen, whose season-opening injury that apparently wasn\'t all that serious continues to linger; will Emil Andrae and Egor Zamula share the ice once again, or will Risto or Nick Seeler tag back in?

Players to Watch

Bobby Brink

How the heck does this kid not have his first NHL goal yet? He\'s been all over the ice and has had a positive impact on the Flyers\' in nearly every way; a 57.65 CF% and 67.52 xG% at 5-on-5 is pretty nifty for a rookie, though in a stacked Calder class Brink\'s going to have to actually score some goals to garner consideration. He feels so due, and getting some luck in Vegas feels right.

Travis Sanheim

Being out from under the shadow of Ivan Provorov has been a revelation for Sanheim. Who knew the Flyers had a No. 1 defenseman all this time? Averaging just a hair over 26 minutes a night, with a CF% of 58.24 and a 65.56 xG% at 5v5, he looks like a legit top-pair defenseman. It\'d be nice to see him produce more on the power play, but that\'s more of a \"team issue\" than a Sanheim slump. Having a +/- 0 on the power penalty kill is an odd stat when you consider it\'s two goals for, two goals against, but it\'s early in the season and that\'s likely to change quite quickly. If Sanheim does turn out to be an all-situations d-man (all while playing the right side!), then the Flyers might be much further along in their rebuild than originally thought.

Mark Stone

We could\'ve gone with Conn Smythe winner Jonathan Marchessault here, but the heart of the Golden Knights is the captain: one of the few remaining original Golden Misfits, Mark Stone. Stone is an unbelievably fun player to watch, who celebrates every goal like it\'s his first. He also had a moment this preseason where he called former Flyer Hayden Hodgson, \" not really much of a player. \" Chuck Fletcher likely rolled in whatever grave fired GMs reside in.

Projected Lineups

Philadelphia Flyers

Joel Farabee – Sean Couturier – Cam Atkinson Travis Konecny – Scott Laughton – Tyson Foerster Joel Farabee – Noah Cates – Bobby Brink Nic Deslauriers – Ryan Poehling – Garnet Hathaway

Cam York – Travis Sanheim Emil Andrae – Sean Walker Egor Zamula – Nick Seeler

Sam Ersson Carter Hart

Vegas Golden Knights

Ivan Barbashev - Jack Eichel - Jonathan Marchessault Brett Howden - Chandler Stephenson - Mark Stone Paul Cotter - William Karlsson - Mike Amadio Will Carrier - Nicolas Roy - Keegan Kolesar

Brayden McNabb - Shea Theodore Brayden Pachal - Alec Martinez Kaedan Korczak - Nicolas Hague

Logan Thompson Adin Hill

Gameday Tunes

If you\'re staying up for this game, let commendations rain upon you. Just one question: What\'s the time where you are? Cuz it\'s bedtime on the east coast.

https://open.spotify.com/track/0sYM4OmgrRYaHq6DV7obq1?si=bd4fe458b6824f5a

Stats courtesy Natural Stat Trick

Talking Points