The Game: 7:00 p.m. EST on NBCSports Philadelphia, ESPN+/Hulu, and 93.3 WMMR
Rough week, huh? Blowout loss to the Lightning, a nail-biter win over the Sharks, and another blowout loss–to the Leafs this time. Now the Flyers face a strong Boston Bruins squad, who handed the Flyers a beatdown not too long ago.
And we’re still just in the early days of this March slugfest. The only solace is that every team chasing the Flyers in the standings is also shitting the bed and failing to make up ground. Here’s hoping the Flyers can take advantage against an unsuspecting Boston team (TD Garden curses aside).
What more is there to say about the Boston Bruins? Everyone thought they’d fall off this season without Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci centering their top two lines, but they’re right in the thick of the President’s Trophy race for the second year in a row. Who would’ve guessed that having David Pastrnak, a solid defense core, and two elite goalies would’ve translated to continued success? None of us journalists and analysts, clearly. The Bs are 5-2-3 in their last ten, and in that span they had two dominant games against the Toronto Maple Leafs in what’s shaping up to be a preview for the first round of the playoffs, but they also got blown out by the St. Louis Blues and the Islanders in that span. Hockey sure is a sport, eh?
The Flyers, meanwhile, are 4-5-1 in their last ten, with a couple of the aforementioned blowouts leading to a now-negative goal differential of minus-5. Generally speaking, teams with negative goal differentials are pretty sus headed into the playoffs, but the next best goal differential in the Metropolitan Division is the Pittsburgh Penguins with a minus-2–and they’re seventh in the division! The Flyers need to get back on track and squeeze every point they can out of these games if they want to truly pull ahead in the playoff race, and today’s match with the Bruins will be a great test to see if they can “find a way” against tough odds.
Players to Watch
Tyson Foerster
It may have been a garbage time goal, but Tyson Foerster scoring when he did was interesting for one reason and one reason only: he did it on the penalty kill. Despite his excellent defensive impact throughout the season, Foerster never sniffed the PK: he has 1:40 of ice time short-handed for the entire season. He got the opportunity against the Leafs because Hathaway got the boot and somebody had to fill the role; it’ll be interesting to see if Torts and Shaw keep him on that special teams unit to see what he’s capable of.
Noah Cates
Cates had some excellent opportunities against the Leafs, but the usually solid line of him, Ryan Poehling and Garnet Hathaway got absolutely caved in by Toronto’s offensive onslaught. There’s a chance those three get split up for the first time in a few weeks to try and spark something against a tough Bruins team, so watch to see where Cates falls in the lineup: will he remain in a bottom-six role, or get elevated to one of the top lines? His defensive impacts continue to be solid despite the lack of scoring, but that’s what a 92.7 PDO can lead to.
Brad Marchand
Everybody’s favorite rat is having a solid season at age 35 (almost 36), with 59 points in 68 games. Now, why talk about Marchand? Well, the Flyers may have their own version: Travis Konecny, who inevitably ends up at the bottom of every post-whistle scrum–and it’s possible TK ends up a Flyer for life. In a best case scenario, that means the 27-year old Konecny follows an aging curve similar to Brad Marchand’s: always stirring the point, but still putting the up the points. Watch Marchand’s play for what is, hopefully, a glimpse of our future with Travis Konecny.
Projected Lineups
Philadelphia Flyers
Owen Tippett – Morgan Frost – Tyson Foerster
Nic Deslauriers – Sean Couturier – Cam Atkinson
Joel Farabee – Scott Laughton – Travis Konecny
Noah Cates – Ryan Poehling – Garnet Hathaway
Cam York – Travis Sanheim
Marc Staal – Ronnie Attard
Egor Zamula – Erik Johnson
Felix Sandstrom
(Sam Ersson)
Boston Bruins
Danton Heinen – Pavel Zacha – David Pastrnak
Brad Marchand – Charlie Coyle – Jake DeBrusk
Trent Frederic – Morgan Geekie – Justin Brazeau
John Beecher – Jesper Boqvist – Jakub Lauko
Mason Lohrei – Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm – Brandon Carlo
Parker Wotherspoon – Andrew Peeke
Jeremy Swayman
(Linus Ullmark)
Gameday Tunes
It’s a gorgeous day and we’re all going to be inside watching a hockey game, so here’s a tune for your afternoon walk.
Stats via Hockey Reference
