The Game: 6:00 p.m. EST on NBCSports Philadelphia+, ESPN+/Hulu, and 97.5 The Fanatic
It’s a weekend full of hockey, and the Flyers are back at it again tonight and looking to keep the good vibes rolling. Last time out, in case you missed it, the Flyers played a tough, tight checking game against the Bruins yesterday afternoon, and while the Bruins got the better of them in their meeting last weekend, the Flyers were able to exact some revenge this time around, jumping into the lead late in the third period and holding on to pull off a somewhat surprising regulation win.
And this was a pretty huge win for them — the Flyers are still sitting in that third place spot in the Metro, and with the Islanders and Capitals both refusing to go away quietly, those two points helped them maintain a bit more comfortable of a buffer. They’re still just four points up on the Capitals as we speak though, who have two games in hand, so there remains some work to be done to hold on to that buffer.
They’ve had themselves a very good week, but looking to put a damper on that is the Panthers, who are in a bit of an interesting spot themselves. They’ve had a whole lot of success this season, but they’re on a four game losing streak as we speak, and fallen into second place in the Atlantic, behind the Bruins. They’ve also lost the first two matchups of the season against the Flyers, so they’ll be doubly motivated here, looking to snap their losing streak and also avoid being swept in the season series. This is a matchup that has favored the Flyers so far, but this game still won’t be an easy one.
Players to Watch
Travis Konecny
On top of the Flyers picking up a much needed win yesterday afternoon, the big news of the day was Travis Konecny scoring not once but twice to bring himself to hitting the 30 goal mark for the second time in his career.
It was great to see him hit that milestone, it’s an excellent accomplishment in the big picture, but in the more narrow scope, it was perhaps even more impressive to see just how clutch he continues to be for this team. They’ve needed it in a big way, offense hasn’t always been hugely consistent, and he continues to deliver for them.
Tyson Foerster
Foerster rounded out the scoring for the Flyers yesterday, picking up his first goal in four games and what was ultimately the game winner for them, and what a goal it was.
This brought him to 18 goals on the season, and while it was a little up and down for him through the early goings, he’s really heating up down the stretch, and we’ll see if he’s able to keep that momentum rolling for just a bit longer.
Sam Reinhart
As the Panthers have found themselves largely contained by the Flyers in the first two meetings against the Flyers this season, so too has Reinhart on an individual level. He’s been held without a point in both of those games, which feels like a but of a surprise somehow — he does have 80 points so far this season, after all. He’s a dangerous player, make no mistake about it, and we’ll be interested to see if he can finally break through in this game (though of course, we hope he doesn’t).
Projected Lineups
Philadelphia Flyers
Owen Tippett – Morgan Frost – Travis Konecny
Joel Farabee – Scott Laughton – Bobby Brink
Tyson Foerster – Ryan Poehling – Garnet Hathaway
Nic Deslauriers – Sean Couturier – Noah Cates
Cam York – Travis Sanheim
Adam Ginning – Ronnie Attard
Egor Zamula – Erik Johnson
Felix Sandstrom
(Sam Ersson)
Florida Panthers
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Sam Rienhart
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Evan Rodrigeus – Kevin Stenlund – Vladimir Tarsenko
Nick Cousins – Steven Lorenze – Kyle Okposo
Josh Mahura – Brandon Montour
Tobias Bjornfoot – Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Uvis Balinskis – Niko Mikkola
Sergei Bobrovsky
(Anthony Stolarz)
Gameday Tunes
It’s a lovely sunny day after all of the rain and wind yesterday, vibes are high, and we’re bumping something fun and upbeat for today’s tunes.
