The Game: 7:00 p.m. EST on NBCSports Philadelphia, ESPN+/Hulu, and 97.5 The Fanatic
Did everyone enjoy some time away from the Philadelphia Flyers? Did you watch any of the All-Star Weekend events? Travis Konecny was there, but he didn’t get to participate in the skills competition and his Team MacKinnon gave up a two-goal lead at the end of regulation to lose in the shootout. At least he had an assist!
Anyway, back to regular season hockey. Now, where were we…
Ah, yes! A five-game losing streak. The Flyers responded to their statement game against the Dallas Stars and five-game win streak with five straight losses–most by three goals or more. That Stars game feels like a lifetime ago, and tonight won’t be easy as the Flyers head to Sunrise to face a Florida Panthers team that is an absolute wagon: the Panthers are 6-2-2 in their last ten and riding a four-game win streak after losing four straight of their own.
The Panthers were a question mark coming into 2023-24, with both Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour–key cogs on their blue line–missing significant time for injury recovery. Matthew Tkachuk didn’t miss any games, but he was sluggish for the first half of the season, presumably as he was still recovering from injuries sustained during last year’s miracle run to the Stanley Cup Final.
Well, who knows what people were worried about, because Florida didn’t miss a beat–and now Tkachuk is on fire, with a five-game point streak that consists of four goals and five assists. The real story of the season, however, has been Sam Reinhart, who’s going nearly goal-for-goal with Auston Matthews as we watch one of the most intriguing Rocket Richard races unfold.
The only shadow cast on such a strong season is that it’s getting to be do-or-die time in Sunrise: all of Reinhart, Montour, Gustav Forsling, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson have expiring contracts, and all of them are sweetheart deals for what they’ve provided to this team. Many of Florida’s depth pieces are free agents at the end of this season too–and after next year, key cogs Ekblad, Sam Bennett, and Carter Verhaeghe will all need new deals as well. This is Florida’s best shot at winning a Cup.
The Flyers, meanwhile, have watched their playoff spot falter: they have played more games than any relevant team behind them in the East (the Penguins have four in hand on the Flyers! Four!!), and will quickly lose third place in the Metropolitan if things don’t get straightened out quick. The only thing that’s kept the Flyers in the mix is how every team around them (except Carolina, lately) has continued to fumble the bag: the Rangers are all over the place, the Islanders fired their coach, the Penguins have a broken power play, and the Devils can’t stay healthy or stop a puck. Something’s going to have to give at some point, and one of those teams will cruise past the Flyers and into a playoff spot if the boys in orange don’t score start scoring some goals–and thankfully, they may have the guy to do it.
Players to Watch
Owen Tippett
It may be a gametime decision, but it’s looking like Tippett will be back on the ice tonight. Before his injury, Tippett was on a roll, with six goals in seven games, and two of them being Goal of the Year candidates. Since then, he’s signed an eight year, $6.2-million AAV contract that already looks good and could be great if he continues to grow. Fitting, then, that he returns to the lineup against the team that drafted him 10th overall in 2017. Celebrating with a hat trick sure would be nice, no?
Travis Konecny
Mr. All-Star has cooled off a bit lately, with one (1!) goal and six points in his last 11 games, and no points in his last three. Whether injury or fatigue is at the root of his scoring drought, some time off and a bit of fun in Toronto has hopefully reinvigorated Konecny for the rest of the season. Look for him to come out flying and match Florida’s physicality hit-for-hit–and for a TK/Tkachuk scrum or two.
Sam Reinhart
The Panthers have so many players to choose from, but we’re going to go with the guy who’s having the most surprising Rocket Richard run in memory. Reinhart has been unstoppable this season, with 37 goals and 62 points in 49 games–talk about contract year performance! Sure, his 27.6 shooting percentage is unsustainable, but when you’re hot, you’re hot. The Flyers will need to shut Reinhart down every time he’s on the ice, and stay out of the box: 20 of Reinhart’s goals have come on the Florida power play.
Projected Lineups
Philadelphia Flyers
Owen Tippett* – Sean Couturier – Cam Atkinson
Joel Farabee – Morgan Frost – Travis Konecny
Noah Cates – Ryan Poehling – Tyson Foerster
Scott Laughton – Garnet Hathaway
Travis Sanheim – Jamie Drysdale
Nick Seeler – Sean Walker
Cam York – Rasmus Ristolainen
Egor Zamula
Sam Ersson
(Cal Petersen)
Florida Panthers
Evan Rodrigues – Alexander Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Nick Cousins*
Jonah Gadjovich – Kevin Stenlund – Ryan Lomberg
Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Brandon Montour
Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Dmitry Kulikov
Stolie the Goalie
(Bob)
*Game time decision
Gameday Tunes
It was nice to take a break from hockey for a little bit and focus on other stuff (okay, mostly just Baldur’s Gate III), but it was also some time to revisit a couple albums I hadn’t listened to in a while. Happy to report that this one still rips–or at least rips as much as an album with “Ambient” in the title can.
Stats via Hockey Reference
