The Flyers are back in Philly after a successful five game road trip, nursing a three game win streak and a 3-2 record. Well, successful depending on how you measure success this year, but wins are fun and it’s been good to see the younger players step up and produce.
For their first home game of the year, the Flyers are hosting the Arizona Coyotes—another team overperforming in a stellar draft year. If you’ll recall, the Flyers lost to the Coyotes in December in overtime, with Clayton Keller netting a hat trick in the process. Still, both teams are what we would call “not good,” so this could end up being a fairly even, back-and-forth hockey game—and with the Flyers hosting the Maple Leafs on Sunday, it’s likely their last chance to keep the win streak going.
Players to Watch
Joel Farabee
Farabee finally got on the board with a goal in the game against Anaheim, and he is a player the team desperately needs to produce. The off-season neck surgery likely contributed to Farabee’s slow start, but if he can go into 2023 scoring goals, that’s a real positive sign for his role in the future of the franchise—he is only 22, after all, a fact many seem to forget considering how long he’s been on the roster.
Travis Konecny
Don’t look now, but TK is on a four game goal streak, and a total of 19 this season. He is another one of those young players that could be a part of this team’s future, and his production lately has been excellent. Dark horse Rocket Richard? Imagine!
Carter Hart
Daddy’s home. Cleared from concussion protocol and activated off of IR, Carter Hart makes his 2023 debut tonight against the Coyotes. Samuel Ersson did a great job taking over the starter position for three games (a major contributor to the current win streak), and in a surprise twist Ersson will be backing up Hart for the foreseeable future. That means Felix Sandström is out of the main roster, and he’s been reassigned to the Phantoms for a “conditioning assignment,” which means the team has 14 days before Sandström would have to clear waivers to stay down or be brought back up to the main roster.
Shayne Gostisbehere
Our old friend Ghost has put up a respectable 26 points in 36 games for the Coyotes, so that’s cool. This is the last year of his “albatross” contract, and it’s looking like he’ll be a valuable trade piece at the deadline in March. Must be nice to have a guy like that on the team, such a shame the Flyers gave him away for literally nothing. Watch him score a hat trick tonight out of spite, as it seems former Flyers defensemen are wont to do on new teams.
Can the Flyers get their fourth win in a row, or will the tank resume? The puck drops at 7 p.m. tonight at the Wells Fargo Center.
