The Game: 7:00 p.m. EST on NBCSports Philadelphia, ESPN+/Hulu, and 93.3 WMMR
With Thursday’s shoot out win over the Washington Capitals, the Philadelphia Flyers extended their point streak to seven games with a 5-0-2 record. They’re 3-0 on shootouts this season. Since Nov. 1, the Flyers are third in the NHL in total standings points accumulated. They’re top three in the Metropolitan Division, and fourth in 5-on-5 xGF% with 53.97.
Folks, we might need to accept the Flyers are for real, and that they could actually make the playoffs.
But! There is plenty of season left to play, and a collapse is always possible–especially for a rebuilding team that could sell off roster players at a moment’s notice. Tonight, they face the Detroit Red Wings, a team whose rebuild may be a template the Flyers follow.
You see, the Red Wings have had terrible draft lottery luck, and only picked within the top-five once: Lucas Raymond, fourth overall in 2020 (and has 10 goals, 24 points in 29 games this season). The Flyers have, so far, only picked in the top-five once: Cutter Gauthier, fifth overall in 2022, who has 13 goals and 23 points in 17 games played at Boston College this season. The Red Wings have had a top ten pick every year since 2017, but we’ll look at the selections from the start of the Yzerplan in 2019 (the picks before Yzeman arrived, Michael Rasmussen and Filip Zadina have been lackluster): Moritz Seider, sixth overall in 2019; Raymond; Simon Edvinsson, sixth overall in 2021; Marco Kasper, eighth overall in 2022; and Nate Danielson, ninth overall in 2023.
That is a stockpile of young, high-ceiling talent that will filter into the lineup over the next few years. Until they arrive, Detroit acquired Alex DeBrincat in a trade over the summer and signed Patrick Kane just a couple weeks ago. They even brought in one Shayne Gostisbehere, who has 21 points in 28 games. The team is set up for long term success, even if their playoff chances this season are hanging by a thread; they’re fourth in the Atlantic Division with 34 points and a 15-10-4 record.
Their captain Dylan Larkin, however, will not be participating in tonight’s game–he was injured in a scary play against Ottawa that knocked him to the ice, out cold, and saw David Perron receive a multi-game suspension for a retaliatory crosscheck to the head of Artem Zub. Thankfully, Larkin’s already back skating with the Red Wings in practice, but will be out for an additional, undisclosed amount of time.
Anyway: the Flyers! They’re winning games, and the vibes are good! Tonight should be a solid matchup between two plucky teams that haven’t been to the playoffs in quite some time.
Players to Watch
Joel Farabee
“The Beez” has looked fantastic after last year’s down season, with 11 goals and 19 points so far. None of that production, however, has come on the power play–or even the power kill. See, people are starting to notice that Farabee’s average ice time is under 15 minutes a game this season, which seems quite low for one of your most productive forwards. John Tortorella’s receiving questions about it, too. Maybe tonight’s the night Farabee finds himself on one or both special teams, so keep an eye out to see what he does if given the opportunity.
Morgan Frost really went out and said, “bench this.”
Lucas Raymond
Raymond had a down season in 2022-23 after a really solid rookie year. Now in his third season, he’s showing the skill and drive that made him a top five draft pick. With Larkin out, more of the offensive load shifts to Raymond, so watch for him on the Red Wings power play that set the league on fire at the start of the season. (He’s also a solid streamer pick up, if you’re into NHL fantasy).
Projected Lineups
Philadelphia Flyers
Cam Atkinson – Sean Couturier – Tyson Foerster
Travis Konecny – Morgan Frost – Owen Tippett
Joel Farabee – Ryan Poehling – Bobby Brink
Nic Deslauriers – Scott Laughton – Garnet Hathaway
Cam York – Travis Sanheim
Nick Seeler – Sean Walker
Egor Zamula – Rasmus Ristolainen
Sam Ersson
Carter Hart
Detroit Red Wings
Michael Rasmussen – JT Comphter – Patrick Kane
Alex DeBrincat – Joe Veleno – Lucas Raymond
Robby Fabbri – Andrew Copp – Daniel Sprong
Klim Kostin – Austin Czarnik – Jonatan Berggren
Jake Walman – Mo Seider
Ben Chiarot – Jeff Petry
Shayne Gostisbehere – Olli Maata
Alex Lyon
Ville Husso
Gameday Tunes
“You knew exactly what motivates me / I believe the record will show this,” the Flyers say to us, as they strive to win and currently have a playoff record.
Stats via Natural Stat Trick
