The Game: 7:00 p.m. EST on NBCSports Philadelphia, ESPN+/Hulu, and 93.3 WMMR
It’s coming down to the wire, folks–and the odds aren’t great. At time of writing (shortly after 2:30 p.m.), the Pittsburgh Penguins are up 4-1 over the Tampa Bay Lightning, and a win would tie them with the Flyers and New York Islanders at 83 points. What a cruel joke it would be for the Flyers to choke a playoff spot they’ve held for months to the underwhelming-but-still-Crosby-led Penguins.
Last night’s loss to the Buffalo Sabres certainly didn’t help, but the good news is the Flyers had the energy they’d been so lacking the past week or two: through the first half of the game, they’d tripled the Sabres in shots on goal. Even in defeat, the Flyers never gave up the fight, and brought it to the Sabres right to the end–they must do the same tonight, because a loss to the lowly Columbus Blue Jackets really feels like a point of no return.
The Blue Jackets have had another abysmal season, and may’ve wound up in the headlines more than the Flyers–but for all the wrong reasons: they fired their coach before the season began, they fired their long-time GM, one of their best prospects express dissatisfaction with his yo-yoing between the NHL and AHL (that’s 2022 sixth overall pick David Jiricek, fyi), their “franchise” goalie is also keen to leave, Patrik Laine is in the player assistance program, interim head coach Pascal Vincent has been sheltering young players in a way that’s detrimental to their development. Their captain, Boone Jenner, likely misses tonight’s game as well for personal reasons.
This is a game the Flyers should–and must–win. They’ll be tired from travel since it’s the second night of a back-to-back, and they’re going to have to hope that Sam Ersson’s time off has helped him re-find the spark that got them this far. Now that the team’s chasing the Flyers have caught them, it’s do-or-die tonight.
Players to Watch
Sam Ersson
It’s been rough for Ersson for almost two months now, and the Flyers have one of the worst save percentages in the league since late March.
Part of that falls to the backups (Felix Sandstrom’s last start factors in here), but the bulk of it falls on Ersson. He’s had several days off, and hopefully that rest helps him find his form again. If he still doesn’t have it…that might be a wrap on the season.
Travis Konecny
It has not been a great stretch of games for Konecny. He took a sloppy penalty yesterday, found himself on the bench for a chunk of Monday’s game against the Isles, and hasn’t scored a goal since the Rangers game. TK is ostensibly the team’s best player, and he needs to play like it again–especially if the Flyers are considering signing him to a big extension this summer.
Kirill Marchenko
No further comment.
Projected Lineups
Philadelphia Flyers
Tyson Foerster – Morgan Frost – Travis Konecny
Owen Tippett – Scott Laughton – Bobby Brink
Olle Lycksell – Ryan Poehling – Garnet Hathaway
Joel Farabee – Noah Cates – Cam Atkinson
Cam York – Travis Sanheim
Nick Seeler – Jamie Drysdale
Adam Ginning – Ronnie Attard (it’s called manifesting, look it up)
Sam Ersson
(Ivan Fedotov)
Columbus Blue Jackets
Johnny Gaudreau – Dmitri Voronkov – Alex Nylander
Alexandre Texier – Cole Sillinger – Kirill Marchenko
Mikael Pyyhtia – Brendan Gaunce – Mathieu Olivier
James Malatesta – Justin Danforth – Carson Meyer
Zach Werenski – Damon Severson
Ivan Provorov – Erik Gudbranson
Nick Blankenburg – David Jiricek
Jet Greaves
(Malcolm Subban)
Gameday Tunes
It really is just cruel at this point.
Stats via Hockey Reference
