The Game: 1:00 p.m. EST, NBCSports Philadelphia, 97.5 The Fanatic
Will the Flyers finally get a win on home ice, or will they continue trying to get the Annual 10 Game Losing Streak out of the way early in the season? This afternoon, the Philadelphia Flyers face a Minnesota Wild team that has yet to lose in regulation and is on a four-game winning streak–two of those wins came against the Blue Jackets and Blues (not great teams!), but the other two were pretty commanding defeats of the reigning Cup Champions (the Florida Panthers) and the perennially good Tampa Bay Lightning. The Flyers are going to have a tough time securing the W.
This is the eighth game of the season for the Flyers so, for fun, let’s take stock of who has yet to register a point: Rasmus Ristolainen (seven games played), sweet baby boy Jett Luchanko (four games played), Noah Cates (three games played), and the Nicoli Seeler and Deslauriers (two games played). No real surprises there, though you would like a bit of offense from Risto to boost up that trade value. Maybe tonight?
As for who hasn’t scored a goal yet this season, it’s the above, plus Ryan Poehling, Yegor Zamula, Sean Couturier, Erik Johnson, Garnet Hathaway, and…Morgan Frost? Huh. That seems odd. Let’s see…24 shots on goal, and not a single one has gone in? And all three of Frost’s point have come on the power play? That 0.0 shooting percentage is going to regress to his career average of 9.1% at some point, but have the Flyers become too reliant on special teams? How the turns have tabled.
Things look bleak for the Flyers, what with their 1-5-1 record and holding down last place in the Metropolitan Division. But! There is reason to hope: despite the ugly 6-3 box score in their loss to the Washington Capitals on Wednesday, the Flyers roared back in the second half of the match to bring themselves within one before an awful decision by Yegor Zamula led to the first of two empty net goals (though by Tortorella’s own admission, that one’s on the coach). Here’s hoping that fire carries into today’s match, because they’re going to need it–this Wild team’s on a tear.
To make matters worse, the schedule makers hate Philadelphia: today’s game is the first half of a back-to-back, their second in a week. What’d we ever do to you, schedule makers?? A four-game season opening west coast swing, followed by a week with two pairs of back-to-backs? That’s just cruel!
Players to Watch
Owen Tippett
At long last, the wait is over: Owen Tippett has scored a goal! It took Tippett seven games to find the back of the net–and not for lack of trying–but hopefully that gives him the confidence boost he needs and he’s able to start scoring at a regular pace again. Watch for him to try and pot one for a second game in a row.
Matvei Michkov
Michkov is, obviously, the player on the Flyers to watch all season–but we saw something new from him in Wednesday’s loss to the Capitals: the passion. As the Flyers mounted their comeback, Michkov stood face to face with Brandon Duhaime and tried to stare him down, and then registered a goal and an assist on two of the three comeback goals. Michkov’s showing he’s able to put a team on his back and will them back into a contest that seems lost–something this team hasn’t had since Claude Giroux’s departure. Then, on the first empty net goal, you saw Michkov smash his stick on the ice in frustration; we’re starting to see him get comfortable enough with the NHL and his teammates to flash that bit of fire that makes him such a fierce competitor. Look for him to come out roaring against the Wild.
Kirill Kaprizov
Speaking of talented Russian wingers: Kaprizov has started this season shot out of a cannon. He’s on a seven game point streak with four goals and 13 points in that span. The 21.1 shooting percentage is higher than his career average of 16.4%, but Kaprizov is an elite enough winger that having a “lucky” season isn’t out of the realm of possibility. The Flyers will have to do two things: suppress Kaprizov as much as possible, and hope that Michkov turns into a player of Kaprizov’s calibre in a few years’ time.
Projected Lineups
Philadelphia Flyers
Honestly? Who the hell knows. If you do, please contact us on Twitter @BroadStHockey because Torts is just trolling us at this point, even if he says he’s not. Top-six center Noah Cates with Couturier on his wing? Moving Nic Deslauriers back to defense? Putting Jett Luchanko in net? It’ll be a fun surprise for everyone! However, there is one player we know for certain is in:
Minnesota Wild
Kirill Kaprizov – Marco Rossi – Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Johansson – Joel Eriksson Ek – Matt Boldy
Marcus Foligno – Marat Khusnutdinov – Yakov Trenin
Jakub Lauko – Frederick Gaudreau – Liam Ohgren
Jake Middleton – Brock Faber
Jonas Brodin – Zach Bogosian
Jon Merrill – Declan Chisholm
Marc-Andre Fleury (Happy retirement, buddy!)
(Filip Gustavsson)
Gameday Tunes
The music’s back, baby! Did you all have a fabulous brat summer? Good, because it’s time for brat autumn (and maybe brat winter, but we’ll reassess in a couple months). Today’s game is the first of a back-to-back (they get the Canadiens tomorrow), so this song feels apt.
