After losing 4-2 to the Penguins on Saturday night, the Philadelphia Flyers find themselves with the second of four proverbial kicks at the can to eliminate their longtime rivals in Game 5 on Monday night and move on to the second round. The fourth game is often the hardest won to win, but with the Flyers looking far more themselves in the second half of the game compared to the first half, they should start Game 5 on the right foot. However, following Sunday’s practice, there seems like there will be changes made to the lineup.
As it stands now, it appears that the Flyers will make two changes in personnel and a few shuffles of forward lines. We’ll get to all of that, but for starters it appears that Dan Vladar will once again get the nod in goal. Despite giving up a goal he should’ve stopped, and a brain cramp, Vladar was okay the rest of the way. He also didn’t show any ill effects from the elbow mishap he suffered in the third period of Game 3, so Vladar is expected to take his fifth consecutive start in the series. Just to get that out of the way.
Changes on the Flyers’ blue line
On the blue line, it looks like Emil Andrae will return and be half of Philadelphia’s third pairing on defense alongside Nick Seeler. Andrae played Game 1 but was replaced by Noah Juulsen the last three games. Juulsen — who had only 10 points in 52 games all season — registered a pair of assists in Game 3.
He logged just 7:31 in Game 1, 12:29 in Game 2, and 8:55 in Game 3. In short, Juulsen did a very credible job both defensively and offensively. However, having Andrae back should give that pairing a bit more speed, which should help with getting pucks out quickly and effectively. And he should be able to avoid heavy collisions heading his way, something that’s never good for a physically smaller defender.
During the miniscule 9:39 time-on-ice that Andrae played during Game 1 at 5-on-5, the Flyers did manage to have a very solid 68.4 percent of the expected goals share and had 50.7 percent of the shots on goal. Juulsen still had both of those underlying 5-on-5 numbers be above 50 percent while he was on the ice for the past three games, but a 51.9 expected goals share is clearly a step below what Andrae was able to impact. But, we are talking just incredibly small samples.
Michkov out, Bump in
Of course, the biggest switch for the Flyers heading into Game 5 concerns the inclusion of Alex Bump, and with that, the removal of Matvei Michkov for Monday’s game. Michkov hasn’t been very visible in the series offensively, and took a penalty in Game 3 that cut Philadelphia’s lead in half minutes later. His metrics and the eye test seem to tell the same narrative: he’s struggling out there. He has a Corsi For percentage of 31.03, and his expected goals percentage is 36.98. Nor has he done much of anything on the power play, which seems to mirror the Flyers collectively the entire regular season. Head coach Rick Tocchet explained the reasoning behind the move, citing it was time for Michkov to rest, reset, and give someone else a chance to make an impact.
That someone looks to be Alex Bump. Tocchet didn’t confirm Bump’s inclusion to the lineup for Game 5, stating that it could still be a game-time decision. Yet it seems that Bump (who said he would be playing tonight after Sunday’s practice) is going to be given the nod. The winger, who provides slightly more size than Michkov, had five goals and four assists in 17 games with Philadelphia in 2025-26. The 22-year-old should be able to also help on one of the power play units, depending on how Tocchet uses him.
How the new lineup can change things
With just one change on the back end, it appears that the defensive pairings won’t be altered much at all. The first pairing will have Travis Sanheim and Rasmus Ristolainen, the second pairing will see Jamie Drysdale and Cam York, while the third will be Andrae and Seeler. That much seems to be set in stone, again, unless something drastic changes between now and the opening faceoff.
The forward lines could be altered somewhat depending on where Tocchet sees Bump in the lineup. The Flyers gave that impression yesterday. But we’ll get to that shortly. The fourth line will not be changed. Sean Couturier, Luke Glendening, and Garnet Hathaway will continue to do what they’ve done all series: physically pound the opponents, win puck battles in the corners, and hopefully tilt the ice in Philadelphia’s favor. There’s a reason they’ve been the starting line all series. That’s probably not going to change. As well, the line of Travis Konecny, Christian Dvorak, and Porter Martone is almost set in stone. The trio have looked quite well through the series, so if it’s not broke, why fix it?
The other two lines? Well there are some decisions to be made, namely with Denver Barkey, Tyson Foerster, and Bump. It appears that Foerster would be put down to the third line, like he was for parts of Game 4. It’s not foreign territory for Foerster as he’d be reunited with Noah Cates. The lines at Sunday’s practice indicated Foerster would be with Cates, so that’s not a huge issue.
The only decision is where Bump and Barkey end up. From the looks of Sunday’s practice, Barkey (despite struggling at times throughout the series but scoring a goal in Game 4) appears to be playing with Trevor Zegras and Owen Tippett. Barkey will be given more ice time with this trio and should hopefully be able to generate more offensively, especially with Zegras’ high-end talent and Tippett’s blazing speed. If that line can find some chemistry, it bodes well for Barkey and the Flyers.
As a result of Barkey being moved up, Bump should find himself on the line with Noah Cates and Foerster. Bump has some shooting prowess, and can create some offense. So the goal is to take some of the pressure off Foerster while giving Bump a chance to prove himself. Again, all of this could go out the window depending on Tocchet having a change of heart, or something happening in the next five hours that could alter the roster. But for now, this is what the Flyers should look like.
Denver Barkey — Trevor Zegras — Owen Tippett
Travis Konecny — Christian Dvorak — Porter Martone
Alex Bump — Noah Cates — Tyson Foerster
Luke Glendening — Sean Couturier — Garnet Hathaway
Travis Sanheim — Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York — Jamie Drysdale
Nick Seeler — Emil Andrae
Dan Vladar
(Sam Ersson)
Power play changes
With Michkov’s absence, it also will change the power play unit he was on. The most logical thing to do would be to simply put Bump on the second unit replacing Michkov. The second unit would then feature Bump, Martone, Cates, Foerster, and Drysdale. The usage of Cates, Foerster, and Bump on the power play unit would help as essentially you’re giving an entire line that ice time. It’s doubtful Tocchet would alter the first unit by including Bump. But again, nothing is impossible.
End result
Ideally, the Flyers defeat the Penguins in Game 5 and the team play quite well in sending off Pittsburgh to their lengthy offseason. It would give Philadelphia time to recover from any bumps and bruises, and also enable them to set their sights on their next opponent in Carolina. It would also allow Barkey, Bump, and Michkov to get more practice time in and gain some confidence heading into round two. However, if the game doesn’t end favorably, then the Flyers have a few more questions regarding the lineup heading back home to Philadelphia for Game 6 on Wednesday night.
