The Philadelphia Flyers must hone in on defense as they face one of the best top lines in the NHL.
Coming off a 4-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche, the Philadelphia Flyers will once again look to rebound and get their record back up to an even .500 against the Boston Bruins.
The Bruins enter this game with a 5-2-2 record, and defeated the Ottawa Senators 4-1 in their last game on Tuesday. As a team they’re tied sixth in the NHL in Goals-For, also with the Flyers, and possess the sixth best power-play unit in the league with a 29.17 power-play percentage. Those won’t be the only things the Flyers will have to worry about in this game, though.
Boston’s top line combination of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and David Pastrnak has been red hot to start the season. They rank second among NHL line combinations with at least 100 minutes of time-on-ice played in total Goals-For (GF) with 16, third in GF% with 71.43%, and fourth in Corsi-For percentage with 63.04% in all situations, according to Corsica. They can do it all on the ice offensively, from possessing the puck to putting it in the net. The Flyers defense must step-up their performance in this game in order to win.
One slight weakness this line does have is defense. They’re tied third among those lines in total Goals-Against with six and the team save percentage while they’re on the ice is 89.66%, which is fourth worst. The Flyers top line must take advantage to keep the game within an arms reach. Boston’s top line can score goals almost at-will as mentioned before, and Philadelphia can’t afford to let them get an early lead.
Travis Konecny will get time with the Flyers first line after having his two game point streak end against Colorado. Konecny has played well as of late and his speed should help matchup with Boston’s opposing top line. Andrew MacDonald will also enter the lineup for Christian Folin.
Brian Elliott will get the start, and Michal Neuvirth will back him up after having a conditioning stint with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms Wednesday night. Jaroslav Halak will oppose Elliott in-net for Boston. Halak has a 2-0-2 record on the year with a 1.74 Goals-Against Average and a .933 save percentage.
There is some question as to who takes Michael Raffl’s roster spot, as he’s out 4-6 weeks with a lower-body injury. Corban Knight practiced with the fourth line Wednesday morning, while Mikhail Vorobyev centered the third line with Jordan Weal and Oskar Lindblom rotating on the left wing position. Head coach Dave Hakstol said he would decide who plays after the pregame skate.
The Flyers will hope to earn their fifth win of the season against the Bruins. Puck-drop is set for 7pm EST.