Less than 24 hours after their last puck drop, the Flyers are getting ready for the second leg of this back to back in cold and rainy Vancouver. This will be the second meeting of the season. The Canucks played spoilers, winning 5-4 in a shootout in Philadelphia’s home opener.
Their last matchup was electric with plenty of goals and plenty of puck luck as well. The Flyers got on the board first with a Farabee power play goal but the Canucks went on to score three unanswered. Cam Atkinson got on the board for his first to pull them within one, but the Canucks had other plans scoring their fourth goal of the period.
Two late goals, one by Travis Konecny and a beauty by Claude Giroux sent it to overtime. The Canucks went on to win the game in the skills competition, but the Flyers still walked away with a point that could be valuable down the line. Carter Hart did not look his best at points, but the puck was bouncing a lot and the Canucks got a lot of puck luck. The Flyers will look for some revenge tonight and a big two points.
Philadelphia Flyers
3-1-1 (7 Points) 6th in the Metro
In what was an absolute statement win by the Flyers, they will be looking to have a repeat performance tonight. Carter Hart was an absolute unit in the net, throwing aside 34 out of 37 shots on net. The whole team really stepped up defensively as they were committed to blocking shots and dishing out hits. The Flyers threw the body for 27 hits and blocked 26 shots with Rasmus Ristolinien taking the worst of it after a puck rolled up his stick, shattering part of his visor and cutting him above the eye. He played out the rest of shift and was back on the ice shortly after the start of the third period.
Martin Jones will get the call tonight. He played really well in his first game of the season against the Bruins. He had two tough rebound goals on the side of the net and an absolute beauty of a breakaway from Taylor Hall that went in. He made 37 saves on 40 shots and got the win for the Flyers. We will need more stellar goaltending tonight if Philadelphia want sto win.
Back to backs have never been the Flyers forte. However. with the way they have been scoring goals while still missing two big pieces in Kevin Hayes and Wade Allison, they do not have many worried yet. 23 goals in five games has made this one of the fastest and best starts in franchise history. It is a welcome sight considering the Flyers usually start off at a turtle pace and work their way up to par with the rest of the league. With the Flyers big names scoring big goals, this team is going to be tough to compete with.
Cam Atkinson scored two more goals last night putting his total to six goals on the season. Claude Giroux’s tally also marked his fourth of the year and also gives him a point in every game this season. Fun fact, this is the first time in his career that he has done this. Travis Konecny was also very noticeable last night as well doing a lot of really good things in the offensive and defensive end. When you notice a player like him playing a 200 foot game, that yields good results that the rest of the team is going to follow suit as the season goes on.
Ryan Ellis is still a question mark at this point. Justin Braun has had to take that top pairing spot with Ivan Provorv and he has looked back to his prime. Braun has been playing the best hockey in his career and his best hockey since before he was picked up. Travis Sanheim also stepped up, playing a 200 foot game last night. Ristolainen did not look great last night but when him and Sanheim were on the same page, they were locked in and they locked down. Sanheim did not get an official assist in the record book, but his flip pass out at the end of the first period lead to the beauty of a goal by Atkinson to help the Flyers take the lead into the first intermission.
The Flyers need to stay out of the box again tonight and play aggressive. If they can get on the power play early, they can burn the Canucks with their own mistakes. Back to backs are hard, but they can absolutely beat this Canucks team. Cycling the puck and carrying it compared to dumping and chasing the puck will be the key into tonights win. I also think James van Riemsdyk will finally get on the board tonight. He looked really good last night fighting and battling for pucks and position.
Depth play will be key tonight as well as we haven’t seen a ton of goals from the third or fourth line, but seeing some tonight will help take some pressure off of the top two lines.
Projected lineup
Giroux – Couturier – Konecny
Farabee – Brassard – Atkinson
Lindblom – Laughton – Van Riemsdyk
Aube-Kubel –Thompson – MacEwen
Provorov – Braun
Sanheim – Ristolainen
Yandle – Seeler
Jones
Hart
Vancouver Canucks
3-3-1 (7 Points) 4th in the Pacific
The Canucks come into tonight after losing their home opener to the Minnesota Wild 3-2. The Canucks haven’t played many challenging teams yet this season and will have another test tonight against the Flyers. This team took advantage of puck luck and bad bounces to help get the win over the Flyers in their last matchup.
The Canucks aren’t playing great defense or putting up big goal numbers as they have 19 goals for and 20 against in seven games. They are currently below the league average in penalty kill percentage with 77.78%. They also have a 23.08% power play conversion rate as well.
Canucks captain Bo Horvat is leading the way with four goals. Connor Garland trails behind him with three. Garland and J.T. Miller both lead the Canucks in points with eight each. Their young super star talents haven’t been great yet and for the Flyers, that is pretty big going into tonight.
Look for Jaroslav Halak to make his second start of the season. He is 0-1-0 this season. He currently has a .900 SV% and a GAA of 2.08. The Flyers have faced him plenty before during his time in Boston so they should have some familiarity.
Projected Lineup
Pearson – Horvat – Garland
Highmore – Dickinson – Höglander
Miller – Pettersson – Podkolzin
Dowling – Lammikko – Chiasson
Ekman-Larsson – Myers
Hughes – Schenn
Burroughs – Hunt
Halak
Demko
When, Where, and How to Watch
Time: 10:00 PM
Where: Rodgers Arena
TV Broadcast: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio Broadcast: 97.5 The Fanatic
Live Stream: Fubo TV
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