Flyers looking to avoid a Lightning strike in South Philadelphia
By Nick Butler
It has been quite some time since the Flyers last saw the Lightning in the bubble where they beat them 4-1 in their last really impressive game in said bubble. Since their last meeting, the Tampa Bay Lightning went on to win back to back Stanley Cup Championships. Both teams are a little different from the last time they met, but this will most likely be a goalie duel tonight.
Coming into tonight’s tilt, the Flyers and Lightning are more or less in the same position in their respective divisions. Both teams will most likely be playoff contenders as each of their divisions are starting to settle in and the teams who are potential playoff contenders. This will be a good matchup, even this early on in the season.
Philadelphia Flyers
Record: 8-4-2 (18 points, 4th in the Metro)
With the Flyers coming off an absolute battle of game against the Calgary Flames, they will look ahead to tonight’s match with the Tampa Bay Lightning. They’ll also look to win their second of three games at home. They 4-2-1 this season at home and will look to continue to make the Wells Fargo Center a tough place to play.
The Flyers also got word that Ryan Ellis will be put on LTIR and will be out for at least 4-to-6 weeks. Nick Seeler will be the go to guy for this team as time moves forward. Seeler has been a decent replacement for the third pairing. Although him and Yandle had a rough night against Calgary, I expect them to be much better tonight.
You can also sleep easier knowing Justin Braun has been playing out of his mind and has become the absolute perfect partner for Ivan Provorov. The fourth line has been the most consistent line from puck drop to the final horn and adding Oskar Lindblom back into the mix is going to help them tremendously. Especially with tonight being Hockey Fights Cancer night. I expect Lindblom to be riding high and the fans to be right there with him as well.
The power play NEEDS to be better. Sitting at a measly 15.6% is not going to cut it. The Flyers need to have it flowing if they want to start winning more games. It looked a tiny bit better against Calgary but was still absolutely disorganized. Games can be decided by special teams and getting them to work tonight against the high powered offense of the Lightning will be critical. I see this being a goalie battle but the Flyers need to score first.
Projected Lineup
Giroux – Couturier – van Riemsdyk
Farabee – Hayes – Atkinson
Laughton – Brassard – Konecny
Lindblom – Thompson – MacEwen
Provorov – Braun
Sanheim – Ristolainen
Yandle – Seeler
Hart
Tampa Bay Lightning
8-3-3 (19 points, 3rd in the Atlantic)
The Lightning are coming off back-to-back home games against the Panthers and Islanders, winning contests. They have not played since Monday so one of two things will happen. They will be rested and ready to go or they will have some chemistry issues due to not playing. For the Flyers, you want it to be the latter.
The Lightning are playing just about the way you would expect them too. They are currently scoring 3.07 GF/G and have 2.79 GA/G average. Their power play is sitting a little below the league average at 19.05% but their penalty kill has been very good at a high 85.11%. The Lightning have some additions and subtractions to their team but they are still playing that winning Lightning style of hockey.
Steven Stamkos is currently leading the Lightning in points with 16. He is two points above a PPG average. He also leads the team in goals with eight and he has eight assists as well. Victor Hedman is leading the team in assists with 11. He also has two goals for 13 points, leaving him just under a PPG. Alex Kilorn is also averaging around a PPG with 14 points, seven goals and seven assists.
These are the big boys of Tampa Bay, especially with Nikita Kucherov being hurt once more and not being able to play.
Andrei Vasilevsky will get the start in net tonight. Vasilevsky is 7-2-3 on the season. He has a .924 SV% and a GAA of 2.20. Vasilevsky has had eight quality starts and has a .667% QS percentage. At 6’3″, Vasilevsky is a big goalie with a ton of athletic ability. He has also been very good against the Flyers.
Brian Elliot will also be making his return tonight but most likely in a back up role. Moose spent four years with the Flyers and had a 63-36-14 record. Elliot gave us some amazing memories, but none more memorable than that of the Stadium Series at Lincoln Financial Field and the amazing comeback win against the Penguins.
Projected Lineup
Palat – Point – Cirelli
Killorn – Stamkos – Joseph
Maroon – Bellemare – Barre-Boulet
Katchouk – Colton – Raddysh
Hedman – Rutta
McDonagh – Bogosian
Sergachev – Foote
Vasilevsky
When, Where, and How to Watch
Time: 7:00 PM
Where: Wells Fargo Center
TV Broadcast: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio Broadcast: 93.3 WMMR
Live Stream: Fubo TV
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