Flyers hopeful coaching change leads to victory over Avalanche
After losing their eighth straight to the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Flyers decided enough was enough. Alain Vigneault and Michel Therrien were relieved of their duties. In the interim, Mike Yeo was named the head coach and will be the man in charge against the Colorado Avalanche.
Will a coaching change necessarily help this team? Only time will tell on that. But it was clear something needed to give after the last stretch of games. Now the onus will be squarely on the players to get themselves out of this funk. The games won’t get any easier and there won’t be a lot of practice time to figure things out right now.
Tonight’s game will be about showing everyone that they are capable of turning things around. Coming off of a 7-1 blowout against the Lightning, the Flyers cannot allow things to spiral out of control if they give up the first goal. Colorado has plenty of star power that can burn you time and time again. And they’ve been able to score in bunches as well.
Philadelphia Flyers
Record: 8-10-4 (20 points, 7th in Metro)
After the firing of their head coach and assistant head coach, the Flyers have a lot to prove. A team that came in with hefty expectations has failed to reach them in this last stretch of play. Even though they played well to start the season, the underlying process had cracks as well. Now under Mike Yeo, Philadelphia has a chance to prove that they can perform up to what they’re capable of.
That all starts with tonight. While there hasn’t been time to learn the systems that Yeo will almost certainly put in place, it will be all about competing and showing more fight than they have in quite some time. More changes are sure to come after that. But it’ll all start with their effort against the Avalanche.
Cam Atkinson, who had no goals in his previous seven games, finally got back on the scoresheet in that regard last night. It made the score 6-1 so it didn’t exactly change anything, but it can serve as a confidence boost for Atkinson. And even potentially a catalyst for the power play as well as that was how the goal was scored. Darryl Williams will be in charge of the unit this evening in place of Yeo.
The Flyers have three more games this week as they face a five in seven stretch to end the week. As such, fatigue can quickly set in. Especially as the latter two games see them heading to Vegas and Arizona. So managing that and being able to overcome it will be key as well.
Martin Jones will be back between the pipes. He finished in relief of Carter Hart last night, giving up two goals on 12 shots. He’ll be looking to more so bounce back from his previous start where he gave up four goals on 28 shots against New Jersey. Jones is still posting respectable numbers with a 2.94 GAA and a .917 SV%. He will have his hands full with Colorado’s shooters this evening.
Projected Lineup
Giroux – Couturier – Atkinson
Frost – Hayes – Konecny
van Riemsdyk – Laughton – MacEwen
Lindblom – Brown – Willman
Provorov – Ristolainen
Sanheim – Seeler
Yandle – Braun
Jones
Colorado Avalanche
Record: 12-7-2 (26 points, 5th in Central)
The Avalanche come in on the back end of a five-game road trip. This will be the first time they’ve played the Flyers since February of 2020. They are coming off a 6-5 overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators.
Recently getting Nathan MacKinnon back into the fold makes Colorado an even more dangerous team to play against. His speed along can cause havoc in the offensive zone. He’s recorded six points since his return to the lineup three games ago. Overall he has one goals and 16 points in 11 games.
Nazem Kadri has had an incredible start to his season. He’s posted nine goals and has 30 points overall in 20 games. He had been day to day, missing the team’s last game. However, he was seen on the ice in a normal jersey and participant on the top power play unit during morning skate.
Cale Makar is always dangerous as well. He has three goals and six points in his last five games. His 10 goals lead the team and his 21 points are third on the Avalanche.
This will also be Nicolas Aube-Kubel’s return to the Wells Fargo Center since he was claimed off waivers. He’s played well, four of his five points coming with his new squad. It’ll be the first time he’s played against the Flyers in his career.
Justus Annunen will be making his first start NHL start after coming on in relief during their last game. So there’s isn’t much tape on his. He faced 19 shots against the Senators and gave up two goals. So his numbers are skewed a bit. But he currently has a 3.21 GAA and a .895 SV%. The Flyers seeing a goaltender making his first start could go in a lot of different directions. Philadelphia hopes they’ll be able to put a lot past him.
Projected Lineup
Landeskog – MacKinnon – Rantanen
Nischuskin – Kadri – Burakovsky
Aube-Kubel – Newhook – O’Connor
Helm – Jost – Megna
Toews – Makar
J. Johnson – Girard
E. Johnson – Macdermid
Annunen
When, Where, and How to Watch
Time: 7:00 PM
Where: Wells Fargo Center
TV Broadcast: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio Broadcast: 97.5 The Fanatic
Live Stream: Fubo TV
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