In search of their first win in over three weeks, the Philadelphia Flyers are headed to Sin City to take on the Vegas Golden Knights. It’s the first of two matchups between the two squads, one that will see Vegas coming to Philadelphia in March.
This is the Flyers fourth game in six nights as they’ll finish up a five in seven stretch tomorrow night against the Arizona Coyotes. They’ve been on the end of some blowouts as well as shutouts. They saw a 7-1 rout against the Lightning lead to the firing of Alain Vigneault and Michel Therrien. The next night, Mike Yeo led the team against Colorado. While showing some fight, the Flyers still dropped that one 7-5.
However, they looked fairly lifeless against a struggling Devils team, getting shut out 3-0. As has been said before, Philadelphia is looking for anything to help turn the tides and get back into the win column. Vegas is on the tail end of a four-game homestand, having won a wild one against the Stars. A third period rally saw them come back from 4-2 to take the 5-4 victory.
Vegas has also won their last three games, the last two being one-goal affairs. They put the rout on against the Coyotes prior to that, winning 7-1.
Philadelphia Flyers
Record: 8-12-4 (20 points, 7th in Metro)
Everything that could go wrong, has gone wrong for the Flyers during this 10-game losing streak. Their 7-5 loss to Colorado was the first time they score four or more goals in a game since the end of October. And they still weren’t able to pull out a victory. Coming out after that and getting shutout against another struggling team? It proves the team needs more change to happen.
The Flyers claimed Kevin Connauton off waivers on Tuesday and recently recalled Jackson Cates from the Phantoms. While likely minor depth moves to have extra players out west, it’s possible both could be in the lineup at some point this weekend. Connauton has bounced in and out of the lineup the past few seasons. Cates, one of the last cuts during training camp, has played in 18 games for the Phantoms and recorded two goals and five points.
It’ll take much more than that, however, to break out of this streak. The Flyers desperately need more contribution from its top players. Claude Giroux is the only one who seems to have gotten the memo, though Cam Atkinson is starting to catch fire again. Both lead the team with nine goals, the former leading in both assists and points. Giroux actually have seven more points than his next closest teammate, that being Atkinson.
If anyone needs to get going for Philadelphia, it’s James van Riemsdyk. The veteran winger has just two goals and six points in 24 games. He’s currently on an 11-game pointless streak. The Flyers needs him to get going and get going now.
Projected Lineup
Laughton-Couturier-Konecny
Frost-Giroux-Atkinson
Willman-Hayes-van Riemsdyk
Lindblom-Brown-MacEwen
Provorov-Braun
Sanheim-Ristolainen
Yandle-Connauton
Hart
Vegas Golden Knights
Record: 15-10-0 (30 points, 4th in Pacific)
This will be the first time in almost a year since the Flyers and Vegas have faced off. The two teams last met in January of 2020. The Golden Knights hung on for a 5-4 victory. 11 players that wore the orange and black are no longer with the organization since that game.
What separates these two teams is that the Knights have seen contributions from up and down the lineup. They have 10 players with double digit points, with two more on the cusp as well. In comparison, Philadelphia have six players with at least 10 points and two of them will not be in the lineup this evening.
Jonathan Marchessault leads the way in the goal department with 11 in 20 games played. Reilly Smith is right behind him with 10 goals in 25 games. Chandler Stephenson is tops on the team with 22 points and is tied with Shea Theodore with 13 assists.
Max Pacioretty has been on a hot streak since returning to play. He has eight points in his last five games, 12 overall in eight games. He’s registered at least a point in all but one game thus far. Four of his outings have since him register at least two points. So he will be a big point of emphasis this evening.
Laurent Brossoit has been a solid backup for the Knights in seven games played thus far. He holds a 5-1-0 record to go along with a 2.41 GAA and a .921 SV%. He’s given up just a single goal in his last two outings, having won his last four games. He earned his most recent victory in relief against the Stars.
Projected Lineup
Pacioretty – Roy – Stone
Marchessault – Karlsson – Smith
Janmark – Brooks – Dadonov
Carrier – Kolesar – Amadio
Hague – Pietrangelo
Hutton – Theodore
McNabb – Whitecloud
Brossoit
When, Where, and How to Watch
Time: 10:00 PM
Where: T-Mobile Arena
TV Broadcast: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio Broadcast: 97.5 The Fanatic
Live Stream: Fubo TV
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