As the Philadelphia Flyers approach the final 19 games left of what has been a very poor, lackluster season, interim head coach Mike Yeo has his sights set on finishing the season with as many strong performances as possible. Now 1-1-0 in the post-Claude Giroux era, and coming off of a rough 6-3 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on the road, it seems the Flyers have not changed their losing ways even with some of their skaters playing better than they have all season.
With players like Joel Farabee, Kevin Hayes, and Travis Konecny all remaining red-hot after each of them had two-point nights on the stat sheet in Tuesday’s loss to Detroit, fans are wondering what more could be done to reverse this season’s misfortunes.
Philadelphia Flyers
Record: 20-32-11 (51 points, 8th in Metro)
First, Philadelphia could begin with Mike Yeo finally admitting that his second defensive pairing of Travis Sanheim and Rasmus Ristolainen is not working, and has not been for the entire season. Sanheim plays much better without Ristolainen by his side and the stats seem to back that up, however, Sanheim cannot be bumped up to the first pairing as he and Ivan Provorov both play on the left side. He certainly does not deserve to be bumped down a line either, though, so that leaves Ristolainen as the odd-man-out here.
Yeo could try lining him up on Provorov’s right side, but rookie Cam York has already been much better than the veteran defender Ristolainen this year. It would make the most sense to put Ristolainen down on the third pairing, but that’s not exactly a good sign for fans to see happening to a defenseman that they just extended for five more years at over $5 million per year.
No matter how the defense is shaken up, it’s almost a guarantee that anything would be better than continuing to see Sanheim and Ristolainen play without chemistry and give up more goals together than nearly any other pairing the Flyers have tried out all year.
It also does not aid the Flyers when Yeo decides against the most logical of lineup decisions. For example, Carter Hart, who has been having one hell of a year despite the Flyers being one of the league’s worst ranked clubs, has not won a single game vs Detroit this year. Not only that, but he has given up 12 goals in the three games he played against them. Though hockey is not an individual sport, and as good as he has been all year, it should have been a clear decision to start Martin Jones in Detroit.
These kind of mistakes have happened all year. Between the lineup flaws that coaching continue to ignore, and the many injuries that plagued their squad, this team didnt’t stand a chance against Detroit and they will likely experience the same fate vs the St. Louis Blues with the way Mike Yeo lines his players up.
Projected Lineup
Farabee – Hayes – Konecny
van Riemsdyk – Frost – Tippett
Hodgson* – Brown – Atkinson
Willman – MacEwan
Provorov – York
Sanheim – Ristolainen
Yandle- Seeler
Connauton
Jones
*Hodgson had just signed a deal with Philadelphia and was recalled from the AHL under emergency conditions. He is expected to make his NHL debut vs the Blues.
Lindblom was ruled OUT for today’s game. The Flyers will be running an 11-7 lineup for the second straight game.
St. Louis Blues
Record: 36-18-9 (79 pts, 2nd in Central)
The St. Louis Blues had no problems derailing the Flyers 4-1 in their last meeting on February 22nd. They are coming off of a very strong 5-2 win over the Washington Capitals and seem hungrier than ever now that they made some moves at the trade deadline. The Blues also have a much healthier lineup now than they have for the better part of the 2021-22 season.
Between the acquisition of new players, and the healthy return of old ones, this makes them much more dangerous of a squad than they already were when they were winning games under the “next man up” mentality. Though they still have some lengthier injuries to deal with, like Tyler Bozak and Torey Krug remaining out of the lineup with lower-body injury and upper body injuries. The rest of the injuries in their lineup seem pretty minor. Vladimir Tarasenko and Robert Thomas are listed as “day-to-day” and could even be game time decisions vs the Flyers.
Projected Lineup
Saad – O’Reilly – Perron
Kyrou – Schenn – Buchnevich
Walker – Barbashev – Toropchenko
MacEachern – Brown – Mikkola
Leddy- Parayko
Krug – Faulk
Scandella -Bortuzzo
Husso
When, Where, & How to Watch
Time: 8:00 pm EST
Where: Enterprise Center
TV Broadcast: ESPN+
Radio Broadcast: 97.5 FM
Live Stream: Fubo TV
fuboTV has live NHL games on ESPN in which you can stream from your phone, television, and all your favorite devices. This is a service that broadcasts live TV over the internet, no cable required. Watch your favorite teams, network shows, news, and movies on 100+ channels. Plus on-demand entertainment including full TV series. fuboTV is currently available in the United States, Canada, and Spain.