Flyers Return Home To Take A Quack At The Ducks
The Flyers will be returning home to Philadelphia after a 4-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on the road to host rookie-phenom Trevor Zegras, and the Anaheim Ducks. This will also be Gerry Mayhew’s first game back in Philadelphia since being claimed on waivers by Anaheim.
While the Ducks are certainly not the threatening team that they appeared to be in the first half of the season, they still have plenty of speedy, skilled players who will be doing their best to pressure the Flyers defense all day long. It is good timing that Philadelphia is coming off a dominant win that boosted their confidence. They will definitely need it when facing an Anaheim Ducks lineup that has everything to prove, even at the end of the season while the playoffs slip out of sight.
Philadelphia Flyers
Record: 23-37-11 (57 pts, 7th in Metro)
The Philadelphia Flyers have had issues coping with injured and sick players all season long, and it shows no sign of stopping as the season nears its end. With guys like Joel Farabee, Zack MacEwen, and Nick Seeler all still out of the lineup, the Flyers will once again be relying on veteran players like Kevin Hayes, Travis Konecny and Cam Atkinson to help guide the talented young players through what is guaranteed to be a fast-paced, high-skill type of hockey game.
If those three veterans show up on offense and do their part, younger players like Noah Cates, Owen Tippett, and Morgan Frost will all have less attention and pressure on them to remain in the red-hot form they’ve been in. The Flyers are heading into this matchup vs the Ducks without a true enforcer in the lineup, with MacEwen still dealing with a head injury, but the Ducks have been known to focus more on skill than physicality, so this should be a relatively well-balanced matchup.
Projected Lineup
Lindblom – Laughton – Atkinson
Cates – Hayes – Tippett
van Riemsdyk – Frost – Konecny
Hodgson – Thompson – Brown
Provorov – York
Sanheim – Ristolainen
Connauton – Attard
Jones
Anaheim Ducks
Record: 28-32-12 (68 pts, 6th in Pacific)
The Ducks are still feeling the effects from Troy Terry’s beating at the hands of Coyotes veteran skater, Jay Beagle, just over a week ago. Terry was essentially sucker-punched and hammered into repeatedly, even after he was down, leading to a severely swollen face. Teammates like Trevor Zegras and Cam Fowler should be more fired-up than they’ve looked all season.
Not only will that be a key reason the Ducks are looking to end their season in the best fashion possible, but news broke earlier in the week that captain Ryan Getzlaf will be retiring at the end of the season. Getzlaf, who remains out of Anaheim’s lineup due to a lower body injury, is easily the heart and soul of the Ducks franchise.
He is the longest-tenured captain in Ducks history and has played every game of his career with Anaheim after being drafted by them19th overall in the first-round of the 2003 Draft. Getzlaf is also ranked 1st or 2nd in almost all of the Anaheim Duck’s franchise records for points, goals, assists, and so on. He is truly one of the mightiest Ducks to ever play for Anaheim and his teammates will be fighting to end his final season on the best note possible now.
Projected Lineup
Grant – Zegras – Terry
Aston Reese – Henrique – Simon
Milano – Lundestrom – Carrick
Comtois – Steel – Mayhew
Fowler – Drysdale
Vaakanainen – Shattenkirk
Benoit – Sustr
Stolarz
When, Where & How to Watch
Time: 7:30 pm EST
Place: Wells Fargo Center
TV Broadcast: NBCSP
Radio Broadcast: 97.5 FM
Live Stream: Fubo TV
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