Flyers Face Claude Giroux For First Time As They Take On Senators
This is gonna be weird for Flyers fans, but it won’t be as weird as it will be when the game is played in Philly next week. For the first time since the trade, Claude Giroux will be playing against his former teammates.
For now, the Flyers are looking to finish this road trip on winning note. They’ve lost three straight, including two overtime losses. At least we know that the Ottawa Senators don’t have John Tavares playing for them.
Philadelphia Flyers
Record: 5-3-1 (12 points, 5th in Metro)
This is a Flyers team that is running on fumes and sinking fast. In almost a repeat of last season, the team starts out hot and then injuries start to attack the team hard. If it wasn’t for the Columbus Blue Jackets, this team would be heading for last place.
This is not to say that they have been playing poorly. That’s the ironic thing. They’re playing great defensive minded hockey. Outside of Wednesday’s 5-2 blowout, they’ve only given up more than four goals two other times…and one of them was an overtime loss to Carolina. They held the Rangers to just one goal and the Lightning to two.
The big issue is that they can’t score. Defense is nice. They have still given up the third fewest goals in the league. But you have to put the puck in the back of the net to win. Without a goal, you don’t have a win. And there is little the team can do about it. It’s kind of like how the Phillies can’t win without getting a hit, the Flyers can’t win if they aren’t scoring. Only the Blues (21) have scored fewer goals than the Flyers 26.
With a dearth of injuries to the top two lines, the Flyers are running on empty. The team has been forced to call up and play a lot of depth pieces scattered across three lines. It’s making it hard for other teams to score. And we are quickly becoming other NHL team’s hardest wins. It’s depressing for now, but it is building experience for our younger players and depth players who normally would not be getting as much ice time as they are getting.
For now, the star of the team continues to be Carter Hart. And while the defense has been an improvement over last year, it is still a bit leaky. The reason that the Flyers have been anything close to being in these games is that he is standing like a brick wall in net. As long as that continues, the Flyers have a chance to steal some games.
Projected Lineup
Joel Farabee – Kevin Hayes – Travis Konecny
Noah Cates – Scott Laughton – Owen Tippett
Tanner Laczynski – Morgan Frost – Zack MacEwen
Nicolas Deslauriers – Lukas Sedlak – Wade Allison
Ivan Provorov – Tony DeAngelo
Travis Sanheim – Justin Braun
Nick Seeler – Egor Zamula
Carter Hart
Ottawa Senators
Record: 4-6-0 (8 points, 8th in Atlantic)
They’ve been down for a while. Unlike the Flyers, this team really has not had a winning tradition or a culture of excellence. After a few years of being basement dwellers, the Ottawa Senators made some offseason moves to help fortify a young lineup. Chief among them was signing hometown hero, and longtime Flyers mainstay, Claude Giroux to a contract. It hasn’t gone according to plan.
First of all, this is a really streaky team. They lost their first two games before winning four straight. Since then, the Senators have dropped games to the Wild, Panthers, Lightning, and Golden Knights. And while they are putting up points, they aren’t putting up enough of them.
Penalties are the big killer on this team as they are currently in 30th place in the NHL with 137 penalty minutes accrued. They are 12th in goals scored, but also 21st in goals against.
Young star Brady Tkachuk leads the team with six goals and 15 points. Drake Batherson is not far behind with three goals and eight assists. Shane Pinto also has six goals this season.
But you don’t care about them. You want to hear about how “G” is doing. So far, he’s doing ok, but far from stellar. He is fourth on the team with nine points and second on the team with five goals. His faceoff percentage is down to a 53%. Giroux was expected to take this group of youngsters and help mold them into a solid offensive force. So far, only the Columbus Blue Jackets have a worse record in the Eastern Conference.
Anton Forsberg has played in nine of Ottawa’s contests so far. He’s racked up a 3-6-0 record with a 3.58 goals against average and a .898 save percentage. These are numbers the Flyers could really feast on. Sadly, he will not face the Flyers. Instead, Cam Talbot, recently activated from injured reserve will get his second first start of the season. He’s started one game and stopped 13 shots before being pulled with a lower body injury.
The team is also looking for new ownership. So, if you got a few hundred million dollars lying around, or if you hit the big powerball, maybe you can give owning a hockey team a try.
Projected Lineup
Brady Tkachuk – Tim Stützle – Claude Giroux
Alex DeBrincat – Shane Pinto – Drake Batherson
Tyler Motte – Derick Brassard – Mathieu Joseph
Parker Kelly – Mark Kastelic – Austin Watson
Thomas Chabot – Erik Brännström
Jake Sanderson – Travis Hamonic
Nick Holden – Nikita Zaitsev
Cam Talbot
Where, When, and How to Watch/Listen
Time: 7 PM
Where: Canadian Tire Centre
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 FM
Live Stream: Fubo Tv
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