As the Flyers finish out the final 18 games of the season, there isn’t a whole lot left to play for. Philadelphia was “kind of” a seller at the deadline, though they only traded away three pending free agents.
There are a few players that Tortorella will still be evaluating in terms of if they can help this team moving forward. And with the Flyers taking on the Hurricanes this evening, there will be more than a few players for Tortorella to keep his eyes on.
Philadelphia Flyers
Record: 24-30-11 (59 points, 7th in Metro)
The biggest player that Tortorella will be keen to see is Tyson Foerster. The young forward will be making his NHL debut against Carolina. With Brendan Lemieux and Wade Allison both banged up, the Flyers were down to 10 forwards. Tony DeAngelo’s recent suspension came into play as well. Along with Foerster, Elliot Desnoyers is back with the team as well.
Recalled on an emergency basis, the two do not count against the four post-deadline call ups that teams are allowed to make. It also means that they must go back down once the Flyers have enough healthy bodies. But this does give them the opportunity to see more of their prospects in the lineup.
A team that isn’t likely to contend in the near future, the Flyers need to get a good idea of what is coming in the pipeline. Felix Sandstom will also get another chance to prove that he is better than his numbers suggest. With Sam Ersson having more than proven what he can do at the NHL level, Sandstrom is playing for his job at this point.
Kieffer Bellows, who seems to be on the outside looking in, also gets another opportunity to show the Flyers he was worth the waiver claim.
Projected Lineup
Joel Farabee – Morgan Frost – Owen Tippett
Scott Laughton – Noah Cates – Tyson Foerster
James van Riemsdyk – Elliot Desnoyers – Kevin Hayes
Nicolas Deslauriers – Tanner Laczynski – Kieffer Bellows
Ivan Provorov – Cam York
Travis Sanheim – Rasmus Ristolainen
Nick Seeler – Justin Braun
Felix Sandstrom
Carolina Hurricanes
Record: 42-12-8 (92 points, 1st in Metro)
The Hurricanes, winners of their last three games, just keep on rolling. Only the Boston Bruins have a better record in the league than Carolina. But that team is on a whole different kind of role this season.
Back to the Hurricanes, during their three game win streak, they’ve out scored opponents 16-4. Though technically 15 since their last win came in the shootout. Regardless, goals against them have been hard to come by. They gave up just one goal to Arizona before Freddie Andersen shutout the Lightning in their next game. They finished out allowing three goals to the Canadiens in their most recent game.
New acquisition Shayne Gostisbehere, a familiar name to Flyers fans, has hit the ground running with the Canes. He has two goals and four points overall in three games with the Hurricanes. Overall, Sebastian Aho leads the team in goals (27) while Martin Necas leads in points (59).
Pyotr Kochetkov, also recalled on an emergency basis, will make his first start since January 15th. He has lost his last four NHL games, but has had quite the week in the AHL. He scored a goal for the Chicago Wolves and was subsequently ejected for trying to fight after scoring. He was ejected the game after, also for trying to fight.
Projected Lineup
Andrei Svechnikov – Sebastian Aho – Seth Jarvis
Teuvo Teravainen – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Martin Necas
Jordan Martinook – Jordan Staal – Jesper Fast
Stefan Noesen – Paul Stastny – Derek Stepan
Jaccob Slavin – Brent Burns
Brady Skjei – Brett Pesce
Calvin de Haan – Shayne Gostisbehere
Pyotr Kochetkov
Where, When, and How to Watch/Listen
Time: 7:00 PM
Where: PNC Arena
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 FM
Live Stream: FuboTV
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