On the night before Thanksgiving, the Flyers will make a quick pit stop in Nashville to take on the Predators.
Both teams have had their fair share of struggles this season, though the Flyers were expected to. Nashville's woes have been a surprise to most. It took until their sixth game of the season to get a win. For a team full of talent, they are underperforming early in the year.
Philadelphia Flyers
Even though their last game ended in a loss, the Flyers had much to like about their game against Vegas. They were active on the forecheck and converted on more than a few chances. Aside from some lapses in the second period, John Tortorella was very pleased with his team's effort. That's not usually one thing the Philadelphia head coach has to worry about in his players.
Because of those lapses, however, the Flyers saw multiple leads dwindle. They fought until the very end, nearly taking the game in the dying seconds of regulation. Converting on high-danger chances has been an issue for most of this group. They may not have the superstar, but they have plenty of players who can make an impact. They have also begun to get more contributions from the depth of their lineup as well. Noah Cates is an example of a player who was recently rewarded after doing all of the little things right.
Not every game will be a perfect one. It's impossible to be on your game every night. But fatigue hasn't necessarily been a problem. Still, conserving energy in a busy stretch such as this is important. The Flyers have only had more than one day off twice in this stretch of 12 games in November. They have a back-to-back this weekend as well. Nashville can be a punishing team so it's all about navigating ways to push back even when tired.
Flyers Projected Lineup
Joel Farabee - Sean Couturier - Travis Konecny
Owen Tippett - Morgan Frost - Matvei Michkov
Tyson Foerster - Noah Cates - Bobby Brink
Scott Laughton - Ryan Poehling - Garnet Hathaway
Cam York - Travis Sanheim
Emil Andrae - Rasmus Ristolainen
Nick Seeler - Helge Grans
Aleksei Kolosov
Nashville Predators
It would be an understatement to say the Predators' start to the season has been underwhelming. With the additions of Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault, Nashville is a more talented team on paper than before. But they haven't been able to put all of the pieces together. They are at the bottom of the league in scoring, sitting 30th at 2.36 goals per game.
It's no surprise to see Filip Forsberg on the top of the leaderboard amongst his teammates. Forsberg is tied for the team lead in goals (17) with Roman Josi. He is the closest to hitting the double-digit goal mark with nine so far on the season. Stamkos has 11 points in 22 games, while Marchessault has 12.
Juuse Saros has continued to handle the bulk of the work for the Predators. Despite the lack of goal support, Saros is holding his own with a 2.57 GAA and a .915 SV%. But because of Nashville's struggles, he only has six wins in 18 games played. Saros can steal a game for his team, though.
Predators Projected Roster
Filip Forsberg - Ryan O'Reilly - Gustav Nyquist
Steven Stamkos - Tommy Novak - Jonathan Marchessault
Mark Jankowski - Fedor Svechkov - Luke Evangelista
Zachary L'Hereux - Colton Sissons - Cole Smith
Roman Josi - Alexandre Carrier
Brady Skej - Nick Blankenburg
Adam Wilsby - Luke Schenn
Juuse Saros
When, Where, and How to Watch
Time: 8:00 PM
Where: Bridgestone Arena
Watch: NBCSP+
Radio: 93.3 WMMR
Live Stream: FuboTv
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