The Flyers will go for their third straight victory and fourth in their last five with a Saturday afternoon matinee. They will face the Bruins for the second time in less than a week.
Sam Ersson showed off what he means to this team in a shutout victory against Boston a few days ago. It wasn't the prettiest of games for either side, but the Flyers got the only goal that mattered to come away with the win.
Fresh off another close victory against the Blues, Philadelphia wants to string another strong game together.
Philadelphia Flyers
A key factor to the Flyers' recent win streak has been their commitment to team defense. They have been more than willing to step in front of shots for their goaltender. Look at Nick Seeler as the leader in that department. Against the Blues, he took a shot off the hand and appeared stung for a bit. But he continued on like the warrior he has been for this team. Philadelphia has blocked 52 shots in their last two games.
While the defensive side of the game has gotten better, the offensive side needs to pick things up. Teams aren't always going to win 1-0 or 2-1 games in this league. Especially not with the offensive firepower that a team like Boston has. So finding a way to capitalize on scoring chances is a must for the Flyers if they want to keep things rolling. And that includes finding a way to get the power play going again. After a rather solid start to the season, the Flyers have not scored on the man advantage in three straight.
With a tough schedule coming up, Ersson is expected to be in goal for a majority of the games. However, the Flyers need to find a balance between riding his hot play and not burning him out. Aleksei Kolosov will have to get another look at some point as the team needs to see what he can do in this league. After Boston, the Flyers will face Carolina, Tampa Bay, and Florida.
Flyers Projected Roster
Travis Konecny - Sean Couturier - Matvei Michkov
Owen Tippett - Morgan Frost - Tyson Foerster
Joel Farabee - Scott Laughton - Bobby Brink
Noah Cates - Ryan Poehling - Garnet Hathaway
Travis Sanheim - Rasmus Ristolainen
Nick Seeler - Jamie Drysdale
Emil Andrae - Erik Johnson
Sam Ersson
Boston Bruins
While you can never count this team out, it has not been a good start to the season for the Bruins. They've dropped four of their last five games and are coming off a rather uncompetitive 8-2 loss to the Hurricanes. Carolina scored four goals in the first en route to the victory. There is plenty of time left in the season, but this is not a spot the Bruins want to be in.
After failing to register a point against the Flyers, David Pastrnak was back on the board with two assists to the loss to the Hurricanes. He still leads the Bruins in goals (6) and points (10). Philadelphia has held him off the scoresheet in their last two meetings. It won't be easy to do that again as he has 18 points in their last 10 matchups.
After seeing Joonas Korpisalo in the last game, the Flyers are expected to face Jeremy Swayman. The latter was in net against the Hurricanes, allowing six of the eight goals. He was pulled in the second period of that game. His numbers have ballooned a bit with that outing as Swayman has a 3.57 GAA and a .884 SV%.
Bruins Projected Roster
John Beecher - Pavel Zacha - David Pastrnak
Brad Marchand - Elias Lindholm - Mark Kastelic
Max Jones - Charlie Coyle - Cole Koepke
Trent Frederic - Matthew Poitras - Justin Brazeau
Mason Lohrei - Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm - Brandon Carlo
Nikita Zadorov - Andrew Peeke
Jeremy Swayman
When, Where, and How to Watch
Time: 1:00 PM
Where: Wells Fargo Center
Watch: NBCSP
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Live Stream: FuboTv
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