The Philadelphia Flyers have a winning record early on this season, which is something fans should be happy about. The team seems to finally have their goaltending woes solved, and Trevor Zegras has been everything the team could have hoped for. The issue is, they are in a crowded and competitive Metropolitan Division, where every team is in striking distance of a playoff spot.
The Flyers have won three of their last five games, two coming against the St. Louis Blues and one being a 6-3 victory over the New Jersey Devils. They do have a tough stretch of games upcoming, including on Wednesday against the Florida Panthers.
But on Black Friday, the Flyers are taking on the New York Islanders. It has always been a tradition for the Flyers to play a home game in Philadelphia on the day after Thanksgiving. However, this year, the Flyers will be on the road for their Black Friday matchup.
Flyers playing Black Friday game on road due to Eagles
The Flyers have hosted a Black Friday game for 19 consecutive seasons since 2005-06 (one didn't happen due to the 2012-13 lockout). That is likely due to the Eagles, the defending Super Bowl champions, are scheduled to play in Philadelphia on Black Friday.
At 3:00 p.m. ET on Nov. 28, the Eagles are set to host the Chicago Bears at Lincoln Financial Field in the NFL's standalone game. This is a huge game now, more so than before the start of the season, as the Eagles and Bears are both 8-3 on the season and in prime position to each earn a playoff spot.
The Eagles haven't had the dominant season like they had last year, but they are still finding ways to win games. But they are coming off of a 24-21 loss to the rival Dallas Cowboys, a game in which they blew a 21-0 lead.
As for the Bears, they are one of the big surprises of the NFL season. The Bears hired arguably the top head coaching candidate in Ben Johnson, and he's gotten the most out of his team. This past week, the Bears defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-28 to secure their eighth win of the season. They are far from an easy matchup for the Eagles on Friday.
Philadelphia sports fans know that the Flyers, Eagles, 76ers, and Phillies all share the same complex, so it likely would have been traffic chaos had the Flyers and Eagles had games in Philadelphia on the same day.
The Flyers are going to try to get the best of the Islanders, who have been equally surprising this season, as they currently sit in third place in the division as of this writing. After this matchup, the Flyers are heading to New Jersey to take on the Devils on Saturday, before returning home for a six-game stretch against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Buffalo Sabres, Colorado Avalanche, San Jose Sharks, Vegas Golden Knights, and Carolina Hurricanes.
We'll see if the Flyers will host a home game again on Black Friday next year. We should get a good idea of that during the summer.