The Philadelphia Flyers look to continue their hot streak tonight as the Nashville Predators come to town.
The last meeting between these two clubs took place in Nashville on December 12th as the Predators (18-14-0) won 3-2 in overtime. The Flyers (18-10-3) will be looking to even the score with a victory tonight at the Wells Fargo Center.
The Flyers are coming off of a huge and dramatic win over the New Jersey Devils in which Owen Tippett finished it off in OT with a beauty of a shot. 3 of the Flyers’ last 4 games have either gone into overtime or the shootout and if the last meeting between these two teams is any indication, we could see bonus hockey once more.
Predators Clawing to Stay in the Race
Nashville has 36 points on the season which has them in 4th place in the Central Division. They are 4 points out of second behind the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars, who are tied at 40 points. They are 5 points behind the Winnipeg Jets for first place. After losing Kyle Connor, it will remain to be seen how long the Jets can hold onto that first place spot with how tough a division the Central is shaping up to be.
The Predators have been on a hot streak of their own recently as they have won 7 of their last 9 games. In their last time out, the Predators were taken care of by Vancouver with a final of 5-2. Nashville will surely want to bounce back big tonight as they try to keep up with their division rivals.
Filip and Roman
It goes without saying but when you talk Nashville, you have to mention Filip Forsberg and one of the better defenders in the league, Roman Josi. The left winger is still leading the way for the Predators with now 36 points on the season, leading the team in goals (16) and assists (20). He has recorded 6 points in his last 5 games with 2 goals and 4 helpers.
On the other end of the ice, Josi has been putting up points as of late with 7 in his last 5 games. These two are the cornerstones of the Predators and are a good bet to get on the score sheet tonight once more.
Juuse Saros
The Nashville netminder has been having a great year as usual. Juuse Saros has 6 wins in his last 7 games and for the season so far has posted a 2.85 GAA and .908 SV%. Taking out his most recent start where he was beaten for 5 goals against a strong Vancouver offense, Saros only let up 9 goals in 6 games; 4 of which he only let up 1 goal. So after being trounced for 5 goals, it’s a good bet that Saros will be ready for this matchup tonight.
Flyers Continue to Ride the Wave
The Flyers no doubt have exceeded expectations, we all know that. Flyers hockey has been incredibly fun to watch. The team bought into what John Tortorella was selling and plays as a strong cohesive group.
Winning 7 of their last 8 games, a majority of the young players on this team have been stepping up, but none more than their backup goalie (in name only) Samuel Ersson.
Answering the Call
With Carter Hart likely out again tonight with an illness, Samuel Ersson will be asked once more to backstop this Flyers team to a victory. After a rough start to the season, Ersson began to find himself again. When Hart first started to feel ill, Ersson was called upon to fill in the void and just keep this team in games.
Well, Ersson is not only keep them in games, but he is winning games for the Flyers.
Deploying this good of a backup goalie has been a fantastic luxury for Keith Jones and Danny Brière to have. Ersson is 8-3-2 on the season with a 2.51 GAA. He has won 7 of his last 8 starts with the 1 loss coming in OT against none other than the Predators. Flyers and Preds fan should be treated to another exciting matchup of goalies tonight with Saros and Ersson.
Scott Laughton
Lost in the hype of this hot streak has been Scott Laughton‘s goal drought. The 29-year-old center has 1 goal in his last 8 games going back to December 2nd against Pittsburgh. When you add in assists, Laughton only has 2 points since. In total so far, Laughts only has 2 goals on the year.
Now, what matters is the team is performing well regardless. However, the veteran Flyer needs to contribute on the scoresheet. Scoring depth is always vital to any team trying to contend and whether it’s Laughton or Cam Atkinson for example, there are some Flyers that need to step up. Hopefully tonight we see Laughton get back on track which would be a great development for this Flyers team.
PHI Record: 18-10-3, 39 pts, 2nd in Metropolitan
NSH Record: 18-14-0, 36 pts, 4th in Central
When: 7:00pm ET
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA
Broadcast Info: NBC Sports Philadelphia, 97.5 The Fanatic
Last Game PHI: 12/19/23, 3-2 OTW at New Jersey
Last Game NSH: 12/19/23, 5-2 L vs. Vancouver
PHI Goalie: Samuel Ersson (8-3-2, .899 SV%, 2.51 GAA, 2 SO)
NSH Goalie: Juuse Saros (14-11-0, .908 SV%, 2.85 GAA, 1 SO)
PHI Projected Lineup
#71 Tyson Foerster – #14 Sean Couturier – #11 Travis Konecny
#74 Owen Tippett – #48 Morgan Frost – #10 Bobby Brink
#86 Joel Farabee – #25 Ryan Poehling – #89 Cam Atkinson
#44 Nicolas Deslauriers – #21 Scott Laughton – #19 Garnet Hathaway
#8 Cam York – #6 Travis Sanheim
#24 Nick Seeler – #26 Sean Walker
#18 Marc Staal – #55 Rasmus Ristolainen
#33 Samuel Ersson
#40 Cal Petersen
Scratches: #5 Egor Zamula, #49 Rhett Gardner
Injuries: #27 Noah Cates, #79 Carter Hart
NSH Projected Lineup
#9 Filip Forsberg – #90 Ryan O’Reilly – #14 Gustav Nyquist
#82 Tommy Novak – #10 Colton Sissons – #77 Luke Evangelista
#13 Yakov Trenin – #75 Juuso Pärssinen – #26 Philip Tomasino
#36 Cole Smith – #47 Michael McCarron – #44 Kiefer Sherwood
#27 Ryan McDonagh – #59 Roman Josi
#3 Jérémy Lauzon – #45 Alexandre Carrier
#2 Luke Schenn – #22 Tyson Barrie
#74 Juuse Saros
#32 Kevin Lankinen
Scratches: #8 Cody Glass, #57 Dante Fabbro
News and Notes
– The Flyers are listed as the betting favorites at -114 while Predators are listed at -105. The O/U is at 5.5 goals, but the under has hit in the last 3 matchups.
– Nashville has won 2 of their last 3 games against the Flyers since last season.
– The Flyers have not lost at home since November 30th, a span of 4 home games. They also have not lost in regulation in any game since November 28th, a span of 10 games.
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