After a disappointing 6-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils in the 2024 Stadium Series on Saturday at MetLife Stadium, the Flyers continue their trek through late-February as they look to end a two-game losing skid against Connor Bedard and the struggling Chicago Blackhawks.
Philadelphia will look to get back in the winning column with a victory in the Windy City this evening. A win tonight would make it 30 wins for the Flyers as they are two wins shy of matching the 2022-23 Flyers with 31 victories.
Scouting the Blackhawks
This season for Chicago has been one of the worst in their illustrious 98-year history. The days of Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith and Corey Crawford are over and it’s time to look towards the future.
Although they took Connor Bedard with the first overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, Bedard missed the last few weeks with a broken jaw. Since his return on Feb. 15 against the Penguins, Bedard has potted six points in his last three games. Bedard has recorded multiple points in his last two games, most recently a three-point performance on Monday night in a 6-3 loss to the Hurricanes.
Currently, the Blackhawks sit last in the entire league as injuries have riddled their season.
Forward Taylor Hall tore his right ACL and underwent season-ending surgery on Nov. 30. Notable players like Andreas Athanasiou, Anthony Beauvillier, Connor Murphy and Nikita Zaitsev have all missed significant time with the team due to injuries of their own.
Chicago’s power play, just like their standing, ranks last in the NHL at 13.1%. It has allowed six shorthanded goals, which is a stat the Flyers need to understand going into this evening’s contest.
On the other side, the Blackhawks’ penalty kill ranks 23rd at a 77.5%. They have potted three shorthanded goals this season coming from Nick Foligno, Boris Katchouk and Taylor Raddysh.
“Philadelphia Freedom”
The Flyers’ season thus far has come as a shock to tons of hockey fans. No one saw this Flyers team in third place in the Metropolitan division in late-February.
A big portion of success to this season has been the Philadelphia penalty kill, or “power kill”.
Leaguewide, the Flyers’ PK ranks second at 86.4%, only behind the Los Angeles Kings. Philadelphia leads the entire league with their 13 shorthanded goals; five by Travis Konecny, three by Ryan Poehling, two by Sean Walker, and Scott Laughton, Travis Sanheim, and Garnet Hathaway with a goal each.
Although they have a very good penalty killing unit, the Flyers’ power play has struggled all season. Ranking 31st, the power play sits at 13.3%, scoring 24 goals on 180 attempts. They’ve also allowed three shorthanded goals this year.
Flyer to Watch
Owen Tippett potted a pair of goals in Saturday’s game in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets one, or maybe two, this evening. Tippett is currently riding a three-game point streak totaling to four points. On the season, Tippett has 21 goals and 14 assists for 35 points, all while missing a handful of games due to injury.
Keys to Success
Although the Blackhawks sit dead-last in the NHL, don’t count them out. The Flyers cannot be taking penalties back-and-forth. The less penalties, the better chance of earning the two points. Philadelphia needs to play some clean hockey this evening, staying out of the penalty box as much as possible.
PHI Record: 29-20-7, 65 pts, 3rd in Metropolitan
CHI Record: 15-38-3, 33 pts, 8th in Central
When: 7:30pm ET
Where: United Center, Chicago, IL
Broadcast Info: TNT, Max, 97.5 The Fanatic
Last Game PHI: 2/17/24, 6-3 L at New Jersey
Last Game CHI: 2/13/24, 6-3 L at Carolina
PHI Goalie: Samuel Ersson (15-10-4, .898 SV%, 2.64 GAA, 3 SO)
CHI Goalie: Arvid Söderblom (2-16-1, .875 SV%, 4.01 GAA, 0 SO)
PHI Projected Lineup
#74 Owen Tippett – #14 Sean Couturier – #89 Cam Atkinson
#86 Joel Farabee – #48 Morgan Frost – #11 Travis Konecny
#25 Ryan Poehling – #27 Noah Cates – #19 Garnet Hathaway
#44 Nicolas Deslauriers – #21 Scott Laughton – #62 Olle Lycksell
#8 Cam York – #9 Jamie Drysdale
#24 Nick Seeler – #26 Sean Walker
#5 Egor Zamula – #6 Travis Sanheim
#33 Samuel Ersson
#40 Cal Petersen
Scratches: None
Injuries: #55 Rasmus Ristolainen, #71 Tyson Foerster
CHI Projected Lineup
#17 Nick Foligno – #98 Connor Bedard – #23 Philipp Kurashev
#91 Anthony Beauvillier – #16 Jason Dickinson – #15 Joey Anderson
#90 Tyler Johnson – #52 Reese Johnson – #11 Taylor Raddysh
#43 Colin Blackwell – #58 MacKenzie Entwistle – #8 Ryan Donato
#72 Alex Vlasic – #4 Seth Jones
#55 Kevin Korchinski – #24 Jaycob Megna
#25 Jarred Tinordi – #41 Isaak Phillips
#40 Arvid Söderblom
#34 Petr Mrázek
Scratches: #13 Zach Sanford, #14 Boris Katchouk, #39 Luke Philp, #46 Louis Crevier, #70 Cole Guttman
Injuries: #5 Connor Murphy, #22 Nikita Zaitsev, #71 Taylor Hall, #89 Andreas Athanasiou
News and Notes
– The Flyers have won seven of the last ten meetings with the Blackhawks.
– Betting Odds: Flyers -238 ML, Blackhawks +195 ML, O/U 6 Goals.
– All-time, the Flyers are 67-49 against Chicago with 30 ties and no overtime losses.
– Samuel Ersson earns his fourth consecutive start in search of his 16th win of the season.
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