After a last-minute loss on Monday night on Long Island, the Philadelphia Flyers (3-2-0) head to TD Garden to take on the Boston Bruins (1-2-1).
This is the second time these teams have faced off this preseason as the Flyers defeated Boston 3-2 on Saturday thanks to Matvei Michkov’s two goals, including the overtime winner.
The Flyers and Bruins will both be icing NHL-heavy lineups tonight, so this game will be a good litmus test to see where the regulars’ games are at before October 11th’s season opener in Vancouver.
“This is going to be our game where most of our [regular] guys play,” said head coach John Tortorella earlier Tuesday. “A lot of them are in there, some of the guys who played last night are not. But this is a game – and Boston’s going to be dressing their [NHL] lineup, which I’m happy about – so this is a game, Ers [Sam Ersson] will get it and most of our guys will be playing.”
Among the players that aren’t roster locks that will earn warranted extra looks tonight are forward Jett Luchanko and defenseman Oliver Bonk.
Luchanko has massively impressed both fans and the organization alike with his speed and physicality through Training Camp and the preseason, and he is certainly knocking on the door for at least a 9-game NHL trial before either staying with the team or being sent back to OHL Guelph.
“He’s had a good camp,” said Tortorella. “The guys that continue to play and get their games are guys that deserve them. I’m not sure where he falls in these next [games] – I’m not sure if he’ll be playing Thursday, I’m just not looking that far ahead with some of the guys – but what he’s getting is what he deserves.”
Tortorella was asked about him again later on and said, “There are all things we’re looking at there with him. It’s not just a stat of numbers that keeps him in mind. There are so many other things that he’s brought to us here already just with his speed up the middle of the ice. His awareness away from the puck, he’s very mature in that aspect as far as a 200-foot game. He’s killed some penalties. He’s done some really good things, and does it go into goals and assists? Sometimes it doesn’t but there’s still really good plays he’s made. So we’ll continue to evaluate and see where we go. We haven’t gone into what that roster’s going to be, but he’s still in the picture for sure.”
Bonk has been impressive as well but seems destined to return to OHL London, but going back to Tortorella’s earlier comments, Bonk deserved another opportunity tonight.
“Bright, bright future. Smart player. Plays too slow,” said Tortorella. “We’ve got to play quick. It’s what we’re trying to do. I think there’s a little bit of a habit with his game and we’re trying to work with him [to] play faster. I think when you become a really good junior [player] and you’re in the juniors, the game’s easy for you and [he] plays a ton of minutes there so you almost pace yourself a little bit. My biggest thing with him is I want to see him close people out quicker, I want to see the overall intensity and speed of his game grow, but I think he’s got a tremendous future. But there’s some work to be done there. 19-year-old defenseman, it’s to be expected.”
When: 7:00pm ET
Where: TD Garden, Boston, MA
Broadcast Info: PhiladelphiaFlyers.com, 97.5 The Fanatic
Last Game PHI: 9/30/24, 4-3 L at NY Islanders
Last Game BOS: 9/28/24, 3-2 OTL at Philadelphia
PHI Projected Lineup
#71 Tyson Foerster – #14 Sean Couturier – #11 Travis Konecny
#74 Owen Tippett – #48 Morgan Frost – #39 Matvei Michkov
#90 Anthony Richard – #17 Jett Luchanko – #10 Bobby Brink
#73 Elliot Desnoyers – #78 Jacob Gaucher – #19 Garnet Hathaway
#8 Cam York – #6 Travis Sanheim
#24 Nick Seeler – #9 Jamie Drysdale
#41 Hunter McDonald – #59 Oliver Bonk
#33 Sam Ersson
(#40 Cal Petersen)
BOS Projected Lineup
#18 Pavel Zacha – #28 Elias Lindholm – #88 David Pastrňák
#63 Brad Marchand – #13 Charlie Coyle – #39 Morgan Geekie
#11 Trent Frederic – #90 Tyler Johnson – #55 Justin Brazeau
#19 John Beecher – #47 Mark Kastelic – #45 Cole Koepke
#27 Hampus Lindholm – #73 Charlie McAvoy
#6 Mason Lohrei – #25 Brandon Carlo
#91 Nikita Zadorov – #52 Andrew Peeke
#30 Brandon Bussi
(#80 Michael DiPietro)
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