The Philadelphia Flyers (5-8-2) host the San Jose Sharks at 7pm in the Wells Fargo Center.
On the road, the Flyers finished with a 1-1-1 record. Ryan Poehling did not join the team on the road trip, and John Tortorella scratched Matvei Michkov against the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers.
Aleksei Kolosov, Ivan Fedotov, and Sam Ersson all started games on the road trip. Kolosov lost in regulation against the Carolina Panthers, Fedotov secured his first NHL win against the Lightning, and Ersson dropped the result to the Panthers in an extended shootout. Along with the goaltender shuffling on the road trip, Philadelphia included an emergency backup in Tampa Bay. Kolosov left the ice in the morning skate on November 7th, meaning Kyle Konin backed up Fedotov.
All these things happened, yet the Flyers ended the road trip with points in consecutive games for the second time this season. Each opponent on the road trip represented the better half of the NHL. Tonight, Tortorella deploys a healthier, more trusted lineup to gain more points in the NHL Metropolitan Division.
“I’m excited to see how our team’s going to respond; being ready to play after a long road trip. We’re beginning to find ourselves. I’m hoping we can do it another night.” – John Tortorella; 11/11/2024
A step ahead of the Sharks in the league standings, Philadelphia could begin to break out of the bottom third of the NHL with a win. The Flyers rank 25th in scoring (38), 28th in goals allowed (54), 18th on the powerplay (18.4%), and 3rd on the penalty kill (89.8%). Comparably, San Jose ranks 30th in scoring (37), 29th in goals allowed (55), 22nd on the powerplay (16.3%), and 14th on the penalty kill (82.3%).
When: 11/11/2024; 7:00pm ET
Where: Wells Fargo Center; Philadelphia, PA
Broadcast Info: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Last Game PHI: 11/9; 4-3 OTL; at Florida Panthers
Last Game SJS: 11/10; 1-0 W; at New Jersey Devils
Philadelphia Flyers
Ersson will start. Kolosov did return to the ice this morning, but Fedotov will back up Ersson. In nine starts, Ersson is 4-2-2, including a shutout win, six quality starts, a 2.69GAA, and a 90.2%SV.
Michkov and Poehling return to the lineup. Anthony Richard remains in the lineup, too. Morgan Frost and Nicolas Deslauriers are healthy scratches. Michkov returns after watching the last two games from the press box, and Poehling rejoins Philadelphia after not traveling on the road trip due to personal reasons.
Richard scored his first goal with the Flyers in Florida. Initially, Philadelphia recalled Richard when Poehling was not traveling on the road trip. He played well enough to earn another look from Tortorella, which makes Deslauriers a scratch.
Frost is struggling to get going this season. On the powerplay, Frost was a contributing playmaker against the Calgary Flames and the Edmonton Oilers but has not remained consistent. A familiar story between Frost and Tortorella, a healthy scratch could go a long way for the length of the season in challenging Frost to get back on track.
“I’m not coaching him [Frost] like I did the past two years. I don’t think he deserves that. He hasn’t played well enough.” – John Tortorella; 11/11/2024
Jamie Drysdale is out of the lineup, too. He is not a healthy scratch. Drysdale (upper body) is on injured reserve. Erik Johnson will enter the lineup.
Emil Andrae earned a lot of trust from Tortorella lately. He joined Travis Sanheim in the third period against the Panthers, and Tortorella could find comfort in deploying him while Drysdale heals. Andrae played 19:55 in Florida, took three shots, and gave the puck away twice but countered with three hits and a shot block.
“We threw him [Andrae] on one of the powerplays there [at Florida Panthers], and he made plays that we haven’t seen yet this year. The ice time he’s getting; he deserves. The ice time other people are getting; they deserve.” – John Tortorella; 11/11/2024
Joel Farabee is buzzing lately. When he contributes a point, he tends to go on a streak of a couple of games where his name appears on the stat sheet. He played 19:22 against the Panthers, scored on five shots, generated almost a handful of high-danger scoring chances, and finished 50% in the faceoff circle.
Projected Lineup: Philadelphia Flyers
#74 Owen Tippett – #14 Sean Couturier – #11 Travis Konecny
#86 Joel Farabee – #21 Scott Laughton – #10 Bobby Brink
#90 Anthony Richard – #25 Ryan Poehling – #39 Matvei Michkov
#71 Tyson Foerster – #27 Noah Cates – #19 Garnet Hathaway
#36 Emil Andrae – #6 Travis Sanheim
#24 Nick Seeler – #55 Rasmus Ristolainen
#5 Egor Zamula – #77 Erik Johnson
#33 Sam Ersson
(#82 Ivan Fedotov)
Projected Lineup: San Jose Sharks
#64 Mikael Granlund – #71 Macklin Celebrini – #73 Tyler Toffoli
#72 William Eklund – #21 Alex Wennberg – #20 Fabian Zetterlund
#23 Barclay Goodrow – #2 Will Smith – #11 Luke Kunin
#91 Carl Grundström – #7 Nico Sturm – #53 Ty Dellandrea
#3 Henry Thrun – #4 Cody Ceci
#38 Mario Ferraro – #37 Timothy Liljegren
#26 Jack Thompson – #84 Jan Rutta
#41 Vitek Vanecek
(#29 Mackenzie Blackwood)
