After a devastating 1-6-0 homestand, the Philadelphia Flyers (28-32-8) begin a five-game road trip on Monday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning (38-23-5).
The Flyers are coming off a crushing 5-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday. It marked the fifth time in those six home losses that Philadelphia lost by three or more goals. Sam Ersson was on the hook for the loss with 25 saves on 30 shots while Pyotr Kochetkov posted a 26-save shutout at the other end. Former Flyer Shayne Gostisbehere racked up his 300th NHL assist in the contest for Carolina.
“Home or away, it doesn’t matter,” said head coach John Tortorella on Monday morning. “We’re going to try and get ready for another game, try to be the best we can be.”
When: 3/17/2025; 7:00pm/ET
Where: Amalie Arena; Tampa, FL
Broadcast Info: NBC Sports Philadelphia; Flyers Radio 24/7
Last Game PHI: 3/15/2025; 5-0 L; vs. Carolina Hurricanes
Last Game TBL: 3/15/2025; 6-2 W; at Boston Bruins
Philadelphia Flyers
The Flyers find themselves 8 points out of the playoffs behind the New York Rangers and just 6 points ahead of the Buffalo Sabres for dead last in the Eastern Conference with 14 games remaining on their schedule. A top pick seems much more likely than a postseason berth at the rate they’re playing, but the Flyers need to put their struggles behind them regardless.
Across their seven-game stay at Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia went a putrid 0-for-17 on the power play while their penalty kill operated at just a 64.7% success rate. Only Bobby Brink and Jamie Drysdale found the back of the net on multiple occasions over their homestand, and Ersson and Ivan Fedotov combined for a measly .842 save percentage. Fedotov will start tonight after backing up the last two games. His last appearance saw him stop 19 of 23 shots in a 4-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators on March 11th.
Tale of the Tape
The Flyers did win in Tampa Bay back on November 7th in a shootout. Fedotov picked up his first NHL win as he made 22 saves on 23 shots before going 2-for-2 in the shootout in a 2-1 win. Owen Tippett scored in regulation and the shootout winner, and Travis Konecny also scored in the shootout.
The Flyers’ lone win on their homestand also came against the Lightning this past Thursday in a 4-3 shootout effort. Brink led the way with two goals and an assist while Tippett and Matvei Michkov scored in the shootout. Ersson stopped 17 Tampa Bay shots plus another four in the shootout to secure the victory.
Regardless of tonight’s outcome, the Flyers have clinched the season series over the Lightning for the first time since 2015-16. If they manage to pull off another win tonight, it would only be the third time ever that the Flyers sweep the Lightning in a season (1994-95, 2009-10).
Player to Watch
Travis Konecny is in one of the worst slumps of his career right now. He hasn’t scored a goal since February 8th and has just four assists in 11 games since returning from the 4 Nations Face-Off. However, Konecny does have 7 goals and 4 assists in 20 career matchups against Tampa Bay and has been knocking on the door of putting one in the back of the net. Hopefully he can end his drought tonight and gain some more confidence back.
Projected Lineup: Philadelphia Flyers
#71 Tyson Foerster – #27 Noah Cates – #11 Travis Konecny
#74 Owen Tippett – #14 Sean Couturier – #39 Matvei Michkov
#15 Olle Lycksell – #25 Ryan Poehling – #10 Bobby Brink
#44 Nicolas Deslauriers – #18 Rodrigo Ābols – #22 Jakob Pelletier
#8 Cam York – #6 Travis Sanheim
#24 Nick Seeler – #9 Jamie Drysdale
#5 Egor Zamula – #36 Emil Andrae
#82 Ivan Fedotov
(#33 Sam Ersson)
Projected Lineup: Tampa Bay Lightning
#38 Brandon Hagel – #71 Anthony Cirelli – #86 Nikita Kucherov
#59 Jake Guentzel – #21 Brayden Point – #37 Yanni Gourde
#22 Oliver Bjorkstrand – #20 Nick Paul – #93 Gage Goncalves
#28 Zemgus Girgensons – #11 Luke Glendening
#77 Victor Hedman – #90 J.J. Moser
#27 Ryan McDonagh – #81 Erik Černák
#78 Emil Lilleberg – #48 Nick Perbix
#43 Darren Raddysh
#88 Andrei Vasilevskiy
(#31 Jonas Johansson)
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