After a fantastic start to the 2022-23 season on Thursday with a 5-2 thrashing of the New Jersey Devils, the Philadelphia Flyers will look to keep things trending in the right direction tonight against the visiting Vancouver Canucks.
Wade Allison kicked off the scoring for Philadelphia last game, and the Flyers were led by two goals each from Travis Konecny and Morgan Frost while Carter Hart stopped 35 of 37 shots sent his way as the Flyers made easy work of their Turnpike rivals.
The Flyers will be missing a few key contributors again tonight, as forwards Cam Atkinson and Owen Tippett and defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen are all out due to injury. All three players are current listed as day-to-day, and only Tippett suited up out of the trio on Thursday but left the game after a hard collision with New Jersey’s Ondřej Palát.
Vancouver rolls into town after an opening night loss on the road against the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night. Elias Pettersson, J.T. Miller, and rookie Andrei Kuzmenko scored for Vancouver, but Thatcher Demko only made 20 of 24 saves and the Canucks squandered a 3-0 lead as Connor McDavid’s hat trick paced the Oilers in a 6-3 win.
While the Flyers certainly looked like the tough and aggressive team on Thursday that head coach John Tortorella wants them to be, the Canucks will serve as a real test for Philadelphia, and the Flyers will have to show their mettle against a Vancouver team with plenty of star power and playoff aspirations this season.
Last Game PHI: 10/13/22, 5-2 W vs. New Jersey
Last Game VAN: 10/12/22, 5-3 L at Edmonton
When: 4:00pm ET
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA
PHI Goalie: Carter Hart (1-0-0, .946 SV%, 2.00 GAA, 0 SO)
VAN Goalie: Thatcher Demko (0-1-0, .833 SV%, 4.13 GAA, 0 SO)
PHI Projected Lineup
#21 Scott Laughton – #13 Kevin Hayes – #11 Travis Konecny
#25 James van Riemsdyk – #48 Morgan Frost- #58 Tanner Laczynski
#86 Joel Farabee – #49 Noah Cates – #57 Wade Allison
#44 Nicolas Deslauriers – #59 Jackson Cates – #62 Olle Lycksell
#9 Ivan Provorov – #77 Tony DeAngelo
#6 Travis Sanheim – #61 Justin Braun
#24 Nick Seeler – #54 Egor Zamula
#79 Carter Hart
#33 Samuel Ersson
VAN Projected Lineup
#70 Tanner Pearson – #9 J.T. Miller – #6 Brock Boeser
#96 Andrei Kuzmenko – #40 Elias Pettersson – #21 Nils Höglander
#92 Vasily Podkolzin – #53 Bo Horvat – #8 Conor Garland
#81 Dakota Joshua – #88 Nils Aman – #20 Curtis Lazar
#43 Quinn Hughes – #2 Luke Schenn
#23 Oliver Ekman-Larsson – #5 Tucker Poolman
#61 Riley Stillman – #44 Kyle Burroughs
#35 Thatcher Demko
#30 Spencer Martin
PHI Injuries: Cam Atkinson (lower-body), Rasmus Ristolainen (undisclosed), Owen Tippett (upper-body), Sean Couturier (upper-body), Felix Sandström (lower-body), Patrick Brown (back), Bobby Brink (hip), Ryan Ellis (lower-body), Artem Anisimov (PTO, lower-body)
VAN Injuries: Travis Dermott (concussion), Ilya Mikheyev (undisclosed), Tyler Myers (undisclosed)
News and Notes
– This is the 128th all-time meeting between the Flyers and Canucks since Vancouver joined the league in 1970. The Flyers own a 77-35-2-13 advantage in the series.
– The season series last year was split 1-1, as the Canucks defeated the Flyers at Wells Fargo Center 5-4 in a shootout exactly one year ago, while Philadelphia returned the favor at Rogers Arena 2-1 on October 28th.
– In the last calendar year, seven Flyers who were on the roster in the last home matchup against Vancouver have since left the team (Keith Yandle, Derick Brassard, Oskar Lindblom, Claude Giroux, Martin Jones, Nate Thompson, Nicolas Aubé-Kubel).
– Olle Lycksell is making his NHL debut today as the Flyers’ 12th forward. Lycksell was impressive in Rookie Camp and the preseason and will have a shot to impress John Tortorella and the Flyers’ brass today.
– Should the Flyers win tonight, Tortorella will have won his first two games with a new team for the first time in his coaching career. He never previously accomplished that feat with the New York Rangers, Tampa Bay Lightning, or Columbus Blue Jackets.
Broadcast Info: TV – NBC Sports Philadelphia, Radio – 97.5 The Fanatic
Music City Hockey Trip
Take a three day vacation to Nashville with Philly Sports Trips this October! The package includes direct flights, a three night stay at the Cambria Hotel Nashville Downtown, an all-inclusive tailgate, and tickets to the Flyers Predators game. $100 cash for anyone who shows proof they went to the Flyers game on the trip.
