Sure, it may be true that the Philadelphia Flyers may be earning early wins because they’re better conditioned. Maybe we do see that talent begin to win out against us once we reach game 41. However, taking something with a grain of salt doesn’t mean that it’s not real, and the Flyers have actually been pretty darn good to start the season.
The Flyers are Rolling
The Flyers close out their brief home stand undefeated. They kicked things off with a thrashing against the Vancouver Canucks for a 2-0 final, giving Carter Hart his first shutout of the season. You may have missed in in your feed because of the Phillies’ playoff shutout, but the Flyers, while they didn’t score in the 2nd period, outshot the Canucks 22-3.
However, it was fair to question if the Flyers would be able to carry the same energy against Western Conference favorites, Edmonton Oilers. In the end, there weren’t a lot of questions left as the Flyers whooped the Oilers 4-1 last Thursday night.
Staal Down, Kids Up
With the unfortunate reported news that Marc Staal will be out for 4-6 weeks with an upper-body injury, this means that both Emil Andrae and Egor Zamula will play tonight. For now, the Flyers management can keep the kids in until one of Ristolainen or Staal returns, likely being the former as it’s been reported that he has been close to game action.
So far, Egor Zamula has been the better of the two youngsters in the early season. Providing more consistency and scoring his first career goal against Vancouver, it seems like Zamula is ready for a full season at the NHL level. Emil Andrae has shown flashes, but it may be best for him to get top minutes in the AHL to learn the North American ice at an easier pace. Right now, it just feels like he’s not ready for this, but he can change that narrative tonight.
Beating Dallas
This game may be decided on the Flyers power play. Eventually, you are going to get burnt going 1-17 on powerplays to start the season. Their penalty kill has been outstanding over their last 3 games, but you do have to wonder how long a team can go without scoring and not allowing any goals shorthanded. It’s not a long-term strategy for success. To their credit, there are a lot of inexperienced players out there, and the puck movement looks better. However, you’re paid to score goals too, and not just create them.
There is another factor that could swing things in one direction and that will be Samuel Ersson. If the scoring is tight, Ersson is going to have lock in and steal some pucks for the Flyers to walk away with two points. I am an Ersson believer, it is just hard to ignore the fact that his first game will be against Jake Oettinger and the Dallas Stars. This isn’t an easy start.
Backups and Slow Starts
You know who else hasn’t had an easy start? Jason Robertson, who’s yet to score a goal this season, and the Flyers need to keep it that way. Joe Pavelski has had a hot start (thanks for the fantasy points), scoring 2 goals and an assist in his first 3 games. It looks like it will be a dual of the backup goalies with Scott Wedgewood getting the nod tonight. Wedgewood held a .915 SV% and a 2.72 GAA last season and will look to continue to prove why he should be Oettinger’s backup.
When: 8:00pm ET
Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX
Broadcast Info: NBC Sports Philadelphia, 97.5 The Fanatic
Last Game PHI: 10/19/23, 4-1 W vs. Edmonton
Last Game DAL: 10/19/23, 3-2 W at Anaheim
PHI Goalie: Samuel Ersson (2022-23 season, 6-3-0, .899 SV%, 3.07 GAA, 1 SO)
DAL Goalie: Scott Wedgewood (2022-23 season, 9-8-3, .915 SV%, 2.72 GAA, 1 SO)
PHI Projected Lineup
#11 Travis Konecny – #21 Scott Laughton – #71 Tyson Foerster
#74 Owen Tippett – #14 Sean Couturier– #89 Cam Atkinson
#86 Joel Farabee – #27 Noah Cates – #10 Bobby Brink
#44 Nicolas Deslauriers – #25 Ryan Poehling – #19 Garnet Hathaway
#8 Cam York – #6 Travis Sanheim
#5 Egor Zamula – #26 Sean Walker
#36 Emil Andrae – #24 Nick Seeler
#33 Samuel Ersson
#32 Felix Sandström
Scratches: #48 Morgan Frost, #79 Carter Hart
Injuries: #18 Marc Staal, #55 Rasmus Ristolainen
DAL Projected Lineup
#21 Jason Robertson– #24 Roope Hintz – #8 Joe Pavelski
#14 Jamie Benn – #53 Wyatt Johnston– #63 Evgenii Dadonov
#27 Mason Marchment – #95 Matt Duchene – #91 Tyler Seguin
#15 Craig Smith – #12 Radek Faksa – #10 Ty Dellandrea
#20 Ryan Suter – #4 Miro Heiskanen
#23 Esa Lindell – #5 Nils Lundkvist
#55 Thomas Harley – #2 Jani Hakanpää
#41 Scott Wedgewood
#29 Jake Oettinger
Scratches: #44 Joel Hanley, #18 Sam Steel
Injuries: None
News and Notes
– The Flyers have an opportunity to take advantage of a backup goaltender on the power play. Starting the season 1-17 on the power play, the Flyers will need to cash in tonight.
– Morgan Frost will be scratched for a third game in a row, and regardless on where you stand on him, you do have to wonder where this all ultimately leads to.
– The Flyers’ road record against Dallas is 5-11-3-1.
– The last time the Flyers beat Dallas on the road was October 18th, 2014, 6-5 in overtime in light of a historically bad start. Claude Giroux had the game-winning goal.
– Furthermore, last time the Flyers beat Dallas at all was at home in January of 2019, with a 2-1 final.
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