The Philadelphia Flyers preseason has been rough, to be honest.
They have scored 1 goal for and have been scored on 8 times. 6 of those goals came from the New Jersey Devils in last Friday night’s 6-0 defeat. Despite tightening up against the New York Islanders in Wednesday night’s game, they still could not score two or more goals. Unfortunately for the Flyers, they are now going to have to find a way to do this versus the Boston Bruins.
An explanation for the last 2 games
To be fair, the Flyers were icing a lot of kids who were going up not just against established NHLers, but established AHLers as well, and their roster simply did not. Cal Petersen has also not looked too sharp, giving up 4 goals in the first 5 minutes of their first preseason game against the Devils.
It does not get any easier to score goals when facing a stingy Islanders team. Sure, they are not what they used to be, and that 4th line is a lot older than they were then, but it was still a challenge for the Flyers. Add in the fact that John Tortorella’s camp infamously exhausts players, it made sense why the results were as lopsided as they were last Friday, compared to their 2-1 loss on Wednesday. They also just got plain “Goalied” with Ilya Sorokin and Ken Appleby cooking, especially in the 3rd period where the Flyers largely controlled play and outshot New York 12-3.
Glass Half Full
The Flyers DID, however, score a goal on Wednesday night, which was a start. The coaching staff will be looking towards their (albeit, younger) established NHLers to lead the way on offense. I personally hope to see some tangent results from Owen Tippett, Joel Farabee, and Tyson Foerster.
Going 0/3 on the powerplay is the nail in the coffin for me though, and they’ll have to find a way to capitalize on opportunities like those against Boston later tonight. Let’s believe that the young kids will take another step in the right direction, win or lose.
Samuel Ersson will start in net, which is already better than Petersen. The kids will need to step up if they are given a power play opportunity. It would be great to see Egor Zamula get a chance to quarterback a power play. He has the vision and skating ability to make plays. You do wonder if Travis Sanheim gets some power play work as well, who’s historically been snubbed from first power play duties. Either way, we will find out later tonight at TD Garden.
When: 7:00pm ET
Where: TD Garden, Boston, MA
PHI Goalie: Samuel Ersson (2022-23: 6-3-0, .899 SV%, 3.07 GAA, 1 SO w/Philadelphia, 24-17-1, .900 SV%, 2.84 GAA, 1 SO w/AHL Lehigh Valley)
BOS Goalie: Linus Ullmark (2022-23: 40-6-1, .938 SV%, 1.89 GAA, 2 SO w/Boston)
PHI Projected Lineup
#74 Owen Tippett– #48 Morgan Frost – #46 Bobby Brink
#86 Joel Farabee – #73 Elliot Desnoyers – #71 Tyson Foerster
#44 Nicholas Deslaurier – #25 Ryan Poehling – #19 Garnet Hathaway
#81 Jordy Bellerive – #78 Jacob Gaucher – #20 Cooper Marody
#5 Egor Zamula – #6 Travis Sanheim
#98 Victor Mete – #3 Helge Grans
#24 Nick Seeler – #37 Louie Belpedio
#33 Samuel Ersson
#40 Cal Petersen
BOS Projected Lineup
#90 Anthony Richard – #18 Pavel Zacha – #88 David Pastrnak
#10 A.J. Greer– #32 John Farinacci – #94 Jakub Lauko
#72 Brett Harrison – #42 Georgii Merkulov – #49 Alex Chiasson
#6 Mason Lohrei– #73 Charlie McAvoy
#27 Hampus Lindholm– #12 Kevin Shattenkirk
#29 Parker Wotherspoon – #92 Reilly Walsh
#35 Linus Ullmark
#85 Kyle Keyser
News and Notes
– James van Riemsdyk will not play against Philadelphia for the first time since signing with Boston in free agency. He could play in Philadelphia when the Bruins visit on October 2nd.
– After scoring 1 goal in 2 games, the offensively inclined players are going to have to show us what they’re made of as they are facing 2023 Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark, wh0 posted an outrageous 1.89 goals against over 49 regular season games, winning 40 of them.
– Owen Tippett and Travis Sanheim will play their first preseason game tonight
– Despite the fact that Joel Farabee and Tyson Foerster have been a part of some scoring chances, they get paid to finish them, not just create them.
Broadcast Info: TV – NHL Network, Radio – 97.5 The Fanatic
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