Yeah, it’s real bad, but it’s fair to say this is something that was expected. We didn’t expect the Flyers to drive play the way they have and score at 5v5.
We didn’t foresee the PK unit turn into a power kill unit either, scoring 4 shorthanded goals over their last 2 games. However, the power play? We expected it to stink, and it’s stinky. The Flyers’ power play is currently 30th in the league, scoring at a 5.6% rate, compared to the Golden Knights at 27.3%, ranked 9th in the league. Fortunately, the Flyers’ penalty kill has been much of a success, with an early season ranking of 12th in the league at an 82.3% success rate. The bad news? Vegas has been better, holding an 88.9% success rate, ranked 9th in the NHL.
Ristolainen Set Back, Kids Continue to Play
It was reported this afternoon that Rasmus Ristonlainen had a set back with his upper-body injury. After hearing he was making good progress, it was a bit of a red flag for some viewers who noticed he didn’t play in Saturday’s game. At this time, there is no timetable for his return.
For now, Egor Zamula and Emil Andrae stay. Some speculated that someone may get sent down when the Flyers return home, but with the unexpected news of Ristolainen, the Flyers will need to play both for now for the forseeable future. The opponents are not getting any easier, but it’s nevertheless another opportunity for Emil Andrae to make some statements. The Flyers will also need Egor to continue his good work, earning 3 points (1g, 2a) in his first 3 games.
Beating Vegas
Honestly, the gameplan very well may turn into Carter Hart stealing a game for them. The Golden Knights are just better, across the board. Edmonton has had a slow start, and the Flyers were able to score 5 goals against Dallas, but I cannot see that happening again tonight. Hart is going to have to provide some relief for the team and stop some tough shots. He definitely has the ability to, and his start doesn’t give me any pause that he couldn’t’ve do that tonight. Hart is 3-1-0 to start the year, with a .929 SV% (16th in the NHL) and a 2.01 GAA (13th in the NHL).
Travis Konecny has had a red-hot start, potting 5 goals and 2 assists in his first 5 games. The Flyers will need their top winger to continue to push the pace against the defending Stanley Cup champions. Scott Laughton has had a sneaky good start, earning 4 points (all assists) over 5 games. It would be nice to see him score his first tonight, but I love that duo of Bobby Brink and Joel Farabee. These two have had a lot of success together and if they can emulate more of that tonight, the Flyers may be in good shape.
PHI Record: 3-1-1, 7 pts, 1st in Metropolitan
VGK Record: 6-0-0. 12 pts, 1st in Pacific
When: 11:00pm ET
Where: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, NV
Broadcast Info: ESPN, 97.5 The Fanatic
Last Game PHI: 10/21/23, 6-5 L at Dallas
Last Game VGK: 10/21/23, 5-3 W at Chicago
PHI Goalie: Carter Hart (3-1-0, .929 SV%, 2.01 GAA, 1 SO)
VGK Goalie: Logan Thompson (2-0-0, .935 SV%, 2.00 GAA, 0 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
#79 Carter Hart
#33 Samuel Ersson
Scratches: #32 Felix Sandström, #48 Morgan Frost
Injuries: #18 Marc Staal (upper-body), #55 Rasmus Ristolainen (undisclosed)
VGK Projected Lineup
#49 Ivan Barbashev– #9 Jack Eichel – #81 Jonathan Marchessault
#21 Brett Howden – #20 Chandler Stephenson– #61 Mark Stone
#43 Paul Cotter – #71 William Karlsson – #22 Michael Amadio
#28 William Carrier – #10 Nicolas Roy – #55 Keegan Kolesar
#3 Brayden McNabb – #27 Shea Theodore
#14 Nicolas Hague – #6 Kaedan Korczak
#23 Alex Martinez – #94 Brayden Pachal
#36 Logan Thompson
#33 Adin Hill
Scratches: #13 Jakub Demek, #16 Pavel Dorofeyev, #17 Ben Hutton
Injuries: #2 Zach Whitecloud (upper-body), #7 Alex Pietrangelo (upper-body)
News and Notes
– The Flyers are 5-4-1 against the Vegas Golden Knights all time, outscoring them 36-25.
– The last time the Flyers played Vegas was March 14th, 2023, with the visitors winning 5-3 at the Wells Fargo Center.
– Philadelphia is 3-1-1 all-time at T-Mobile Arena. Only the Boston Bruins have a better winning percentage at Vegas.
– Carter Hart will surpass Pelle Lindbergh for 7th outright in franchise history in goalie wins with a victory tonight. Both are tied at 87 wins apiece.
– Sean Couturier leads all active Flyers with 9 points against the Golden Knights all-time. Travis Konecny is right behind him with 8 points in 9 games against Vegas.
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