Flyers Face Utah Hockey Club for First Time Tonight

It was another lead lost by the Philadelphia Flyers and more undisciplined hockey played by them on Saturday in Boston.

The Flyers played well out of the gate, scoring the first 2 goals and then responding well to Boston’s counter-punch by potting a 3rd goal to go up 3-1 in the 2nd period. The 3rd period was a disaster as Boston recorded 2 goals to tie the game and then eventually take the win in overtime. The Bruins only netted 1 power play goal but had numerous opportunities thanks to undisciplined play by the Flyers. Tonight, they are right back at it in Philadelphia for their first tilt against the Utah Hockey Club (11-11-4) with a chance to play a tighter game and hopefully hold onto a lead this time around.

It has been an okay season for the young, former Arizona Coyotes squad as they got out to a hot start to begin the season but cooled down and now sit at 6th in the Central Division. Utah has won 3 of their last 5 and are coming off a 5-2 win over Buffalo. In their last 7 games they’ve been alternating wins and losses, so here’s to hoping an L is put on their schedule tonight at the Wells Fargo Center.

A Young Utah Squad

It’s no surprise that Clayton Keller leads Utah in points (23). He’s been the Coyotes best player and that’s no different now that Utah reads across the front of his jersey. Utah has a talented young core of Keller (26 years old), Dylan Guenther (21 years old) who leads the team in goals with 10 and Logan Cooley (20 years old). Keller will be a tough task for the Flyers’ defense to contain with his great speed. Keller is in the 96th percentile in skating speed, topping out at 23.17 mph, a little over 2 mph faster than the league average. Keller also scores most of his goals up front so the Flyers will have to be sure to clear the front of the net early and often.

When taking a look at Utah’s leading goal scorer in Dylan Guenther, he can score from anywhere. However when you take a look at his shot location he tends to like one spot the most. Guenther has taken 22 shots from the goalie’s right-side-midrange so far this year, tallying 3 goals. Look for Guenther to continue to find his sweet spot tonight.

Both the Flyers and Utah are two of the youngest teams in the NHL, both feeling they have their guys in Matvei Michkov and Clayton Keller and both trying to figure out their way through a rebuild to ultimately get back to the playoffs. Utah sits 5 points out of the wild card, while the Flyers currently have the same number of standings points as the Lightning (28), who hold the second Wild Card via tie breaker. With still a ton of games to go, a lot can still happen.

Matvei in Rookie Lead

The bright spot in the Flyers’ OT loss in Boston was no doubt Matvei Michkov. Thanks to Michkov, the Flyers shot out to a 2-goal lead. Michkov now sits at 24 points, good enough for first among rookies. Michkov has been all that was advertised so far and will look to keep up his pace tonight against Utah.

Konecny Benched in Boston

Travis Konecny was taken out of the game briefly for concussion protocol in Boston but did return. However, thanks to his reckless interference penalty taken earlier in the game, Tortorella decided to bench Konecny. He did not see the ice in OT. This sprung up a ton of discourse on social media about whether or not he should of played and if the head coach was more worried about sending a message than winning the game. It’s a tough call. He is the Flyers’ best player but Tortorella has preached accountability no matter who you are on the roster. Tonight against Utah, hopefully we can expect a fiery Konecny to put one on the board and play a more disciplined game, leading by example for such a young team.

IR Updates

Sam Ersson and Jamie Drysdale are no longer listed on injured reserve and will both dress tonight. That will be a big boost of this Flyers team after coming off back-to-back crushing losses.

Quick Stats

– The Flyers hold a 59.1% winning percentage all-time against the Arizona Coyotes, now in their inaugural season as the Utah Hockey Club. Their “last meeting” was on 12/7/23 where the Flyers earned the 4-1 victory in Arizona.

– Travis Konecny had 9 points in his last 4 games against the Coyotes with 5 goals.

– In 12 games vs. the Flyers, Clayton Keller has recorded 12 points on 5 goals and 7 assists.

– Sam Ersson had one win in his lone appearance against the Coyotes, with 3 goals allowed in that contest.

– Utah goaltender Karel Vejmelka owns a 2.35 GAA and a .917 SV% this season.

PHI Projected Lineup

#86 Joel Farabee – #14 Sean Couturier – #11 Travis Konecny

#74 Owen Tippett – #48 Morgan Frost – #39 Matvei Michkov

#71 Tyson Foerster – #27 Noah Cates – #10 Bobby Brink

#21 Scott Laughton – #25 Ryan Poehling – #19 Garnet Hathaway

#8 Cam York – #6 Travis Sanheim

#36 Emil Andrae – #55 Rasmus Ristolainen

#24 Nick Seeler – #9 Jamie Drysdale

#33 Sam Ersson

(#35 Aleksei Kolosov)

UTA Projected Lineup

#9 Clayton Keller – #27 Barrett Hayton – #8 Nick Schmaltz

#22 Jack McBain – #92 Logan Cooley – #11 Dylan Guenther

#67 Lawson Crouse – #17 Nick Bjugstad – #63 Matias Maccelli

#15 Alex Kerfoot – #82 Kevin Stenlund – #53 Michael Carcone

#98 Mikhail Sergachev – #2 Olli Määttä

#28 Ian Cole – #7 Michael Kesselring

#4 Juuso Välimäki – #41 Robert Bortuzzo

#33 Jaxson Stauber

(#70 Karel Vejmelka)