Going back to Tuesday for a minute, The Philadelphia Flyers take their first win against their divisional rivals, the Columbus Blue Jackets, to a 5-3 score, with Travis Konency continuing to rack up his primary points but this time in the form of 2 goals. The first one was nice:
But this…
I mean come on, that’s a great hockey goal. Morgan Frost continues his offensive shred potting a goal himself, and in great fashion. After receiving a pass at the top of the left circle, Frost recognized the space they had and walked into a beautiful wrist shot:
We see so many playmakers, particularly on the Flyers, who force the extra pass, and Morgan Frost is essentially that guy. But here, he knew his role, ripping a shot far side from the left dot. Great to see him begin to net a few goals after making stronger efforts to score himself.
Well, now we have to find a way to do that again, but this time against the Toronto Maple Leafs, who are 5th in the league standings. Just to make sure we really understand the gap in talent here, the Columbus Blue Jackets are 30th in the league.
The Flyers got their revenge over the Blue Jackets, but the Leafs also got revenge, winning 4-1 over the Tampa Bay Lightning. We simply live in different worlds.
This is a type of game where you cannot afford to take penalties or miss opportunities on the powerplay. It’s unlikely the Flyers can beat them on 5v5, but against a 15th ranked penalty kill? Not impossible, especially for a group that’s starting to execute better shot creation attempts on their powerplay. But no matter how you cut it, this sure as s— ain’t the matinee I wanted to attend.
PHI Record: 11-15-7, 29 pts, 7th in Metropolitan
TOR Record: 20-7-6, 46 pts, 2nd in Atlantic
Last Game PHI: 12/20/22, 5-3 W vs Blue Jackets
Last Game TOR: 12/19/22, 4-1 W vs Lightning
When: 2:00pm ET
Where: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Ontario
PHI Goalie: Carter Hart (10-9-6, .912 SV%, 2.82 GAA, 0 SO)
TOR Goalie: Ilya Samsonov (9-3-0, .929 SV%, 1.98 GAA, 2 SO)
PHI Projected Lineup
#25 James van Riemsdyk – #48 Morgan Frost – #74 Owen Tippett
#86 Joel Farabee – #49 Noah Cates – #11 Travis Konecny
#13 Kevin Hayes – #21 Scott Laughton – #17 Zack MacEwen
#44 Nicolas Deslauriers – #38 Patrick Brown – #57 Wade Allison
#9 Ivan Provorov – #55 Rasmus Ristolainen
#45 Cam York – #61 Justin Braun
#6 Travis Sanheim – #77 Tony DeAngelo
#79 Carter Hart
#33 Samuel Ersson
TOR Projected Lineup
#58 Michael Bunting – #34 Auston Matthews – #88 William Nylander
#19 Calle Järnkrok – #91 John Tavares – #16 Mitch Marner
#15 Alexander Kerfoot – #64 David Kämpf – #47 Pierre Engvall
#12 Zach Aston-Reese – #29 Pontus Holmberg – #28 Joey Anderson
#55 Mark Giordano – #3 Justin Holl
#18 Jordie Benn – #37 Timothy Liljegren
#78 T.J. Brodie – #25 Conor Timmins
#35 Ilya Samsonov
#30 Matt Murray
PHI Injuries: Cam Atkinson (neck), Sean Couturier (back), Bobby Brink (hip), Ryan Ellis (hip), Tanner Laczynski (upper-body), Felix Sandström (illness)
Scratched: Nick Seeler, Max Willman
TOR Injuries: Jake Muzzin (neck), Victor Mete (upper-body), Nick Robertson (shoulder), Morgan Reilly (shoulder), Rasmus Sandin (neck)
Scratched: Wayne Simmonds, Dryden Hunt
News and Notes:
– The Flyers can be in a fortuitous position if the score first against the Maple Leafs, who have gone 7-4-3 after succumbing to their opponents whims, allowing the first goal of the game
– Because TK has been on a role, I wanted to drop this here because I accidentally l stumbled upon it today and it still gets me.
– Noah Cates was a 5th Round pick, and is establishing himself as a legit (bottom-six/top-nine) NHL centerman after playing wing his entire career. If you enjoy the players who are really good at the “little” details of the two-way game, this is your guy to the finish line
Broadcast Info: TV – NBC Sports Philadelphia, Radio – 97.5 The Fanatic
