The Philadelphia Flyers have electrified the Wells Fargo Center for the last week in ways no one predicted.
It began with a home-opening slaughter against the New Jersey Devils in a 5-2 triumph. Their next match against the Vancouver Canucks would prove to be a much tougher bout, battling from a 2-goal deficit in the first period. Carter Hart looked shaky, and the defense was loose and disorganized. Despite a lousy first (and then some), they were able to pull themselves up from their boot straps and roar back for an exciting third period that ended in victory, and not some lousy matinee overtime or shootout loss. Hart locked himself in and stopped 28 of 30 shots, posting an impressive .933 SV%.
Tonight will be their biggest test, and it’ll be fun to see how the Flyers hold up against the former back-to-back champion Tampa Bay Lightning. This game will give Flyers fans a real look into how far away the 2022-23 team is from contention, and how some of the younger, newer NHLers handle the pressures against one of the best in the league (and in the modern era, they’ve been that good).
Andrei Vasilevskiy posts an equally impressive save percentage at .925, and a 2.54 goals against averafe, meaning he has allowed just 0.54 more goals against than Carter Hart (2.00 GAA)
Zack MacEwen makes his season debut tonight, replacing Olle Lycksell who will sit in the press box after a very brief stint on the 4th line on Saturday. MacEwen will now play on the 4th line with Nick Deslauriers and Jackson Cates.
Last Game PHI: 10/15/22, 3-2 W vs. Vancouver
Last Game TBL: 10/15/22, 6-2 W at Pittsburgh
When: 7:00pm ET
Where: Amalie Arena, Tampa, FL
PHI Goalie: Carter Hart (2-0-0, .940 SV%, 2.00 GAA, 0 SO)
TBL Goalie: Andrei Vasilevskiy (1-1-0, .925 SV%, 2.54 GAA, 0 SO)
PHI Projected Lineup
#21 Scott Laughton – #13 Kevin Hayes – #11 Travis Konecny
#86 Joel Farabee – #49 Noah Cates – #57 Wade Allison
#25 James van Riemsdyk – #48 Morgan Frost – #58 Tanner Laczynski
#44 Nicolas Deslauriers – #59 Jackson Cates -#17 Zack MacEwen
#9 Ivan Provorov – #77 Tony DeAngelo
#6 Travis Sanheim – #61 Justin Braun
#24 Nick Seeler – #54 Egor Zamula
#79 Carter Hart
#32 Felix Sandström
TBL Projected Lineup
#38 Brandon Hagel – #21 Brayden Point – #86 Nikita Kucherov
#20 Nick Paul – #91 Steven Stamkos – #17 Alex Killorn
#79 Ross Colton – #90 Vladislav Namestnikov – #10 Corey Perry
#82 Gabriel Fortier – #41 Pierre-Édouard Bellemare – #14 Pat Maroon
#77 Victor Hedman – #81 Erik Černák
#98 Mikhail Sergachev – #48 Nick Perbix
#7 Haydn Fleury – #52 Cal Foote
#88 Andrei Vasilevskiy
#1 Brian Elliott
PHI Injuries: Cam Atkinson (lower-body), Rasmus Ristolainen (undisclosed), Owen Tippett (upper-body), Sean Couturier (upper-body), Patrick Brown (back), Bobby Brink (hip), Ryan Ellis (lower-body), Artem Anisimov (PTO, lower-body)
TBL Injuries: Zach Bogosian (shoulder), Phil Myers (undisclosed), Anthony Cirelli (shoulder)
News and Notes
– Phil Myers will not make his second appearance against his former team after being traded with Nolan Patrick for the corpse of Ryan Ellis. Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said Myers is out with an injury. The defenseman scored in his lone game against the Flyers last year with Nashville.
– After losing 3 straight in the preseason, the Flyers are poised to be one of the first times in the league to win 3 straight if they do succeed tonight against the Lightning.
– Although it is unlikely for Carter Hart to sustain a .940 SV%, his promising play has given a lot of reassurance to players and fans alike, reflected by him ranking 11th overall in the entire NHL when looking at save percentages.
– Should the Flyers win tonight, it would be Philadelphia’s first 3-0-0 start to a season since 2011-12.
Broadcast Info: TV – ESPN, Radio – 93.3 WMMR
