After a two-game road trip to begin the season, the Philadelphia Flyers will play their first game tonight at Wells Fargo Center in 2023-24 against the Vancouver Canucks.
The Flyers opened the season with a 4-2 victory over Columbus on October 12th before falling 5-2 in Ottawa on Saturday.
Travis Konecny has been Philadelphia’s best player in the early going, recording 3 goals and an assist for 4 points in 2 games so far. After leading the club in goals and points last season with 30 goals and 61 points – along with 30 assists – in 60 games, Konecny hasn’t missed a beat to begin 2023-24.
On the other side, Brock Boeser has had the hot hand for Vancouver so far. He notched 4 goals on Wednesday night at home against Edmonton – the first Canuck ever to do so in an opening game – and had an assist in a road rematch that saw the Canucks defeat the Oilers again, 4-3 on Saturday. Boeser’s 4-goal game last week was also the first by a Canuck since Hockey Hall of Fame member Daniel Sedin did so in 2004.
While the Flyers are looking to rebound after a lackluster effort against the Senators, there was worry they may have had to do so without their top center. Sean Couturier was not on the ice at practice yesterday, and head coach John Tortorella would not go into details, only describing Couturier as “banged up”. Morgan Frost took over first-line duties in practice between Joel Farabee and Bobby Brink, but that won’t hold up tonight.
Couturier was originally a game-time decision for tonight’s contest, but he confirmed before the game that he is indeed in John Tortorella’s lineup tonight.
Couturier led all Flyers forwards on ice time in Ottawa on Saturday, skating an even 20 minutes. Only blueliners Travis Sanheim (23:58) and Cam York (21:11) played more than Couturier.
Tonight will be a major night for the Flyers. Couturier and Cam Atkinson will both be playing their first home regular season games since the 2021-22 season, and the home crowd will get to see the New Era of Orange up close for the first time.
It’s sure to be an exciting contest, and it’s just the appetizer of a very appealing and busy sports buffet in South Philadelphia tonight.
When: 6:00pm ET
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA
Broadcast Info: NBC Sports Philadelphia, 97.5 The Fanatic
Last Game PHI: 10/14/23, 5-2 L at Ottawa
Last Game VAN: 10/14/23, 4-3 W at Edmonton
PHI Goalie: Carter Hart (1-1-0, .891 SV%, 3.53 GAA, 0 SO)
VAN Goalie: Thatcher Demko (1-0-0, .955 SV%, 1.25 GAA, 0 SO)
PHI Projected Lineup
#86 Joel Farabee – #14 Sean Couturier – #10 Bobby Brink
#11 Travis Konecny – #21 Scott Laughton– #89 Cam Atkinson
#74 Owen Tippett – #27 Noah Cates – #71 Tyson Foerster
#44 Nicolas Deslauriers – #25 Ryan Poehling – #19 Garnet Hathaway
#8 Cam York – #6 Travis Sanheim
#18 Marc Staal – #26 Sean Walker
#5 Egor Zamula – #24 Nick Seeler
#79 Carter Hart
#33 Samuel Ersson
Scratches: #32 Felix Sandström, #36 Emil Andrae, #48 Morgan Frost
Injuries: #55 Rasmus Ristolainen
VAN Projected Lineup
#96 Andrei Kuzmenko – #40 Elias Pettersson – #8 Conor Garland
#34 Phil Di Giuseppe – #9 J.T. Miller – #6 Brock Boeser
#81 Dakota Joshua – #24 Pius Suter – #72 Anthony Beauvillier
#21 Nils Höglander – #18 Sam Lafferty – #23 Jack Studnicka
#43 Quinn Hughes – #17 Filip Hronek
#82 Ian Cole – #57 Tyler Myers
#7 Carson Soucy – #47 Noah Juulsen
#35 Thatcher Demko
#29 Casey DeSmith
Scratches: #41 Akito Hirose
Injuries: #53 Teddy Blueger, #55 Guillaume Brisebois, #65 Ilya Mikheyev
News and Notes
– This is the second time in the last three seasons that the Canucks have served as the Flyers’ home opener opponent, and third consecutive time visiting Philadelphia in October.
– The Flyers defeated the Canucks at Wells Fargo Center on October 15th last year by a score of 3-2, before the Canucks got their revenge at Rogers Arena 6-2 on February 18th.
– Travis Konecny is on a 4-game point streak against Vancouver dating back to October 15th, 2021 (2g, 3a). In 11 career contests against the Canucks, Konecny has 3 goals and 6 assists for 9 points, and has only failed to record a point against them three times.
– Carter Hart has a 3-1-2 record, .919 save percentage, and 2.30 goals against average in six career starts against the Canucks.
– Rasmus Ristolainen is still skating but has not been cleared to play yet while dealing with his undisclosed injury.
– Tonight is a jam-packed evening at the South Philadelphia Sports Complex. The Flyers play at 6:00pm, while the Phillies take on the Diamondbacks in Game 2 of the NLCS at 8:07pm, and Mexico and Germany will be playing a soccer game at Lincoln Financial Field at 8:00pm. Plan accordingly if you’re going.
2024 Stadium Series Trip
Flyers Nation and Philly Sports Trips have teamed up to bring you on an amazing bus trip to the 2024 NHL Stadium Series between the Flyers and Devils. Place an early deposit to reserve your spot at the ultimate tailgate experience at MetLife Stadium before the game. The package includes a game ticket, round-trip charter bus, an all-inclusive tailgate party with unlimited cold beverages, “Philly Style” catered food, live entertainment, and more.
