On the heels of a four-game losing streak, the Philadelphia Flyers welcome the Boston Bruins to Wells Fargo Center for an afternoon matchup.
The Flyers are coming off a drowsy 3-0 loss on the road to the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night. Former Flyer Alex Lyon recorded the 30-save shutout for Detroit as the visitors could not solve him.
After meeting two former Flyers on Thursday in Lyon and Shayne Gostisbehere, another familiar face will be making his first appearance in Philadelphia as an opponent since 2018. James van Riemsdyk, who signed a one-year, $1 million deal with the Bruins in the summer, returns to Wells Fargo Center looking to help the Bruins reclaim the top spot in the NHL.
“Yeah, I guess we’ll see. I don’t know,” said van Riemsdyk when I interviewed him on Friday. “I think, again, my approach to the game has remained the same, as far as trying to maximize every bit of my talent and abilities on the ice and continue trying to be a sponge and learn and approaching it that way and never being complacent.
”I’d like to think that people recognize that and that can be appreciated but I guess we’ll see what happens and go from there, but my approach was always the same no matter if it was my first year or fifteenth year.”
van Riemsdyk is enjoying a renaissance season with Boston, and the Flyers will have to try and hold he and his Bruins teammates at bay.
The Bruins have seemingly had their way with Philadelphia as of late, winning the last five meetings consecutively by a combined 23-8 score. In their last matchup, Boston broke the NHL record for regular season victories with their 63rd back on April 9th, 2023 at Wells Fargo Center behind a David Pastrňák hat trick.
The Flyers have not won at home, or in any fashion for that matter, against the Bruins since October 20th, 2021 in a 6-3 contest. With Owen Tippett on injured reserve, Carter Hart still out indefinitely, and the Flyers starting to fall back to Earth, today’s contests could be a long one for the rebuilding Orange and Black.
Of course, the Flyers will be inducting franchise legend and Hockey Hall of Fame member Mark Recchi into the Flyers Hall of Fame before the game. The forward will be formally inducted in a pregame ceremony before two of his former teams drop the puck, and fans are encouraged to arrive early to witness it. Hopefully the festivities can give the Flyers an extra boost in front of their home crowd, especially with it being their final game before the All-Star break.
PHI Record: 25-18-6, 56 pts, 3rd in Metropolitan
BOS Record: 30-9-9, 69 pts, 1st in Atlantic
When: 12:30pm ET
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA
Broadcast Info: NHL Network, NBC Sports Philadelphia, 97.5 The Fanatic
Last Game PHI: 1/25/24, 3-0 L at Detroit
Last Game BOS: 1/25/24, 3-2 OTW at Ottawa
PHI Goalie: Samuel Ersson (12-8-3, .902 SV%, 2.46 GAA, 3 SO)
BOS Goalie: Linus Ullmark (14-6-1, .913 SV%, 2.82 GAA, 0 SO)
PHI Projected Lineup
#27 Noah Cates – #14 Sean Couturier – #11 Travis Konecny
#86 Joel Farabee – #48 Morgan Frost – #89 Cam Atkinson
#71 Tyson Foerster – #21 Scott Laughton – #62 Olle Lycksell
#44 Nicolas Deslauriers – #25 Ryan Poehling – #19 Garnet Hathaway
#6 Travis Sanheim – #9 Jamie Drysdale
#8 Cam York – #55 Rasmus Ristolainen
#24 Nick Seeler – #26 Sean Walker
#33 Samuel Ersson
#40 Cal Petersen
Scratches: #5 Egor Zamula, #18 Marc Staal, #55 Rasmus Ristolainen
Injuries: #74 Owen Tippett
BOS Projected Lineup
#63 Brad Marchand – #13 Charlie Coyle – #88 David Pastrňák
#21 James van Riemsdyk – #18 Pavel Zacha – #74 Jake DeBrusk
#70 Jesper Boqvist – #39 Morgan Geekie – #11 Trent Frederic
#43 Danton Heinen – #51 Matthew Poitras – #62 Oskar Steen
#48 Matt Grzelcyk – #73 Charlie McAvoy
#27 Hampus Lindholm – #25 Brandon Carlo
#28 Derek Forbort – #29 Parker Wotherspoon
#35 Linus Ullmark
#1 Jeremy Swayman
Scratches: #12 Kevin Shattenkirk, #94 Jakub Lauko
Injuries: None
News and Notes
– The Flyers are just 76-106-21-12 all-time against Boston and 44-48-10-5 at home against the Bruins.
– Sean Couturier leads all active Flyers in goals (9), assists (9), and points (18) against the Bruins in 32 career matchups.
– Owen Tippett inked an 8-year extension with the Flyers yesterday that carries an AAV of $6.2 million.
– Ryan Poehling has reportedly agreed to a two-year extension worth $1.9 million annually, but GM Daniel Brière said that he has not been officially re-signed yet.
– The Flyers released their 2024 Stadium Series uniforms yesterday to mixed reviews ahead of their February 17th date with the Devils.
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