After a day off, the Philadelphia Flyers are back at it on Tuesday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Flyers are coming off a disappointing back-to-back set in the first two games of this three-game homestand following a five-game winning streak. A 7-4 loss to Colorado and a 5-3 loss to Ottawa this past weekend have put a slight damper on the Flyers’ sights for the top spot in the Metropolitan Division.
As the Flyers host the always dangerous Lightning, they will do so without Carter Hart. The team announced on Tuesday afternoon that the goaltender would be away from the team indefinitely, citing personal reasons in a statement.
Cal Petersen has been recalled from AHL Lehigh Valley while Samuel Ersson becomes the de-facto number one netminder for Philadelphia now.
The Flyers were also dealt another blow as forward Owen Tippett was placed on injured reserve with a lower-body injury. Tippett went into the board awkwardly with his legs tangled up a bit on Saturday against Colorado and did not return to the game.
With an injury and a lack of secondary scoring, the Flyers recalled Olle Lycksell from the Phantoms while sending down little-used Bobby Brink on Monday. Lycksell is projected to slot on the third line alongside Morgan Frost and Cam Atkinson in his second NHL game of the season and first since December 7th.
This is the most adversity the Flyers have faced this season, and they’ll have to battle it against a regularly dominant foe.
The Lightning recently had a five-game winning streak of their own snapped on Sunday in Detroit, but they still maintain the final Wild Card berth in the Eastern Conference.
Tampa Bay has also won 11 of their last 12 matchups against the Flyers, only losing on October 12th, 2022 at Amalie Arena. The Lightning also haven’t lost at Wells Fargo Center since January 7th, 2017. It’s safe to say they have Philadelphia’s number.
Tonight will be a tall task for the Flyers to get back on track, but after being described by head coach John Tortorella as the most special group he’s ever coached, this is the team that can bounce back through adversity.
PHI Record: 25-16-6, 56 pts, 2nd in Metropolitan
TBL Record: 24-18-5, 53 pts, 5th in Atlantic
When: 7:00pm ET
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA
Broadcast Info: NBC Sports Philadelphia, 97.5 The Fanatic
Last Game PHI: 1/21/24, 5-3 L vs. Ottawa
Last Game TBL: 1/21/24, 2-1 L at Detroit
PHI Goalie: Samuel Ersson (12-6-3, .909 SV%, 2.36 GAA, 3 SO)
TBL Goalie: Andrei Vasilevskiy (13-10-0, .901 SV%, 2.80 GAA, 1 SO)
PHI Projected Lineup
#86 Joel Farabee – #14 Sean Couturier – #11 Travis Konecny
#71 Tyson Foerster – #21 Scott Laughton – #19 Garnet Hathaway
#62 Olle Lycksell – #48 Morgan Frost – #89 Cam Atkinson
#27 Noah Cates – #25 Ryan Poehling
#6 Travis Sanheim – #9 Jamie Drysdale
#24 Nick Seeler – #26 Sean Walker
#8 Cam York – #55 Rasmus Ristolainen
#5 Egor Zamula
#33 Samuel Ersson
#40 Cal Petersen
Scratches: #18 Marc Staal, #44 Nicolas Deslauriers
Injuries: #74 Owen Tippett
TBL Projected Lineup
#91 Steven Stamkos – #21 Brayden Point – #86 Nikita Kucherov
#38 Brandon Hagel – #71 Anthony Cirelli – #23 Mikey Eyssimont
#73 Conor Sheary – #20 Nick Paul – #39 Waltteri Merelä
#64 Tyler Motte – #11 Luke Glendening – #12 Alex Barré-Boulet
#77 Victor Hedman – #43 Darren Raddysh
#44 Calvin de Haan – #48 Nick Perbix
#78 Emil Lilleberg – #65 Max Crozier
#88 Andrei Vasilevskiy
#31 Jonas Johansson
Scratches: #5 Phil Myers, #7 Haydn Fleury, #51 Austin Watson
Injuries: #81 Erik Černák, #84 Tanner Jeannot, #98 Mikhail Sergachev
News and Notes
– The Flyers are 48-44-8-8 all-time against the Lightning and 23-19-7-4 at home against them.
– Sean Couturier leads all active Flyers in assists (10) and points (15) against the Lightning while Travis Konecny leads against them in goals (7).
– Joel Farabee is currently riding a 6-game point streak that has seen him rack up 9 points (5g, 4a). He has also set an ever-growing career-high in points (39) in the process.
– Tonight will also mark Farabee’s 300th career NHL contest. The 14th overall pick from the 2018 draft has recorded 77 goals and 94 assists for 171 points in his first 299 games.
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