The Philadelphia Flyers (7-8-2) are surging lately. They are on a four-game point streak, including three wins. However, each point in the current streak was tough and hard-fought, earned in overtime or a shootout.
Sam Ersson and Ivan Fedotov are trading wins. Yesterday, we learned Ersson (lower body) could miss one or two weeks after tweaking the same minor injury he endured versus the Boston Bruins on November 2nd.
On Thursday, the Ottawa Senators outplayed the Flyers, who stole a win in overtime, 5-4.
Tonight, Philadelphia enters an evenly matched battle. The Sabres have an offense ranked 8th, a defense ranked 21st, a powerplay ranked 22nd, and a penalty kill ranked 24th in the NHL. Comparably, the Flyers rank 23rd on offense, 27th on defense, 20th on the powerplay, and 3rd on the penalty kill. Buffalo is ahead in the NHL standings by one point.
When: 7:00pm ET
Where: Wells Fargo Center; Philadelphia, PA
Broadcast Info: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Last Game PHI: 11/14; 5-4 OTW; at Ottawa Senators
Last Game BUF: 11/14; 4-3 OTW; vs. St. Louis Blues
Philadelphia Flyers
Fedotov will make consecutive starts for the first time in his NHL career. John Tortorella is utilizing Fedotov because he sees him as a different goaltender from the beginning of the season. Fedotov is playing with confidence and competing at a high level. Compared to a season ago, when Fedotov arrived in the NHL, there are marginal improvements in five starts in 2024-2025. Currently, Fedotov is 2-3-0 with an 86.2%SV and a 3.98GAA.
“The goaltender is really the mindset of your team; how you’re approaching that game. The last two games, he’s [Fedotov] played really well. I didn’t think he played well at all [in] his other starts.” – John Tortorella; 11/16/24
Alexei Kolosov will back up Fedotov.
Egor Zamula accentuated his minutes (14:43) against the Senators. He did not rack up the points like Travis Sanheim, but from a defensive standpoint, Zamula did a lot to help Philadelphia in front of Fedotov. Defensively, Zamula forced two takeaways and blocked a shot. On the attack, Zamula had a critical entry, leading to a giant shift in momentum when Anthony Richard scored.
Bobby Brink made the most of his minutes (11:36) in Ottawa. He was one of the strongest skaters on the powerplay, though the Flyers went 0/2. Brink and Richard contributed to scoring plays to push Philadelphia into overtime, but Brink stood out because he created high-danger scoring chances by crashing the crease.
Projected Lineup: Philadelphia Flyers
#74 Owen Tippett – #14 Sean Couturier – #11 Travis Konecny
#86 Joel Farabee – #21 Scott Laughton – #10 Bobby Brink
#90 Anthony Richard – #25 Ryan Poehling – #39 Matvei Michkov
#71 Tyson Foerster – #27 Noah Cates – #19 Garnet Hathaway
#36 Emil Andrae – #6 Travis Sanheim
#24 Nick Seeler – #55 Rasmus Ristolainen
#5 Egor Zamula – #77 Erik Johnson
#82 Ivan Fedotov
(#35 Alexei Kolosov)
Projected Lineup: Buffalo Sabres
#9 Zach Benson – #71 Ryan McLeod – #89 Alex Tuch
#77 JJ Peterka – #24 Dylan Cozens – #22 Jack Quinn
#20 Jiri Kulich – #19 Peyton Krebs – #17 Jason Zucker
#29 Beck Malenstyn – #81 Sam Lafferty – #96 Nicolas Aubé-Kubel
#26 Rasmus Dahlin – #4 Bowen Byram
#25 Owen Power – #78 Jacob Bryson
#8 Dennis Gilbert – #75 Connor Clifton
#27 Devon Levi
(#47 James Reimer)
