The Philadelphia Flyers (28-36-9) started the morning with huge news. John Tortorella was ‘relieved of his duties as head coach,’ making Brad Shaw the immediate interim head coach.
“Today, I made the very difficult decision to move on from John [Tortorella] as our head coach. John played a vital role in our rebuild. He set a standard of play and re-established what it means to be a Philadelphia Flyer. John’s passion on the bench was only equaled by his charitable work in our community. As we move into the next chapter of this rebuild, I felt this was the best for our team to move forward. I’d like to thank John for his tireless work and commitment to the Flyers.” – Daniel Brière; 3/27/2025
Then, in the background, the Flyers will host the Montréal Canadiens (33-28-9) at 7:00pm/ET.
Outscored in their last two games, 14-6, Philadelphia was equally awful in Chicago and Toronto to complete the losing road trip. Tortorella was frustrated in his post-game press conference. He dropped an off-beat line, taking the heat after the Flyers allowed seven goals in consecutive games.
“I’m not really interested in learning how to coach in this type of season, where we’re at right now. But, I have to do a better job. This falls on me, getting the team prepared to play the proper way until we get to the end.” – John Tortorella; 3/25/25
After this morning, the Canadiens (-125) aren’t overwhelming favorites. Philadelphia is on a six-game losing streak, and with Shaw as the interim bench boss, they’re determined to get out of this losing rut. The absence of Tortorella could allow some of the lineup to feel less pressure and play more freely. That’s the silver lining to seek until the end of the season.
When: 3/27/2025; 7:00pm/ET
Where: Wells Fargo Center; Philadelphia, PA
Broadcast Info: NBC Sports Philadelphia; Flyers Radio 24/7
Last Game PHI: 3/25/2025; 7-2 L; at Toronto Maple Leafs
Last Game MTL: 3/25/2025; 6-1 L; at St. Louis Blues
Philadelphia Flyers
Shaw has a brief NHL head coaching history. During the 2005-2006 season, he replaced Steve Stirling on the New York Islanders. He coached those Islanders to an 18-18-4 record after replacing Stirling. Now, Shaw begins a nine-game stint as the Flyers head coach. He’s elected Sam Ersson (19-5-5; 3.1GAA, 88.2%SV) to start.
Cam York (47%FF; -7, 111BLK, 50HIT, 21TK:74GV) sat for over two periods against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Philadelphia isn’t playing for anything except valuable minutes. The benching for the remainder of the game seemed dramatic, especially when the opportunity to miss a couple of shifts to send a message was an option. A jolt in York’s step should be notable tonight, not exclusively due to a coaching change, but more about his terrible performance leading to his benching.
Rodrigo Ābols (49.1%CF; 2G, 2A) shows his intelligence in the offensive zone. It’s his greatest weapon; Ābols is not fleet-footed but somehow ends up in the right places to create a scoring chance. His work along the boards allowed Jakob Pelletier to dish a set-up pass to Ryan Poehling against the Maple Leafs, who provided the Flyers their only lead in Toronto.
Projected Lineup: Philadelphia Flyers
#71 Tyson Foerster – #27 Noah Cates – #10 Bobby Brink
#39 Matvei Michkov – #14 Sean Couturier – #11 Travis Konecny
#74 Owen Tippett – #25 Ryan Poehling – #22 Jakob Pelletier
#44 Nicolas Deslauriers – #18 Rodrigo Ābols – #15 Olle Lycksell
#8 Cam York – #6 Travis Sanheim
#24 Nick Seeler – #9 Jamie Drysdale
#5 Egor Zamula – #36 Emil Andrae
#33 Sam Ersson
(#82 Ivan Fedotov)
Projected Lineup: Montréal Canadiens
#13 Cole Caufield – #14 Nick Suzuki – #20 Juraj Slafkovský
#89 Joshua Roy – #15 Alex Newhook – #92 Patrik Laine
#17 Josh Anderson – #28 Christian Dvorak – #11 Brendan Gallagher
#51 Emil Heineman – #71 Jake Evans – #40 Joel Armia
#8 Mike Matheson – #45 Alexandre Carrier
#47 Jayden Struble – #48 Lane Hutson
#72 Arber Xhekaj – #58 David Savard
#75 Jakub Dobeš
(#35 Sam Montembeault)
