The Philadelphia Flyers (4-7-1) take the show on the road to begin a three-game trip. They will start tonight with the Carolina Hurricanes, then continue their southern route against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers later in the week.
Recently, the Flyers were shut out by the Boston Bruins, 3-0. The Bruins gave Philadelphia a receipt four days after being shut out, 2-0. The loss disrupted what could have been the first winning streak of the season for the lineup iced by John Tortorella.
“As far as the offensive zone, it comes down to a little bit more will on the puck, too. As far as holding on to pucks, as far as winning more battles, I don’t think we’re pinching down the walls enough because our [defense] do not see the third guy. We just did quite a bit as far as our structure and our offensive zone, some stuff with our [defensive] zone, but we’re still just trying to nail it down. We’re not on our toes. We’re kind of in-between and that’s structural, but some of it’s just the will to hold onto pucks and win more battles.” – John Tortorella; 11/5/2024
Tonight, the Hurricanes become the second NHL Metropolitan Division opponent the Flyers face since their home-and-home series against the Washington Capitals.
A season ago, Philadelphia owned a 1-2-1 record against Carolina. Sam Ersson fought for the Flyers in overtime on March 21st, 2024, but came up short, 3-2. However, he will not be available tonight. Ersson left the game versus Boston, never returning. He is traveling with the team on the road trip.
This is a nightmare matchup for Philadelphia. The Hurricanes rank 13th in the NHL in scoring, 7th on the powerplay, and 7th on the penalty kill while allowing the fewest goals. Comparably, the Flyers rank 27th in the NHL in scoring, 19th on the powerplay, and 4th on the penalty kill while allowing the 5th most goals. Carolina is the heavy favorite.
“I always look at, ‘they’re not scoring goals,’ which we dearly need, but I look [at] why? I look further back on what’s going on in their game, the concentration, and the, quite honestly, hardness of it; playing in those areas, protecting pucks, [and] winning battles is not there.” – John Tortorella; 11/4/2024
When: 7:00pm ET
Where: Lenovo Center; Raleigh, NC
Broadcast Info: NBC Sports Philadelphia; 97.5 The Fanatic
Last Game PHI: 11/2, 3-0 L, vs. Boston Bruins
Last Game CAR: 11/3, 4-2 W, vs. Washington Capitals
Philadelphia Flyers
Alexei Kolosov will start. Since he gave up the game-winning goal to Matthew Poitras versus the Bruins, Kolosov is 0-2-0 this season. However, tonight will be the second start of his NHL career. In place of Ersson versus Boston, Kolosov allowed two goals and finished with a 90.9%SV.
Egor Zamula returns to the lineup. Erik Johnson will be the healthy scratch. The timing is odd since Johnson was one of the better defensemen in his minutes versus the Bruins, but Tortorella wants to get Zamula back onto the ice. Zamula is in a position where he needs to prove he can clean up his game against a quality, divisional opponent. Emil Andrae will likely pair with Zamula.
Nicolas Deslauriers enters the lineup. Ryan Poehling is healthy but not on the road trip. Noah Cates would become the 4C.
Projected Lineup: Philadelphia Flyers
#71 Tyson Foerster – #14 Sean Couturier – #39 Matvei Michkov
#74 Owen Tippett – #48 Morgan Frost – #11 Travis Konecny
#86 Joel Farabee – #21 Scott Laughton – #10 Bobby Brink
#44 Nicolas Deslauriers – #27 Noah Cates – #17 Garnet Hathaway
#6 Travis Sanheim – #55 Rasmus Ristolainen
#24 Nick Seeler – #9 Jamie Drysdale
#36 Emil Andrae – #5 Egor Zamula
#35 Alexei Kolosov
(#82 Ivan Fedotov)
Projected Lineup: Carolina Hurricanes
#37 Andrei Svechnikov – #20 Sebastian Aho – #96 Jack Roslovic
#50 Eric Robinson – #82 Jesperi Kotkaniemi – #88 Martin Nečas
#48 Jordan Martinook – #11 Jordan Staal – #24 Seth Jarvis
#28 William Carrier – #18 Jack Drury – #53 Jackson Blake
#74 Jaccob Slavin – #8 Brent Burns
#4 Shayne Gostisbehere – #26 Sean Walker
#7 Dmitry Orlov – #5 Jalen Chatfield
#52 Pyotr Kochetkov
(#41 Spencer Martin)
