The Philadelphia Flyers (30-36-9) found a new trajectory on the homestand.
After the Flyers returned from the road, Brad Shaw assumed the interim head coach role after Daniel Brière fired John Tortorella. Then, Philadelphia got hot versus the Montréal Canadiens and the Buffalo Sabres. Tonight, Shaw matches his lineup versus the Nashville Predators (27-38-8) at 7:00pm/ET.
In between, Brière signed Karsen Dorwart (2yr/$1.95mil) out of Michigan State University. Shaw plans for his debut this Saturday when the Flyers visit the Canadiens.
“Good size. I watched some of the clips; looks like he [Dorwart] gets around the ice well. It’s hard to watch a guy at that level [the NCAA] and then try to extrapolate out what he’s going to look like here [the NHL]. I’m anxious to get him on the ice Wednesday, see what he looks like at this pace. We need depth at center, and hopefully he can be one of those solutions for us.” – Brad Shaw; 3/31/2025
Tonight, Philadelphia has the ‘home-ice advantage’ versus the Predators. Per DraftKings Sportsbook, the Flyers (-125) are slight favorites. Nashville matches up well, so the slight upset is plausible. ‘The Preds’ would benefit from a disjointed tilt where the officials are busy.
When: 3/31/2025; 7:00pm/ET
Where: Wells Fargo Center; Philadelphia, PA
Broadcast Info: NBC Sports Philadelphia; Flyers Radio 24/7
Last Game PHI: 3/29/2025; 7-4 W; vs. Buffalo Sabres
Last Game NSH: 3/29/2025; 3-1 L; vs. Vegas Golden Knights
Philadelphia Flyers
Ivan Fedotov (5-13-3; 3.21GAA, 87.7%SV) will start. It’ll be his first start without Tortorella as the head coach. His last start, a loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, was a 7-4 debacle. Tortorella never pulled Fedotov, but he was quick to against the Dallas Stars, the game before the loss against the Blackhawks. It’ll be interesting to see if Fedotov is sharper with Shaw as the bench boss.
Garnet Hathaway (41.7%CF; 8G, 10A) returns to the lineup. Nicolas Deslauriers will exit. Hathaway exited the lineup after he took a calculated blindside hit by Bokondji Imama in an overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. He’ll rejoin a newly crafted fourth line with Rodrigo Ābols and Olle Lycksell.
“It’s always tough with that type of injury. He [Hathaway] plays a very physical style. When you put him in, there’s going to be a lot of contact. He’s comfortable with it. That’s a real important thing and we’re happy to see him back in there.” – Brad Shaw; 3/31/2025
Jamie Drysdale (52.9%FF; -27, 90BLK, 15HIT, 20TK:64GV) is a silver lining on the defensive unit. Even throughout the most recent losses leading to the coaching change, Drysdale found a way to produce; to the eye, you can see the emerging upside. Drysdale flashes through the offensive zone, effectively making himself available for scoring chances. Shaw still uses Drysdale like a ‘rover,’ as Tortorella would’ve said.
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
#15 Olle Lycksell – #18 Rodrigo Ābols – #19 Garnet Hathaway
#24 Nick Seeler – #6 Travis Sanheim
#8 Cam York – #9 Jamie Drysdale
#5 Egor Zamula – #36 Emil Andrae
#82 Ivan Fedotov
(#33 Sam Ersson)
Projected Lineup: Nashville Predators
#9 Filip Forsberg – #90 Ryan O’Reilly – #77 Luke Evangelista
#58 Michael Bunting – #91 Steven Stamkos – #68 Zachary L’Heureux
#36 Cole Smith – #40 Fedor Svechkov – #19 Jakub Vrána
#82 Jordan Oesterle – #47 Michael McCarron – #26 Kieffer Bellows
#76 Brady Skjei – #37 Nick Blankenburg
#7 Marc Del Gaizo – #20 Justin Barron
#24 Spencer Stastney – #8 Andreas Englund
#74 Juuse Saros
(#29 Justus Annunen)
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