The Philadelphia Flyers (2-6-1) visit the Boston Bruins in their last road game in October. On the road, the Flyers are 1-3-1, and at home, they are 1-3-0. The home and road splits display nearly identical records except for an overtime loss against the Edmonton Oilers. One could say, ‘Philadelphia represents themselves better on the road,’ but that comes from the aforementioned ‘loser point.’
“We have to balance trying to be as positive as we can to help us get out of this, but also be as honest as we need to be as far as how bad some things are. That’s the tightrope I’m walking right now because there are some things going on that are just unacceptable. But, you can’t keep beating your team down. We had a very important meeting this morning, and showing some good things that are going on, but a lot of it is not to the standard of the way we do things.” – John Tortorella; 10/29/2024
To this extent, the struggles of the Flyers are surprising. The only addition to the forward unit is Matvei Michkov, especially now that Jett Luchanko officially returned to the OHL. Cam York (upper body) is out of the lineup, but if John Tortorella plans to remain with Emil Andrae instead of Egor Zamula, the rest of the unit features returning skaters from last season.
Two other points of contention were evident in the recent loss to the Montréal Canadiens. One, the goaltending situation in Philadelphia is rickety at best. The other point, per Tortorella, is the Flyers are not cohesive. The forwards are not supporting enough on defense, and overall, the team struggles to compete efficiently through all three periods. Tortorella calls this ‘playing in fives,’ which generates offense and structures the defense to alleviate pressure from the goaltender.
“The most important thing for us is [to] try to get better today because we have a number of things we need to get better at.” – John Tortorella; 10/29/2024
Tonight, Philadelphia cannot be their worst enemy. The Bruins, like the Flyers, are not a pinnacle of goal-scoring, but they are noticeably more sound on defense.
“Other than maybe two or three guys, I think we all have to get better. The coaches have to get better, [and] I think the players have to get better.” – John Tortorella; 10/29/2024
However, to the credit of Philadelphia, they rank in the top ten of the NHL on the powerplay (10th) and penalty kill (8th).
When: 7:00pm ET
Where: TD Garden; Boston, MA
Broadcast Info: NBC Sports Philadelphia; 97.5 The Fanatic
Last Game PHI: 10/27; 4-3 L vs. Montréal Canadiens
Last Game BOS: 10/26; 4-3 OTW vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
Philadelphia Flyers
Sam Ersson will be the starting goaltender for the Flyers. Alexei Kolosov remains with Philadelphia, but it is unconfirmed if he will stand as the backup goaltender. If not, Ivan Fedotov is available, too.
Bobby Brink returns to the lineup. Nicolas Deslauriers is a healthy scratch. Brink has four points (1G, 3A) on the season, last appearing in a loss at home to the Washington Capitals, 4-1.
Andrae remains in the lineup after a solid season debut versus the Canadiens. He did not make many mistakes, and consecutive appearances in the lineup will pressure Zamula. Defensively, Andrae was a positive standout versus Montréal, and that comes with the understanding that Travis Sanheim tallied three points (2G, 1A).
Boston is 3-2-0 at home and will face the Flyers twice this week. Last season, the Bruins were 2-1-0 versus Philadelphia, securing a 6-5 win in the only game between the two clubs at the TD Garden.
Flyers Projected Lineup (per Jackie Spiegel)
#11 Travis Konecny – #14 Sean Couturier – #39 Matvei Michkov
#74 Owen Tippett – #48 Morgan Frost – #71 Tyson Foerster
#86 Joel Farabee – #21 Scott Laughton – #10 Bobby Brink
#27 Noah Cates – #25 Ryan Poehling – #19 Garnet Hathaway
#6 Travis Sanheim – #55 Rasmus Ristolainen
#24 Nick Seeler – #9 Jamie Drysdale
#36 Emil Andrae – #77 Erik Johnson
#33 Sam Ersson
(#35 Alexei Kolosov)
Bruins Projected Lineup (per Andrew Fantucchio)
#18 Pavel Zacha – #28 Elias Lindholm – #88 David Pastrňák
#63 Brad Marchand – #13 Charlie Coyle – #55 Justin Brazeau
#11 Trent Frederic – #51 Matthew Poitras – #39 Morgan Geekie
#19 John Beecher – #47 Mark Kastelic – #45 Cole Koepke
#6 Mason Lohrei – #73 Charlie McAvoy
#27 Hampus Lindholm – #25 Brandon Carlo
#91 Nikita Zadorov – #52 Andrew Peeke
#70 Joonas Korpisalo
(#1 Jeremy Swayman)
