The Philadelphia Flyers (17-17-4), through no choice of their own, face a dominant Vegas Golden Knights (25-9-3) team to start the new year. This will be the second and final game of their series against Vegas. In this game, the Flyers should skate with a chip on their shoulder based on how their last match-up went, blowing a three-goal and one-goal lead. They ultimately lost 5-4 in a shootout.
Let’s be real here, folks. Vegas is easily the favorite to win tonight’s matchup. Between their 15-4-0 home record this season (8-2-0 in their last 10 games) and ranking second in the NHL, it’s understandable why some fans may feel reluctant to tune into a 10:00pm/EST game on a weeknight. The Flyers are 8-9-1 at home this season (5-5-0 in their last 10 games) and rank 22nd in the NHL.
As Eric Reese noted in our last preview, ending 2024 on a high note was crucial because of the titans that awaited this team (the Vegas Golden Knights, the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Dallas Stars represent their first four games of 2025).
Well, they did! The Flyers shut out the San Jose Sharks, 4-0. It was one of their few performances where they dominated the puck and score sheet all night. Tonight may not be the same, but some confidence can fuse into the difficult matchup that awaits.
When: 10:00pm/ET; 1/2/2025
Where: T-Mobile Arena; Las Vegas, NV
Broadcast Info: NBC Sports Philadelphia; 93.3 WMMR
Last Game PHI: 12/31/24; 4-0 W; at San Jose Sharks
Last Game VGK: 12/31/24; 3-2 L; vs. Montréal Canadiens
Philadelphia Flyers
Alexei Kolosov (4-7-1, 3.39GAA, .872SV%) is the starter for Philadelphia. After a strong start on Tuesday night, Sam Ersson appeared to sustain another lower-body injury, requiring Kolosov to finish the shutout bid.
Kolosov played well. He stopped all seven shots he faced. Tonight, Kolosov faces a massive challenge, his first opportunity against the Golden Knights.
The power play has been a mess in December. The Flyers, however, may have turned a corner on the last night of 2024. After a powerplay goal was removed due to an offsides call, it felt like an “of course that happened moment.” Maybe the players felt that too, but it did not stop them from scoring on the powerplay again. This time, it counted. The Flyers ultimately went 1/3 (33%) on the powerplay for the night.
Jamie Drysdale had a monster month of December. He finished the month strong with two assists in San Jose. He is beginning to show his potential, and John Tortorella will now expect more.
Tortorella took note of Owen Tippett driving playmaking opportunities. On Tuesday, Tippett continued with two incredible passes that led to scoring plays, though one was wiped off the score sheet. Still, it’s exciting to see that this is a part of his game. When goal scorers adapt their game and find more opportunities to make plays in high-danger areas, it makes the opponent on defense second guess. Tippett had a see-saw season, however, if he can consistently keep playing how he is, it will be much easier to put the first quarter of the season far behind.
“I think he’s [Tippett] the full package, quite honestly, when he’s on. He makes a great seam pass on the powerplay the other night to TK [Konecny]. Obviously, his skating; he creates so much on his own. [He’s] one of the few players; a lot of players can’t do it on their own. I think that’s one of his biggest strengths. If you’re asking me for the full package, I still think he has room to grow in the other side of the puck. He gets there to check, I think he understands the positioning, he just doesn’t stay in the area. Sometimes it needs to be a stop-and-start game; sometimes he needs to stop. He’s always on the go.” – John Tortorella; 1/2/2025
Projected Lineup: Philadelphia Flyers
#21 Scott Laughton – #48 Morgan Frost – #39 Matvei Michkov
#71 Tyson Foerster – #27 Noah Cates – #10 Bobby Brink
#74 Owen Tippett – #25 Ryan Poehling – #11 Travis Konecny
#86 Joel Farabee – #14 Sean Couturier – #19 Garnet Hathaway
#6 Travis Sanheim – #8 Cam York
#5 Egor Zamula – #55 Rasmus Ristolainen
#24 Nick Seeler – #9 Jamie Drysdale
#35 Alexei Kolosov
(#82 Ivan Fedotov)
Projected Lineup: Vegas Golden Knights
#95 Victor Olofsson – #9 Jack Eichel – #61 Mark Stone
#48 Tomáš Hertl – #71 William Karlsson – #55 Keegan Kolesar
#70 Tanner Pearson – #21 Brett Howden – #16 Pavel Dorofeyev
#46 Jonas Røndbjerg– #22 Cole Schwindt – #26 Alexander Holtz
#15 Noah Hanifin – #7 Alex Pietrangelo
#3 Brayden McNabb – #27 Shea Theodore
#14 Nicolas Hague – #2 Zach Whitecloud
#35 Ilya Samsonov
(#33 Adin Hill)
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