Mired in a season-worst four-game losing streak, the Philadelphia Flyers will look to get back on track against the visiting Calgary Flames.
These teams met in Calgary just six days ago on New Year’s Eve, where the Flames staved off a late comeback attempt by Philadelphia to win 4-3. Rasmus Ristolainen nabbed his first goal of the season and Bobby Brink and Egor Zamula got back on the scoreboard while Samuel Ersson stopped 29 shots.
The Flyers are coming off a crushing 3-2 shootout loss to Columbus on Thursday that saw a 2-0 lead evaporate in the third period. All-Star forward Travis Konecny scored twice before Damon Severson and Jake Bean tied the game for the Blue Jackets. South Jersey native Johnny Gaudreau would go on to score the only goal in the shootout to finish off the comeback for the visitors.
“We need to play with the 2-0 lead longer first of all,” said head coach John Tortorella after Thursday’s loss. “That’s where I think you can grind a team, but we give up the first one too quickly. When they score the second, that’s where, I mean, prior to that they had very few chances, but they piled them up after the second goal.
“I don’t what we were. All I know is they generated more offense after the second goal,” he said after being asked if the Flyers played too defensively after the second Columbus goal.
Part of the Flyers’ struggles on Thursday could be attributed to a very unusual lineup. Cam Atkinson and Morgan Frost were healthy scratches while Tortorella iced 11 forwards and 7 defensemen, opting to dress Marc Staal and Rhett Gardner made his Flyers debut up front while Nicolas Deslauriers reentered the lineup. However, Gardner only played 7:28 and Deslauriers played a team-low 7:10, effectively leaving Philadelphia with 9 forwards during the majority of the contest.
In a month where the Flyers play 14 times in 27 days, they can’t afford to make too many mistakes like that. They need to remain as fresh as possible, especially with a team loaded with younger players who aren’t used to playing this much or haven’t experienced the grind of a full NHL season just yet.
Atkinson and Frost will be back in the lineup today, and hopefully they are recharged and ready to help the Flyers break their season-long skid.
And they couldn’t pick a better day to do it, either.
Saturday’s game is the Ed Snider Legacy Game. The late Flyers founder, chairman, and franchise icon will be celebrated on what would have been his 91st birthday.
The organization will show a video highlighting some of the most iconic moments of Mr. Snider with the Flyers and his impact on the city of Philadelphia. Lindy Snider, Mr. Snider‘s daughter, will then participate in the ceremonial puck drop. Special signage and graphics around Wells Fargo Center will be displayed as well and fans at the game will receive a jersey patch. Flyers coaches, employees, and executives will also wear pins and lapels in honor of Mr. Snider.
In addition to the events going on inside the arena, Flyers Charities will be donating $300,000 to Ed Snider Youth Hockey & Education. Members of Mr. Snider’s family and students of Ed Snider Youth Hockey & Education will be hosted at the game as well. Flyers Charities will also host an online auction featuring autographed game-worn jerseys featuring the jersey patch.
It will without a doubt be a very special and emotional day at Wells Fargo Center, and hopefully the Flyers can earn the victory to cap everything off.
PHI Record: 19-13-6, 44 pts, 5th in Metropolitan
CGY Record: 17-16-5, 39 pts, 6th in Pacific
When: 1:00pm ET
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA
Broadcast Info: NHL Network, NBC Sports Philadelphia, 97.5 The Fanatic
Last Game PHI: 1/4/23, 3-2 SOL vs. Columbus
Last Game CGY: 1/4/23, 6-3 W at Nashville
PHI Goalie: Carter Hart (9-7-3, .912 SV%, 2.66 GAA, 1 SO)
CGY Goalie: Jacob Markström (10-10-2, .907 SV%, 2.65 GAA, 1 SO)
PHI Projected Lineup
#86 Joel Farabee – #14 Sean Couturier – #11 Travis Konecny
#74 Owen Tippett – #48 Morgan Frost – #10 Bobby Brink
#71 Tyson Foerster – #25 Ryan Poehling – #89 Cam Atkinson
#44 Nicolas Deslauriers – #21 Scott Laughton – #19 Garnet Hathaway
#8 Cam York – #6 Travis Sanheim
#24 Nick Seeler – #26 Sean Walker
#5 Egor Zamula – #55 Rasmus Ristolainen
#79 Carter Hart
#33 Samuel Ersson
Scratches: #18 Marc Staal, #49 Rhett Gardner
Injuries: #27 Noah Cates
CGY Projected Lineup
#10 Jonathan Huberdeau – #28 Elias Lindholm – #17 Yegor Sharangovich
#47 Connor Zary – #91 Nazem Kadri – #76 Martin Pospisil
#88 Andrew Mangiapane – #11 Mikael Backlund – #20 Blake Coleman
#18 A.J. Greer – #63 Adam Ruzicka – #29 Dillon Dubé
#55 Noah Hanifin – #8 Chris Tanev
#52 MacKenzie Weegar – #4 Rasmus Andersson
#82 Jordan Oesterle – #57 Nick DeSimone
#25 Jacob Markström
#80 Dan Vladař
Scratches: #37 Yan Kuznetsov, #71 Walker Duehr
Injuries: #21 Kevin Rooney, #22 Jakob Pelletier, #48 Dennis Gilbert
News and Notes
– The Flyers are 62-46-12-8 all-time against the Flames and 38-16-3-6 at home against them.
– Technically, Ryan Ellis is the Flyers’ leader in assists (10) and points (14) against Calgary, but among healthy players, Cam Atkinson leads all active Flyers in assists (8) and points (12) against the Flames while Rasmus Ristolainen leads in goals (5).
– A win on Saturday would move Carter Hart alone into fourth all-time in goaltending wins in Flyers history, breaking a tie with the late Wayne Stephenson. Both goalies have 93 wins as a Flyer entering this game.
– Travis Konecny’s 2-goal night on Thursday moved him into a tie with Dave Poulin for 20th on the Flyers’ all-time list (161 goals).
– Konecny was named to the 2024 NHL All-Star Game on Thursday night ahead of puck drop, his second career All-Star nomination (2020).
– Flyers prospect Cutter Gauthier helped lead Team USA to a gold medal at the 2024 World Junior Championship on Friday against Sweden.
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