Game five of the Torts era begins tonight with an 8:00 pm ET puck drop, as the Orange and the Black take on the Predators in Nashville. After a shockingly promising 3-0-0 start to the season and riding the Philly sports momentum, the Philadelphia Flyers look to bounce back after suffering their first loss of the season on Wednesday to the Panthers.
Carter Hart and Travis Konecny have been fantastic to start the season, and both will be needed to maintain their top play if the Flyers are looking to end this 3-game road trip with a victory. Hart enters this game with a 3-0-0 record, a 2.00 GAA, and a .943 SV%, all of which put him up near the top of the league so far this season. He has looked calm and confident, and has given this team every chance possible to win games.
On the offensive side, Konecny has been dominant as well. He enters this matchup in Smashville with 4 goals and 2 assists through the first 4 games of the season, and has also been a huge contributing factor to the early success. TK plays with his heart on his sleeve, and is at his best when he confident and getting under opponents’ skin. The Flyers will be hoping his hot start continues tonight, and that he and Hart can continue to help the team to victory.
The Preds have had a so-so start to their season, with a 2-3-1 record entering this matchup against the Flyers. Their two wins came overseas against the San Jose Sharks in the NHL Global Series, but they have yet to get a win back on American soil, losing to Columbus, Los Angeles, and Dallas twice. Nino Niederreiter is their leading points scorer with 5 points through the first 6 games. Their goaltender Juuse Saros enters the game with a 1-2-1 record with a 3.00 GAA and .897 SV%.
PHI Record: 3-1-0, 6 Pts, 4th in Metropolitan
NSH Record: 2-3-1, 5 Pts, 3rd in Central
Last Game PHI: 10/19/22, 4-3 L at Florida
Last Game NSH: 10/20/22, 5-3 L at Columbus
When: 8:00pm ET
Where: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN
PHI Goalie: Carter Hart (3-0-0, .943 SV%, 2.00 GAA, 0 SO)
NSH Goalie: Juuse Saros (1-2-1, .897 SV%, 3.00 GAA, 0 SO)
PHI Projected Lineup
#86 Joel Farabee – #13 Kevin Hayes – #11 Travis Konecny
#25 James van Riemsdyk – #48 Morgan Frost – #17 Zack MacEwen
#21 Scott Laughton – #49 Noah Cates – #57 Wade Allison
#44 Nicolas Deslauriers – #23 Lukas Sedlak – #58 Tanner Laczynski
#9 Ivan Provorov – #77 Tony DeAngelo
#6 Travis Sanheim – #61 Justin Braun
#54 Egor Zamula – #24 Nick Seeler
#79 Carter Hart
#32 Felix Sandstrom
NSH Projected Lineup
#9 Filip Forsberg – #64 Mikael Granlund – #95 Matt Duchene
#22 Nino Niederreiter – #92 Ryan Johansen – #28 Eeli Tolvanen
#13 Yakov Trenin – #10 Colton Sissons – #84 Tanner Jeannot
#36 Cole Smith – #8 Cody Glass – #44 Kiefer Sherwood
#59 Roman Josi – #45 Alexandre Carrier
#27 Ryan McDonagh – #14 Mattias Ekholm
#3 Jeremy Lauzon – #57 Dante Fabbro
#74 Juuse Saros
#32 Kevin Lankinen
PHI Injuries: Cam Atkinson (lower-body), Rasmus Ristolainen (undisclosed), Owen Tippett (upper-body), Sean Couturier (upper-body), Patrick Brown (back), Bobby Brink (hip), Ryan Ellis (lower-body), Artem Anisimov (PTO, lower-body)
NSH Injuries: none
News and Notes
– Lukas Sedlak is expected to make his Flyers debut tonight. The 29-year-old forward was claimed off waivers by the Flyers from Colorado on Wednesday.
– The Flyers are looking for their first win in Nashville since 2016, when they doubled up the Predators 4-2 in December of that year during their 10-game winning streak.
– Carter Hart was the first goaltender off the ice at morning skate today and is expected to start. Felix Sandstrom is likely to play tomorrow night against San Jose.
Broadcast Info: TV – NBC Sports Philadelphia+, Radio – 93.3 WMMR
