The seventh and final preseason game for the Philadelphia Flyers (2-4-0) is finally upon us as they host the New Jersey Devils (3-2-1) this afternoon.
The Flyers are coming off a 4-3 loss to the New York Islanders in what was essentially a dress rehearsal for the regular season with most of the NHL regulars suiting up. Today will be more of the same with a couple players on the bubble in the mix as well. Rodrigo Ābols, Jett Luchanko, and Nikita Grebenkin will play up front while Adam Ginning and Noah Juulsen will be on the back end for Philadelphia. Dan Vladař, who has been the Flyers’ best goalie this preseason and could potentially snag the starting job from Sam Ersson, will play in goal today.
Ābols has been perhaps the biggest standout in Training Camp and the preseason and has earned every piece of an NHL opportunity to begin the season. He has posted 2 goals and 1 assist in 5 games and has excelled at both ends of the ice and can play both center and wing effectively, which is something head coach Rick Tocchet has noticed.
“If somebody is out you can put him at center so you usually like when a guy plays dual, he usually gets the extra games,” Tocchet said earlier this week. “I’ll put it this way, if two guys are even, you usually go to the guy who plays dual. That’s for down the road but it is good to have a guy who’s a dual.”
The 29-year-old Latvian will have once final chance today to solidify a spot in the Opening Night lineup, but he’ll have two other forwards hot on his tail. Grebenkin has been noticeable all preseason with his big body and offensive abilities. He skated with Travis Konecny and Sean Couturier in Thursday’s game and was hard on pucks as usual and was a pest in front of the net, even setting a fantastic screen on Konecny’s second period goal.
Luchanko will also be looking to impress, but he hasn’t stood out quite as much outside of his stellar performance in Boston on Monday. The speed and vision are there as advertised, but Monday’s game seemed to bring out a more collected Luchanko that was patiently making good passes and reading plays well. His lack of shooting didn’t go unnoticed, but if he can pull together another strong effort today and maybe get some looks at the net, he could make the Flyers’ opening roster for the second consecutive season.
When: 12:30pm ET
Where: Xfinity Mobile Arena; Philadelphia, PA
TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Flyers Game Roster
Forwards: #10 Bobby Brink, #11 Travis Konecny, #14 Sean Couturier, #17 Jett Luchanko, #18 Rodrigo Ābols, #19 Garnet Hathaway, #22 Christian Dvorak, #27 Noah Cates, #29 Nikita Grebenkin, #39 Matvei Michkov, #46 Trevor Zegras, #74 Owen Tippett
Defensemen: #6 Travis Sanheim, #8 Cam York, #9 Jamie Drysdale, #13 Adam Ginning, #24 Nick Seeler, #47 Noah Juulsen
Goaltenders: #33 Sam Ersson, #80 Dan Vladař
Devils Game Roster
Forwards: #10 Kevin Rooney, #14 Luke Glendening, #20 Shane LaChance, #29 Lenni Hameenaho, #37 Nathan Légaré, #39 Mike Hardman, #41 Jack Malone, #46 Jonathan Gruden, #47 Paul Cotter, #67 Xavier Parent, #81 Arseny Gritsyuk, #83 Matyas Melovsky
Defensemen: #2 Calen Addison, #38 Topias Vilen, #44 Dennis Cholowski, #55 Mikael Diotte, #73 Ethan Edwards, #82 Austin Strand
Goaltenders: #34 Jake Allen, #35 Georgi Romanov
