Preview; Game 21/82: Philadelphia Flyers at Tampa Bay Lightning

After securing all four points up for grabs in their last two contests on home ice, the Philadelphia Flyers (11-6-3) head south to start a four-game road trip across six days. The Flyers’ first matchup is against the Tampa Bay Lightning (12-7-2) at Benchmark International Arena with puck drop scheduled for 7pm/ET.

The Flyers had two polar opposite performances in front of their fans this past week but still added two victories to the win column. Trailing by a pair of goals, Philadelphia fought back to knock off the St. Louis Blues, 3-2, following Travis Sanheim’s goal in overtime on Thursday. The Flyers then flipped the script when New Jersey came to town Saturday night and maintained a comfortable lead which the Devils couldn’t overcome. Philadelphia padded a three-goal cushion in the span on 26 seconds, the fastest in franchise history, and went on to win 6-3.

“You’ve got to take what we did well from that and implement that throughout the rest of the year,” Bobby Brink said. “Guys were supporting the puck, getting in on the forecheck hard, and it led to chances. It was pretty good execution from us.”

It’s a bit of a miracle that the Flyers continue to find success considering they’ve allowed the first goal in 14 of 20 games yet battled and won eight of them. Falling behind early in what is now 70% of their matchups has been a problem for the Flyers, but persevering and coming out on top speaks volumes to Philadelphia’s identity.

“I’m really proud of the guys this year. We’ve got a new system… we’ve changed some stuff around here and for them to buy in and take that information it’s hard. We’re throwing a lot of stuff at these guys so I’m proud of that,” Rick Tocchet said.

Philadelphia’s defensive structure and goaltending have played a significant part in the Flyers’ first quarter accomplishments this season. The Flyers prevented the third fewest goals (56) on the sixth lowest scoring chances (25.9) so far which is critical for a team sitting 31st in goal scored themselves with 56 tallies.

The Flyers’ counterpart in Tampa Bay has kept the puck out of their net too limiting oppositions to 60 goals, eighth lowest in the league. The Lightning are banged up defensively averaging 125 games of NHL experience on their backend. However, having a five-time Vezina Trophy finalist in Andrei Vasilevskiy between the pipes helps as the Lightning won 11 of their last 14 games. Vasilevskiy has a .923 SV% and 5-1-0 record in his previous six outings. Vasilevskiy is 15-4-1 with a 2.08 GAA and .933 SV% against the Flyers.

Philadelphia will turn to Sam Ersson in net after Dan Vladař tended the crease for the Flyers’ prior three contests. Ersson hasn’t been sharp this year displaying a 3.30 GAA and .846 SV%. He’s allowed four or more pucks behind him on three out of six occasions. Fortunately for Ersson, the Lightning are without Brayden Point and potentially Nikita Kucherov as both forwards exited in their meeting with the Washington Capitals on Saturday night. Kucherov was at morning skate for Tampa Bay, so he appears closer to returning.

Philadelphia’s Injury Report:

• Rasmus Ristolainen (triceps)

Tampa Bay’s Injury Report:

• Brayden Point (undisclosed)
• Pontus Holmberg (undisclosed)
• Erik Černák (undisclosed)
• Victor Hedman (undisclosed)
• Ryan McDonagh (undisclosed)