The Philadelphia Flyers (18-10-7) will begin a five-game road trip, beginning with the Chicago Blackhawks (13-16-6), at the United Center at 9pm on TNT.
Over the last ten games, the Flyers secured points in eight contests. They came up short versus the Colorado Avalanche and broke down against the Buffalo Sabres, losing in regulation. The parity of the NHL was on display, where in the same ten-game stretch, Philadelphia dominated the Sabres at Xfinity Mobile Arena, affectionately referred to as ‘The Call Center.’
Currently, the Blackhawks are in the basement of the Western Conference. They’re a spot behind the Vancouver Canucks, who lost to the Flyers to kick off this back-to-back. However, don’t count them out. Chicago has a good power play unit and an elite penalty kill. They’re the perfect team to take advantage of Philadelphia if this becomes a disjointed battle.
Hockey can be a very stupid sport, and it has everything to do with puck luck and parity during any given game. Not long ago, John Tortorella preached that exact sentiment often when he was the bench boss of the Flyers.
Rick Tocchet is doing a great job in his first season as the head coach in Philadelphia. He’ll have his detractors who focus on the smaller picture, but no matter how you slice it, he has the Flyers in second place in the NHL Metropolitan Division. He’s coaching a good hockey team, and that’s objectively speaking. This road trip will go a long way in cementing that claim, starting with a hot start against the Blackhawks.
Where: United Center; Chicago, IL
When: 9pm/ET
Watch: TNT
Last Game PHI: 12/22/25; 5-2 W; vs. Vancouver Canucks
Last Game CHI: 12/20/25; 6-4 L; at Ottawa Senators
Philadelphia Flyers
Last night, the fourth line contributed heavily to a victory to begin the back-to-back. Carl Grundström (9GP), Rodrigo Ābols (30GP), and Nikita Grebenkin (24GP) accomplished more in one game during the season than Nicolas Deslauriers (16GP) and Garnet Hathaway (34GP) contributed. Philadelphia is finding scoring depth.
“I liked the fight in that line [Grundström, Ābols, Grebenkin]. Obviously, getting offense really helps. Having confidence in some of those guys to go out there taking defensive zone draws is a big thing, too. Abs [Ābols] won a couple of draws tonight.” – Rick Tocchet; 12/22/2025
When in the lead, the Flyers still tend to sag. These lapses have allowed opponents back into games, and in some cases, Philadelphia snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. A note to take into account is how they play with a lead. The defense retreats, relying too much on goaltending to bail them out in the defensive zone. That’s not a sustainable philosophy, particularly with Sam Ersson (5-4-4, 86.7%SV, 3.1GAA) making a start.
“It’s calculation, but you’ve got to stay aggressive. We have a tendency to skate backwards when we have a lead. I don’t know if it’s bad habits or it’s a mindset; it’s my job to change the mindset. We’re getting better at it, and tonight, we gave them [the Vancouver Canucks] two freebies. We shouldn’t have. For the most part, we’re chipping away at that. We’re not there yet, but it’s all a mindset. When you hit the ice, when you get the lead, a lot of times you just, ‘alright, I’m just going to be in my spot,’ instead of going, ‘no, I want to attack, or make a play.’ A three-on-two or a two-on-two situation against a team that has a bad gap, be aggressive. Don’t dump it in and give them the puck back. Those are the things that we’re chipping away at.” – Rick Tocchet; 12/22/2025
It’s also on the leadership on the ice to execute that shift in the mindset. Denver Barkey continues to show his high hockey intelligence and poise on the puck and in board battles. Sean Couturier helped the Flyers remain perfect on multiple penalty kills for the first time over the last five games. Owen Tippett led the team with 10 shots on goal, scoring on a short breakaway after shaking Tom Willander.
Travis Sanheim blocked a pair of shots, hit Evander Kane, and forced a takeaway along the boards in the first period. All of Philadelphia turned in a solid performance, and they need to carry that momentum into Chicago.
Projected Lineup: Philadelphia Flyers
#46 Trevor Zegras – #22 Christian Dvorak – #11 Travis Konecny
#52 Denver Barkey – #14 Sean Couturier – #74 Owen Tippett
#39 Matvei Michkov – #27 Noah Cates – #10 Bobby Brink
#91 Carl Grundström – #18 Rodrigo Ābols – #29 Nikita Grebenkin
#8 Cam York – #6 Travis Sanheim
#24 Nick Seeler – #55 Rasmus Ristolainen
#36 Emil Andrae – #9 Jamie Drysdale
#33 Sam Ersson
(#80 Dan Vladař)
Projected Lineup: Chicago Blackhawks
#59 Tyler Bertuzzi – #20 Ryan Greene – #28 André Burakovsky
#11 Oliver Moore – #8 Ryan Donato – #76 Nick Lardis
#86 Teuvo Teräväinen – #16 Jason Dickinson – #95 Ilya Mikheyev
#34 Colton Dach – #25 Dominic Toninato – #24 Sam Lafferty
#72 Alex Vlasic – #46 Louis Crevier
#48 Matt Grzelcyk – #55 Artyom Levshunov
#44 Wyatt Kaiser – #5 Connor Murphy
#30 Spencer Knight
(#40 Arvid Söderblom)
