The Philadelphia Flyers (22-14-8) leave Xfinity Mobile Arena after a subpar four-game home-stand displaying a 1-2-1 record. Wednesday night marks the first of two back-to-back road outings for Philadelphia beginning in Buffalo to take on the Sabres (24-16-4) at KeyBank Center. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 pm ET.
That’s right, you read that correctly. The Flyers won’t be facing off against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Hallelujah. They say that Lightning doesn’t strike twice. It did however in Philadelphia in the span of 48 hours as the Orange and Black were inferior to Tampa Bay, an actual playoff caliber team, in consecutive matchups. The Flyers were embarrassed in a 7-2 loss Saturday then got stomped on in a 5-1 deficit Monday to the Lightning.
Tampa Bay showed what a true postseason contender consists of with top players Nikita Kucherov (3G, 3A), Brayden Point (1G, 3A), and Brandon Hagel (2G, 1A) contributing in both contests. The mini-playoff series with the Lightning proved to be a reality check for the Flyers of what the final months of the regular season entail and the level of competition they’re going to need to display in order to achieve a postseason berth, something Philadelphia hasn’t sniffed since the 2020 bubble.
“We have a lot of work to do to get to that level. They’re a pretty experienced team that plays the right way and sticks to their game plan. It’s something we can learn. I still believe in this group that we can get there. Just got to put in the work and get to that level,” Sean Couturier said.
The Flyers find themselves in the lost column in three straight showings for just the second time all year. Philadelphia’s season long narrative is recovering quickly to win the next time around as they’ve gone 13-3-5 in games following a defeat. But now the red-hot Sabres are waiting for the Flyers to arrive, which isn’t projected to be a simple task for Philadelphia. Buffalo are on a miraculous run themselves securing two points in 12 of their previous 14 matches.
Dan Vladař aims to put a halt to Buffalo’s success as he suits up between the pipes for Philadelphia. It will be Vladař’s 28th start of the year, two shy of tying a career high. He has a 2.42 GAA and .907 SV% this season and seeks to bounce back after allowing four goals in his last game.
The Flyers and Sabres sit as the top two teams on the outside looking in for a Wild Card spot in the East, a place where both clubs shouldn’t necessarily be after the halfway marker. Buffalo’s credit of late is directed towards their 5-on-5 play, averaging three goals per game while at even strength since Dec 14. The Sabres’ penalty kill has been top five all season and cashed in on five shorthanded tallies, two coming in their last four games.
Meanwhile the power play statistics for both squads are an eyesore. Buffalo’s recent power play struggles led to capitalizing on 3 of their last 32 attempts while Philadelphia is 3 for their last 31 on the man advantage and rank 31st in the league at 15.3%.
“I think you can tell some guys are nervous out there. We just got to relax them. That’s my job. We gotta get these guys to relax a little bit,” Rick Tocchet said.
The Flyers are expected to have Jamie Drysdale back in the lineup after activating the defenseman earlier today. He is one of the game-time decisions for Tocchet, but Drysdale’s presence, playmaking ability, and quarterbacking the top powerplay unit could help the Flyers. Drysdale missed the previous three contests after a collision with Ducks forward Ross Johnston. Bobby Brink also went down in the game against Anaheim and was listed as a possibility to play in Buffalo.
It’s the third and final meeting between the two organizations. The Flyers took the first matchup 5-2 in Philadelphia led by four unanswered goals and the Sabres pulled away to win the second game 5-3 in Buffalo.
Philadelphia’s Injury Report:
- Bobby Brink (upper-body)
- Tyson Foerster (arm)
Buffalo’s Injury Report:
- Conor Timmins (leg)
- Alex Lyon (lower-body)
- Justin Danforth (lower-body)
- Michael Kesselring (ankle)
- Josh Dunne (middle-body)
- Jiri Kulich (blood clot)
Philadelphia’s Player to Watch: Matvei Michkov
There is a lot of social media buzz on Michkov and his disappointing sophomore season. Michkov pocketed one goal in his last 19 games which happened to be an empty netter. Wouldn’t it be something if tonight were the night Michkov went crazy and silenced the critics.
Buffalo’s Player to Watch: Jack Quinn
Although Team USA’s Tage Thompson is dangerous, Quinn remains a Flyer killer. Quinn netted six goals and 10 points in nine career games facing the Flyers. He’s been farther down on the Sabres’ lineup card listed as a third line winger of late, but he’s scored a pair of goals two games prior on Anaheim to help shape up what is becoming the former first-round pick’s best offensive season.
Philadelphia Projected Lineup:
#46 Trevor Zegras – #22 Christian Dvorak – #11 Travis Konecny
#39 Matvei Michkov – #14 Sean Couturier – #91 Carl Grundström
#29 Nikita Grebenkin – #27 Noah Cates – #74 Owen Tippett
#44 Nicolas Deslauriers – #18 Rodrigo Ābols – #19 Garnet Hathaway
#6 Travis Sanheim – #55 Rasmus Ristolainen
#8 Cam York – #9 Jamie Drysdale*
#24 Nick Seeler – #36 Emil Andrae
#80 Dan Vladař
(#33 Sam Ersson)
Buffalo’s Projected Lineup:
#6 Zach Benson – #72 Tage Thompson – #89 Alex Tuch
#17 Jason Zucker – #71 Ryan McLeod – #91 Josh Doan
#86 Noah Ostlund – #9 Josh Norris – #22 Jack Quinn
#12 Jordan Greenway – #19 Peyton Krebs – #29 Beck Malenstyn
#23 Mattias Samuelsson – #26 Rasmus Dahlin
#4 Bowen Byram – #25 Owen Power
#78 Jacob Bryson – #73 Zach Metsa
#1 Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
(#92 Colten Ellis)
ULTIMATE WEST COAST HOCKEY TRIP
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