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Preview: Grans Makes NHL Debut with Flyers vs. Avalanche

Philadelphia Flyers' Helge Grans (Heather Cattai/Heather Barry Images, LLC)
(Heather Cattai/Heather Barry Images, LLC)

The Philadelphia Flyers (8-8-2) host the Colorado Avalanche at 7:00pm ET.

Erik Johnson, who played in his 1000th NHL game versus the Buffalo Sabres, will be celebrated in a pregame ceremony to commemorate his career milestone. Johnson is one of five skaters to reach 1000 games in the NHL during the 2024-2025 season. Other skaters who achieved this milestone include Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Mikael Backlund, Tyler Myers, and Luke Schenn.

On a five-game point streak, the Flyers are 5th in the NHL Metropolitan Division. A win tonight would move Philadelphia past the Avalanche in the NHL standings.

Colorado is the favorite on the road. However, they cannot sleep on the underdogs. The Avalanche rank 7th in scoring (61), 30th in scoring defense (68), 3rd on the powerplay (31%), and 28th on the penalty kill (71.7%). Comparably, the Flyers rank 20th in scoring (51), 26th in scoring defense (63), 17th on the powerplay (18.6%), and 3rd on the penalty kill (87.1%).

When: 7:00pm ET
Where: Wells Fargo Center; Philadelphia, PA
Broadcast Info: NBC Sports Philadelphia; 93.3 WMMR
Last Game PHI: 11/16; 5-2 W; vs. Buffalo Sabres
Last Game COL: 11/15; 5-2 L; vs. Washington Capitals

Philadelphia Flyers

Alexei Kolosov will start versus Colorado. His last start was against the Montréal Canadiens. Kolosov is 0-3-0 this season with two starts, an 86.3%SV, and a 3.92GAA.

Last Wednesday, Sam Ersson (lower body) tweaked the same injury he suffered versus the Boston Bruins. At the earliest, Ersson could return versus the Chicago Blackhawks, but the expected return allows for the two-week recovery window. It is more likely Ersson will return against the Nashville Predators or versus the New York Rangers. Ivan Fedotov took on the starting goaltender share lately.

Helge Grans will make his NHL debut. Emil Andrae (mid body) did not return in the third period versus the Sabres. He did not participate in practice yesterday, either.

“He’s [Andrae] played very well. He’s helped our transition game. He’s defended better than we thought he would. He’s had a good run here since he’s been called up, so we’ll miss him.” – John Tortorella; 11/18/2024

Grans will pair with Egor Zamula on the bottom. Expect John Tortorella to emphasize the top pair of Travis Sanheim and Rasmus Ristolainen.

“Don’t read into it too much, because we’re going to play the shit out of Sanny [Sanheim] and Risto [Ristolainen]. This is going to be mixed pairs, I’ll tell you that right now.” – John Tortorella; 11/18/2024

Travis Konecny is off to a hot start in 2024-2025. Konecny had a three-point (2G, 1A) performance on Saturday. He is a top-ten goal scorer, ranking with Kirill Kaprizov, Martin Nečas, Nikita Kucherov, Kyle Connor, and Tage Thompson. In 18 games, Konecny tallied 22 points (11G, 11A), averaging 1.22 per game.

Morgan Frost and Nicolas Deslauriers are scratched. Jamie Drysdale (upper body) and Cam York (upper body) remain out of the lineup.

Projected Lineup: Philadelphia Flyers

#74 Owen Tippett – #14 Sean Couturier – #11 Travis Konecny
#86 Joel Farabee – #21 Scott Laughton – #10 Bobby Brink
#90 Anthony Richard – #27 Noah Cates – #39 Matvei Michkov
#71 Tyson Foerster – #25 Ryan Poehling – #19 Garnet Hathaway

#6 Travis Sanheim – #55 Rasmus Ristolainen
#24 Nick Seeler – #77 Erik Johnson
#5 Egor Zamula – #3 Helge Grans

#35 Alexei Kolosov
(#82 Ivan Fedotov)

Projected Lineup: Colorado Avalanche

#62 Artturi Lehkonen – #29 Nathan MacKinnon – #27 Jonathan Drouin
#13 Valeri Nichushkin – #37 Casey Mittelstadt – #96 Mikko Rantanen
#94 Joel Kiviranta – #82 Ivan Ivan – #25 Logan O’Connor
#28 Miles Wood – #17 Parker Kelly – #51 Nikolai Kovalenko

#7 Devon Toews – #8 Cale Makar
#49 Samuel Girard – #42 Josh Manson
#58 Oliver Kylington – #70 Sam Malinski

#60 Justus Annunen
(#31 Kevin Mandolese)

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