We didn’t have hockey for months and now we get two games 24 hours apart? Wow, lucky us!
The Philadelphia Flyers are back in preseason action after their unfortunate 5-2 loss to the Washington Capitals on Monday night. Now, they get to travel to Boston to go ahead and face the Bruins. We will try not to panic if they end up losing this one by multiple goals, too. Just kidding, it’s the preseason.
Puck drop: 7:00 p.m.
How to watch/listen:
📺: NBCSP+
📻: 97.5 The Fanatic
Pregame reading
- The main point coming out of Monday night is the loss of Denver Barkey. The 21-year-old forward left the game due to a lower-body injury and did not return. And, after the game head coach Rick Tocchet did not have any updates on the player. [BSH]
- All the takeaways from Monday night’s 5-2 loss in Hershey. It wasn’t a pretty game and some young top prospects didn’t really show up. [BSH]
- Matvei Michkov is certainly putting on a show at training camp. Will he play tonight? We don’t know right now. [BSH]
Pregame watching
Projected lineups
Philadelphia Flyers
Sorry to disappoint but there was an optional skate on Tuesday morning before the team headed out to Boston so we don’t know the lines that Tocchet will be running, but this is our best guess given the roster they have decided on (we will probably be very wrong):
Alex Bump — Jett Luchanko — Cole Knuble
Carl Grundstrom — Noah Cates — Owen Tippett
Zach Aston-Reese — Jacob Gaucher — Danila Klimovich
Nolan Foote — Jack Studnicka — Matthew Gard
Hunter McDonald — Oliver Bonk
Nick Seeler — David Jiricek
Ty Murchison — Spencer Gill
Dan Vladar
(Aleksei Kolosov)
Morgan Geekie – Elias Lindholm – David Pastrnak
Casey Mittelstadt – Pavel Zacha – JJ Peterka
Tanner Jeannot – Dans Locmelis – Mikey Eyssimont
Ivan Ivan – Brendan Gaunce – Brian Halonen
Hampus Lindholm – Will Borgen
Nikita Zadorov – Connor Clifton
Frederic Brunet – Max Guenette
Jeremy Swayman
(Simon Zajicek)
Storylines to watch
Bruins are icing a fairly full NHL lineup
The Boston Bruins are going to put on a show for their home crowd. While we can say that Monday’s loss was because the Capitals were putting out some bona fide top-of-the-lineup players like Jordan Kyrou and Dylan Strome out there on the ice, the Bruins are taking it to a new level by having guys like David Pastrnak, Morgan Geekie, Pavel Zacha, and JJ Peterka all in their top six. That can be their first two lines when they start their regular season. The only forwards really missing from that group are the young ones like James Hagens, Marat Khusnutdinov, and Fraser Minten.
It is a top-heavy one, at least.
On the blue line it’s more of the same. Charlie McAvoy and Mason Lohrei are missing but that’s a two-thirds-full NHL defense. Oh, and Jeremy Swayman is starting.
While we don’t want to say we expect a loss, the Bruins are clearly going to try and ice a team that can be competitive for the TD Garden crowd and the Flyers have opted to go with a lot of the same from what we saw Monday night.
Flyers going with more of the same — what are we looking for?
The Flyers are really going to let the bottom-of-the-lineup players and prospects battle it out against David Pastrnak and his friends. We’re seeing several players who will be playing in a back-to-back and should really test their ability to get back on their feet after a disheartening game on Monday night.
Like we said, we don’t know the specific lines but we should be getting a real good look on players to get noticed. The Flyers are giving them plenty of opportunity to show something good enough to stick around and this game can be exactly that. If someone like Cole Knuble shows off again, then he could very well make it a tough decision for the Flyers brass. Maybe if Zach Aston-Reese is solid enough, he can win the extra forward job over someone like Carl Grundstrom.
And on the blue line, now is the time for David Jiricek to show off. Even if he’s basically guaranteed a spot or else the Flyers could lose him to the waiver wire, he needs to demonstrate his ability so that he can get regular playing time.
The Flyers are facing a very good Bruins roster (for the preseason) with a bunch of young guys and prospects on the second half of a back-to-back with travel across multiple state lines. Oof.
Show something on special teams
For something more granular, the Flyers do need to show something on their special teams. They did open the scoring via a power-play goal from Jack Studnicka but they also allowed one on the penalty kill just minutes later. And, the killing goal to make it 5-2 was scored shorthanded by Jonny Brodzinski. They should at least try to make it tough for the Bruins power play to get settled — since there isn’t a whole lot of supreme skill to maybe get something on their own power play tonight.
