Today, Group A and Group B had their practice sessions simultaneously on different rinks. Segregating the two groups to practice concurrently prepared the Philadelphia Flyers training camp roster for a head-to-head scrimmage.
There was an emphasis on the powerplay and penalty kill units. During the scrimmage, special teams claimed priority. Chuck Fletcher and Alain Vigneault want a feel, early on, of what players can accelerate the two units. Powerplay scenarios for the Orange Team and Black Team were conjured during scrimmages, even if an actual penalty didn’t happen. Such is the point of training camp.
Group C didn’t skate in the morning. Yesterday, most of those players filtered into Group A and B. Kirill Ustimenko wouldn’t be a part of the goaltenders participating in the combined scrimmage.
Continuing from yesterday, Tanner Laczynski remained out because he tweaked his other hip. It’s a maintenance day for Laczynski to manage his injury. Linus Hogberg, who pulled his oblique, remained out. Before today’s session, there was not an update for either player.
Here’s how day four of Flyers training camp played out:
Practice Session
Per Bill Meltzer, here are the lineups for the practice session:
Group A looks like a potential roster for the Philadelphia Flyers, but nothing is a “lock” on day four of training camp. Martin Jones did work in the same group as Carter Hart, despite Group A denoting Samuel Ersson. Adam Clendening is working with Group A instead of Yegor Zamula or Cam York, which isn’t completely surprising. Connor Bunnaman and German Rubtsov with Group A, but not Linus Sandin, opened my eyes.
Joel Farabee transitioned from LW to RW. The assumption is that he’ll play on the second line, pushing Cam Atkinson to the third line. That’ll mean Morgan Frost could crack the Flyers’ top six as the 2C. Derick Brassard, who was the catalyst of many scoring plays during drills, will fill the 3C role. Scott Laughton will likely move from C to LW on a physical fourth line with Nate Thompson and Nicolas Aube-Kubel.
As touched on earlier, Philadelphia was headstrong about making today a heavy special team session. We received an early look at what the powerplay units could be. Per Jordan Hall, here’s how the first and second powerplay units may look:
Laughton and Thompson make sense on the penalty kill with Travis Sanheim and Justin Braun. Same with Aube-Kubel and Oskar Lindblom.
Sunday Scrimmage
Per Bill Meltzer, these are the rosters for Sunday’s scrimmage:
Sean Couturier and Morgan Frost took the opening faceoff of the Team Orange versus Team Black scrimmage. Today’s scrimmage serves as a preview for Tuesday night as the Philadelphia Flyers take on the New York Islanders in their first preseason game.
Max Willman received a backhand pass from Garrett Wilson, leading him beyond Quinn Schmiemann. Willman, who displayed smooth hands in a scrimmage before the 2020-2021 season, beat Carter Hart for the score. On both teams, prospects were making plays.
Gerry Mayhew put Team Orange on the board following a long hold in the offensive zone. Ryan Ellis and Ivan Provorov were the puck-moving agents, but Mayhew saved the possession before scoring on a deflection. Provorov nearly skated through the center but lost control of the puck. He flipped the puck back to Provorov, Ellis shot from the blue-line, but Mayhew would earn credit for the goal against Martin Jones.
Tied, 1-1, play dissolved into different personnel scenarios (5v4, 4v4, etc.) Tyson Foerster scored a go-ahead powerplay goal for Team Orange, keeping with the puck after Cam Atkinson whiffed. German Rubtsov attempted to play Derick Brassard with the puck loose at the crease. Brassard passed to Atkinson on the wing before relaying to Foerster, who rifled a powerplay goal. Another academic powerplay goal began with Brassard minutes later, finishing with Provorov.
All considered, including the powerplay scenarios enforced in the scrimmage, Team Orange defeated Team Black, 4-3. The YouTube stream didn’t show Team Black tying the game following goals by Cam York and Rubtsov. In the end, Elliot Desnoyers outmatched Frost in a puck battle, resulting in this game-winning goal:
Photo Credit: Alex McIntyre
