What to watch in Flyers vs Bruins preseason clash

The Philadelphia Flyers are on the road for the first time this preseason, visiting the Boston Bruins tonight at 7:30pm.

A season ago, the Bruins finished third in the Mass Mutual Eastern Division. Following the regular season, Boston eventually lost to the New York Islanders in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals.

Head-to-head, the Flyers matched up poorly against the Bruins a year ago. Through eight contests, Philadelphia finished with a 2-4-2 record, including a thrashing on Lake Tahoe. Brian Elliott earned both of the Flyers victories while Sean Couturier and Travis Sanheim notched the game-winning goals.

Tonight, Sean Couturier will likely stay out of the lineup after playing on Tuesday. Sanheim will make his preseason debut, potentially heading the defense with Rasmus Ristolainen. Cam York and Adam Clendening will be featured on defense too. Clendening is battling for the seventh defenseman role while Samuel Morin remains out. He’ll have to outperform Nick Seeler, who made a positive impression on Carter Hart:

“Seels was a warrior; he was blocking a lot of shots, blocked one with his face, there, and I am glad he’s okay.”
Carter Hart; 9/29/2021

Recently, Boston lost in regulation to the New York Rangers. Philadelphia is familiar with the Rangers this offseason, splitting a weekend series of rookie games against them. The Flyers’ second and fourth lines will headline the forwards tonight. Martin Jones and Felix Sandstrom make their 2021-2022 preseason debut between the pipes, too.

Opposing Forces

The Boston Bruins put their fourth line at the top of the lineup against the New York Rangers. Their notable starters hardly played in either of their preseason games to date.

Jack Studnicka and Fabian Lysell received compliments from Bruce Cassidy.

Studnicka remained in Boston, training for the upcoming season. According to him, he put on fifteen pounds of muscle. He’s hoping to fill in the second line, where David Krejci left off. Lysell registered an assist when Studnicka scored the first goal in the Bruins contest versus the Rangers.

Lysell will likely continue in the WHL following training camp. Through two games, he’s shown an affinity to engage in puck battles against sizeable NHL players. Then, there was the aforementioned assist. He’s a Boston prospect who provides a spark. Once Lysell adds more size, his trajectory to the Bruins is on pace.

“Today is the first go for our main guys.”
Bruce Cassidy; 9/30/2021

Boston is ready to play most of their usual lineup against the Philadelphia Flyers at home. That makes sense, considering it’s their third game of the preseason. Cassidy wants to get an early look at his actual lineup, then mix lines as the night progresses.

An Eye on Philadelphia

Martin Jones is the backup goaltender responsible for mitigating damage in place of Carter Hart. Tonight, especially considering Bruce Cassidy’s lineup, he’ll face a potential offensive onslaught. Following Jones will be a scheduled appearance from Felix Sandstrom.

Morgan Frost and Rasmus Ristolainen are under the spotlight in this matchup. Frost is battling for a top-six role. The last time we saw Frost compete was during the Team Orange versus Team Black scrimmage on Sunday. At the end of the game, Elliot Desnoyers got the best of Frost. His frustration was transparent.

Ristolainen is a physical presence determined to show the Philadelphia Flyers that his tenure with the Buffalo Sabres doesn’t represent him. In many ways, the Boston Bruins are the perfect team for Ristolainen’s Flyers debut. Expect the starting forwards to get chippy as the game progresses. In one preseason game, Ristolainen could make Philadelphia his home by stepping up to Brad Marchand.