Hoping to return from the All-Star break on a positive note, the Philadelphia Flyers hosted the Detriot Red Wings on Wednesday. The Flyers had momentum, having won two in a row before Claude Giroux took home the All-Star MVP honor. Now, Philadelphia is dead last in the Metropolitan Division and 27th in the NHL. Wins are scarce; the Flyers are in “holy sell” mode. The Detroit Red Wings destroyed Philadelphia, 6-3.
Since returning from the All-Star break, the Flyers are still looking for their first win. They’ll need their skilled players to step up. Zack MacEwen has been a great addition, but, if he is the best player on the ice again, it will be a long game.
Detroit Red Wings (21-21-6; 48pts)
Dylan Larkin led the way against the Philadelphia Flyers. He was joined by Lucas Raymond, Robby Fabri, Pius Sutter (11G, 11A,) Givani Smith, and Vladislav Namestnikov in goal scoring.
The Detroit Red Wings remain without Mitchell Stephens (lower body,) Jakub Vrana (shoulder,) Carter Rowney (undisclosed,) Nick Leddy (upper body,) and Filip Hronek (COVID protocol.) Troy Stecher, who has been out since was back at practice.
“Biggest thing for me is mentally getting around the whole thing of going through that surgery. It’s not going to feel like it’s 100 percent, even though the strength and range of motion is there. You have to mentally get around that and trust the work you’ve done; trust the training staff and the work they’ve put in.”
Troy Stecher, 2/11/2022
Here’s the projected lineup for the Red Wings:
Zadina-Larkin-Raymond
Fabbri-Suter-Bertuzzi
Namestnikov-Rasmussen-Erne
Smith-Veleno-Gagner
DeKeyser-Seider
Staal-Stecher
Oesterle-Lindstrom
Nedeljkovic
(Greiss)
Alex Nedeljkovic (14-13-5; 2.91GAA; 91%SV) earned his first victory against the Flyers during the 6-3 rout.
The Philadelphia Flyers (15-23-8; 38pts)
Isaac Ratcliffe (1G, 0A) scored his first NHL goal. Travis Sanheim and Scott Laughton joined in the scoring. With the exception of those shifts, everything else was flat.
Jackson Cates was recalled from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms under emergency conditions. This happened after Sean Couturier was shut down for the season via Chuck Fletcher. Couturier had successful back surgery. The rest of the injury report reads: Ryan Ellis (lower body,) Kevin Hayes (lower body,) Patrick Brown (MCL,) and Joel Farabee (upper body.) Rasmus Ristolainen (undisclosed) and Derick Brassard (late scratch) will not be in the lineup today.
Here’s the lineup for the Philadelphia Flyers, per Giana Han:
Lindblom-Giroux-Atkinson
van Riemsdyk-Laughton-Konecny
Mayhew-Bunnaman-Willman
Ratcliffe-Cates-MacEwen
Provorov-Braun
Sanheim-Connauton
Yandle-Seeler
Hart
(Jones)
The Detroit Red Wings are a faster team, win puck battles, and are unthreatened by the Flyers’ powerplay. Taking three shots in the third period is unacceptable. It is a concerning trend continuing from last season.
Prediction
The Philadelphia Flyers won’t figure out this season. Mike Yeo had enough, channeling his inner Mike Keenan to toughen them up. Thursday, Yeo put the Flyers through a tough practice with a lot of battles. Hopefully, a switch flips.
Flyers 2, Red Wings 5
(Photo by Gavin Baker/Icon Sportswire)
