It’s the final countdown for the Philadelphia Flyers. Tonight finishes a season worth forgetting as soon as the final horn sounds. The end is near and hopefully the raincloud over the team dissipates as quickly as possible.
Looking for a confidence boost, the Flyers were shutout 4-0 against the Winnipeg Jets. There’s still a chance to finish the season with a win; the Ottawa Senators are beatable. Wouldn’t it be nice to end the season on a high note?
The Senators weren’t victorious recently, also shutout 4-0 by the Florida Panthers on Tuesday. Ottawa isn’t scraping rock bottom like Philadelphia. A win in tonight’s rubber match takes the season series between the two franchises.
Ottawa Senators (32-42-7; 71 pts)
Connor Brown (undisclosed,) Colin White (COVID protocol,) Joseph Mathieu (upper body,) Jake Sanderson (hand,) Tyler Ennis (upper body,) Shane Pinto (shoulder,) and Matt Murray (upper body) are unavailable. Viktor Lodin makes his NHL debut.
Here’s the projected lineup for the Ottawa Senators:
Tkachuk-Norris-Batherson
Formenton-Stutzle-Gaudette
Kelly-Gambrell-Watson
Tierney-Kastelic-Lodin
Chabot-Hamonic
Brannstrom-Zub
Holden-Zaitsev
Forsberg
(Gustavsson)
Anton Forsberg (21-17-4, 2.84GAA, 91.6%SV) will start for the Senators. In his last start, he earned a 5-4 overtime victory versus the New Jersey Devils. Forsberg, in his career, is 1-0-1 versus the Philadelphia Flyers.
Brady Tkachuk (29G, 36A) leads Ottawa in scoring, nearing his first thirty goal season in the NHL. Already setting a new career high point total, Tkachuk loves getting under the skin of his opponents. He’s not afraid to get physical; playing the pest and pushing the envelope while totaling 117 minutes in the penalty box. Over the last five games, Tkachuk averages a point while the Senators won four of their last five.
Philadelphia Flyers (25-45-11; 61 pts)
Cam Atkinson (lower body,) Patrick Brown (upper body,) Kevin Connauton (lower body,) Rasmus Ristolainen (upper body,) Nick Seeler (lower body,) Carter Hart (lower body,) Sean Couturier (back,) Ryan Ellis (lower body,) and Cam York (lower body.) Couturier is skating again, rehabbing after his back surgery that ended his season, meanwhile Mike Yeo is “very confident” about Ellis returning and contributing in 2022-2023.
Here’s the projected lineup for the Philadelphia Flyers:
van Riemsdyk-Hayes-Konecny
Cates, N-Laughton-Brink
Farabee-Frost-Tippett
Lindblom-Thompson-MacEwen
Provorov-Attard
Hogberg-Sanheim
Yandle-Zamula
Jones
(Sandstrom)
Martin Jones (12-17-0, 3.43% GAA, 90.0% SV) will likely start. He posted back-to-back wins in his last two starts in Montreal and at home versus the Pittsburgh Penguins. Jones is 4-3-0 in his career versus the Ottawa Senators.
James van Riemsdyk (23G, 14A) is the only Flyers to not miss a game this season. It’ll be the second time in his career that he dressed for every regular season contest. He needs one goal to finish 2021-2022 as Philadelphia’s leading goal scorer. A two goal game totals 25 for the sixth time in his career (second with the Flyers.)
Props/Prediction
Brady Tkachuk anytime score (+165)
James van Riemsdyk anytime score (+225)
PHI moneyline (-115)
Correct Score Prediction (+1100): Flyers 3, Senators 2 OT
(Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)
