Preview: Flyers return home to host struggling Blues

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Flyers' Rasmus Ristolainen
VANCOUVER, BC – OCTOBER 28: Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen (70) skates with the puck during their NHL game against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on October 28, 2021 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Derek Cain/Icon Sportswire)

The Philadelphia Flyers (6-3-2) return to South Philadelphia tonight to host the St. Louis Blues (3-7-0) at the Wells Fargo Center. The puck drops at 7pm.

St. Louis Blues

The Blues come into Philadelphia on the second night of a back-to-back. Last night, they fell to the Boston Bruins, 3-1. The 2022-2023 season started miserably. A perennial playoff contender, they’re at the bottom of the Central Division with a 3-7-0 record. Their nightmare start currently includes a league-worst seven-game losing streak.

The captain of St. Louis, Ryan O’Reilly, only scored a goal in 10 games played this season; a slow start he is critical about:

“I’m not really doing anything. I’m kind of fighting for my life right now. I’ve got to fight to stay in this league, I guess, but I’ve got to do a lot more, leadership-wise, my own play. If I can do that, just that small thing, I think I can make a big difference. For myself especially, it’s pretty pathetic.”

Ryan O’Reilly; 11/3/2022

Brayden Schenn and Justin Faulk are the joint-scoring leaders for the Blues. Both players totaled ten points (3G, 7A) each. Schenn scored last night against the Bruins, the lone goal for his team. Tonight, Felix Sandstrom will oppose them.

Blues Projected Lineup:

Saad-O’Reilly-Barbashev
Buchnevich-Thomas-Tarasenko
Neighbours-Schenn-Kyrou
Toropchenko-Acciari-Walker

Leddy-Parayko
Krug-Faulk
Mikkola-Bortuzzo

Greiss
(Binnington)

Philadelphia Flyers

On the road last week, the Flyers went 1-1-1. Their win came against Claude Giroux and the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.

The new reverse retro jersey will be in action for the first time tonight and the Cooperalls will be on display during warmups.

Sandstrom (0-3-0, 89.4%SV, 3.78GAA) is hunting for his first NHL victory. The defense in front of him must be tighter, blocking shots. Carter Hart is more capable of weathering the oncoming storm of pucks. It would be ideal for Sandstrom to face less than thirty shots on goal if the defensive group ahead of him can tighten up and keep out of the penalty box.

Rasmus Ristolainen (-4, 7HIT, 3GV, 23.5%CF) will return to the lineup tonight after being a healthy scratch on Saturday. Egor Zamula and Kieffer Bellows will be tonight’s healthy scratches.

Before Ristolainen made his season debut, John Tortorella mentioned that he wanted the defenseman to add patience and positioning in his game rather than looking for the big hits. Tortorella has high expectations for Ristolainen and spoke about the decision to add him back into the lineup and remove Zamula:

“Egor struggled. I think it’s been up and down for him throughout it, so Risto gets a chance. I’m not chucking Risto away, just speaking in general terms, he just needs to be a better player for us.”

John Tortorella; 11/8/2022

Flyers Projected Lineup, per Olivia Reiner:

Tippett-Hayes-Konecny
Farabee-Laughton-Allison
Cates-Sedlak-MacEwen
Deslauriers-Frost-Laczynski

Provorov-DeAngelo
Sanheim-Braun
Seeler-Ristolainen

Sandstrom
(Hart)

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Game Information

Tonight’s game will be televised on NBCSP and radio coverage will be found on 97.5 The Fanatic along with Flyers Radio 24/7.

(Photo by Derek Cain/Icon Sportswire)