John Tortorella made it clear. The unclaimed roster spaces in the Philadelphia Flyers lineup will be earned based on merit.
The 1-2-0 record the Flyers hold in the 2023 NHL Preseason doesn’t do the team justice. They didn’t get the job done against the New York Islanders but were arguably the better team on the ice, and against the Boston Bruins, the Flyers won in a shootout. These last two performances justify the heavy volume skating that began the 2023 Flyers Training Camp as the lineup competes against other formidable preseason lineups from the Metropolitan Division.
Tonight, the Flyers have a shot at redemption versus the New Jersey Devils, who routed them in a 6-0 shutout on Monday in Newark.
New Jersey Devils
Remaining undefeated in the 2023 NHL Preseason, the Devils defeated the New York Rangers two nights ago, 3-2, to improve to 3-0-0. Something unique about the Devils was when they split the roster, defeating the Montreal Canadiens on the same night they shut out the Flyers.
“We’ve put different players with different lines because even during games, maybe there’s somebody that’s not going well; we’ll play with somebody else. That’s something we really got accustomed to, and the guys really handle it well.”
Lindy Ruff; 9/29/2023
Erik Haula, Dawson Mercer, and Ondrej Palat will skate in the top six of the lineup. Haula and Palat scored in the first period on Monday versus the Flyers. Mercer scored the eventual game-winner in Montreal. Together or apart, members of this line were buzzing.
“I’m really excited. We have a lot of chemistry; just working hard. We’re all on the same page. In the practice time and scrimmages, it’s been going really well for us. Tomorrow night’s going to be a good opportunity.”
Dawson Mercer; 9/29/2023
Here’s the tentative lineup for the New Jersey Devils, per Amanda Stein:
Meier-Hischier-Holtz
Palat-Haula-Mercer
Willman-Tierney-Thompson
Bowers-Criscuolo-Lazar
Siegenthaler-Hamilton
Hatakka-Smith
Vukojevic-Foote
Vanecek
(Schmid)
Philadelphia Flyers
Cam York did practice this morning. He is healthy but not in the lineup. Cam Atkinson and Travis Konecny are in the lineup.
“It’ll be nice to get the first couple [of] shifts out of the way. I prepared myself pretty well for this. It feels like a regular season game. I’m going to approach it like that. I’m sure there will be some rust and some stuff I’m going to work out, but I’m excited to get going.”
Cam Atkinson; 9/30/2023
Bobby Brink gets another chance in the lineup. Samu Tuomaala doubled in the morning skate as a placeholder as management figured out the rest of this lineup, but with his performance in Boston, Brink earned another chance to scrap for a spot with the Flyers.
“Bobby played really, really well. He was an offensive catalyst; that line with him, Frosty [Frost], and Tip [Tippett] had a lot of chemistry tonight. [He] got a goal and an assist, he was good on the powerplay, he played good five-on-five as well. He was stripping guys of the puck. He was backchecking like we’ve been asking him to do; that was really encouraging.”
Rocky Thompson; 9/29/2023
Here’s the tentative lineup for the Philadelphia Flyers:
Furry-Couturier-Konecny
Allison-Cates-Brink
Brown-Laczynski-Atkinson
Lycksell-Gardner-Tuomaala
Staal-Walker
Andrae-Ristolainen
Ginning-Attard
Hart
(Sandstrom)
Game Information
You can watch the Flyers make their 2023 NHL Preseason home ice debut versus the Devils, streaming on NBCSP+. The broadcast is available on 97.5 the Fanatic and Flyers Radio 24/7. The puck drops at 7pm.
(Photo by Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire)
