Currently, the Philadelphia Flyers (4-2-1) are 3-0-0 at the Wells Fargo Center.
They shut out the Vancouver Canucks, shut down Connor McDavid, and routed the Minnesota Wild on Thursday. John Tortorella has his lineup buzzing, and more often than not, it results in competitive or winning hockey.
“The room is together, and I think that’s the biggest improvement we made from last year. I don’t think our room was awful last year, but our room needed to change. It’s been very well talked about and documented.”
John Tortorella; 10/26/2023
In a matinee, the Anaheim Ducks (3-4-0) arrive on Broad Street. Last season, these clubs met twice in January. The Flyers swept the Ducks, lastly winning 5-2 in Philadelphia.
Anaheim Ducks
Anaheim beat the Boston Bruins on Thursday, 4-3. Greg Cronin hit it on the head, and it’s why the Ducks are riding a wave of momentum:
“We found a way. Think about it, it’s not too many times teams are gonna’ score two goals in the last three minutes of a game in Boston against the Bruins. It’s huge for us.”
Greg Cronin; 10/26/2023
Leo Carlsson notched a goal and an assist. He had three shots on goal, an additional one that sailed above the crossbar, a takeaway, and a hit. Carlsson is impressive in his rookie season, but if the Flyers are going to counter him, they’ll need to keep physical, not allow forwards to get behind the defense in transition, and win at the faceoff dot.
Here’s the tentative lineup for the Anaheim Ducks:
Zegras-Carlsson-Terry
Vatrano-McTavish-Strome
Jones-Henrique-Silfverberg
Johnston-Carrick-Leason
Fowler-LaCombe
Vaakanainen-Gudas
Mintyukov-Lyubushkin
Dostal
(Gibson)
Philadelphia Flyers
Tortorella deployed a lineup with a different look on Thursday. Where the forwards remained the same, Nick Seeler switched to LD to make room for the debut of Louie Belpedio at RD. Emil Andrae is on assignment with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, earning more playing time for development, and Philadelphia recalled Belpedio, along with Victor Mete. Mete could see a start, likely on rotation with Belpedio, but Tortorella gave his flowers:
“I think you can accomplish a lot with your standard of how hard you have to play, and it’s hard to do it as a group. I think they’re doing it as a group right now. This was a tough game for us after the travel. I don’t know what’s the best way to travel back from there; do you leave after the game, [or] do you leave the next day? I felt awful today, and I was so concerned about how they felt from the travel day. I think they help one another; that’s the only way we’re going to stay competitive in the league this year. We build; we’re going to go through some growing pains. Be together; do it as a group, as a committee. I think that helps us in situations when you go through the ebbs and flows of a hockey game.”
John Tortorella; 10/26/2023
Travis Konecny was a magician versus the Wild. His rocket snipe, served by Seeler, aimed perfectly to open the floodgates on Filip Gustavsson. The last time the Flyers hosted Anaheim, Konecny contributed two assists.
Here’s the tentative lineup for the Philadelphia Flyers:
Tippett-Couturier-Atkinson
Konecny-Laughton-Foerster
Farabee-Cates-Brink
Deslauriers-Poehling-Hathaway
York-Sanheim
Zamula-Walker
Seeler-Belpedio
Hart
(Ersson)
Place Your Bets (via DraftKings)
Philadelphia Flyers (-185)
Anaheim Ducks (+154)
Leo Carlsson over .5pt (-115)
Travis Konecny over .5pt (-166)
Game Information
You can watch the Flyers host the Ducks at the Wells Fargo Center on NBC Sports Philadelphia. The radio broadcast can be heard on 97.5 the Fanatic and Flyers Radio 24/7. The puck drops at 1pm.
(AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
