Responding to a familiar opponent, in the case of the Philadelphia Flyers (5-5-1), one you play twice in three nights, with a 5-1 win, is paramount in the progression of a rebuilding team. Nothing about the attacking philosophy changed. The execution, however, hit the mark.
Sometimes, when a team loses, it doesn’t mean they aren’t playing good hockey. Defeating the Buffalo Sabres was a study of perseverance.
“We just wanted to continue trying to play after we ended the last game. We wanted to play as fast as we could, just stay with our game; we felt we played really well in the loss the other night, and we just wanted to get back to it.”
John Tortorella; 11/3/2023
The Los Angeles Kings (6-2-2) are undefeated on the road (combined road opponent record: 21-21-7), visiting the Wells Fargo Center.
Los Angeles Kings
In the offseason, the Kings helped facilitate a trade between the Flyers and the Columbus Blue Jackets, acquiring Kevin Connauton and Hayden Hodgson to help move Ivan Provorov. In the transaction, Cal Petersen, Sean Walker, and Helge Grans represented the personnel arriving in Philadelphia (not including draft picks). Todd McLellan reflected on Petersen, who will start across the ice:
“He [Petersen] developed as a King; he came through the system, he worked with Billy [Ranford] in the goaltending department, [and] he played very well as he was evolving. It didn’t go real well at the end for whatever reason, and he’s getting a new opportunity with a new team, but we appreciated what he did. He worked hard, he was a great kid, [and his] teammates loved him. There were so many positives; it’s just that sometimes things don’t work out for individuals and they need a new opportunity. He was granted that and I’m sure he’s going to make good on it.”
Todd McLellan; 11/3/2023
Blake Lizotte (2G, 3A) positively influenced a penalty kill that finished 2/3 in Ottawa, including a shot on goal late in the second period when Drew Doughty served a minor penalty for interference. Lizotte, a student of the game, is paying close attention to the penalty-killing analytics:
“I think we’re, expected goals for on the PK, better by about forty percent this year through ten games, compared to last year. I think we’re really happy with where it’s at, and confident we can kill it off when we need it. Last year, at times, it was ‘oh, here we go, let’s just get through this.’ Now, we have a little more jam, more confidence to get it done.”
Blake Lizotte; 11/3/2023
Here’s the projected lineup for the Los Angeles Kings:
Byfield-Kopitar-Kempe
Fiala-Dubois-Laferriere
Moore-Danault-Kaliyev
Grundstrom-Lizotte-Lewis
Anderson-Doughty
Gavrikov-Roy
Englund-Spence
Talbot
(Copley)
Philadelphia Flyers
John Tortorella likes his lineup and the way they’re competing. He isn’t losing sight of where the organization is in the rebuild and highly approves of the locker room despite winning or losing. In a back-to-back, the focus stays on playing good, winning hockey.
“I know we’ve had a bad run in losing some games, but I like our team. I like some of the balance within our team. We’re still going to have struggles along the way this year, but I like the attitude of the team no matter if we’re winning or losing.”
John Tortorella; 11/3/2023
Tyson Foerster (2A) looks solid away from the puck in each zone, developing tremendous chemistry on a line with Morgan Frost and Travis Konecny. He is gripping the stick too tightly, snakebitten as a goal scorer, but he is finding other ways to be extremely useful on the ice.
“We’ve been working really hard, pressing forward, and creating a lot of chances for ourselves. They haven’t been going in. Hopefully, this starts us to get going a little bit, and find the back of the net.”
Scott Laughton; 11/3/2023
Here’s the tentative lineup for the Philadelphia Flyers:
Tippett-Cates-Atkinson
Farabee-Laughton-Brink
Konecny-Frost-Foerster
Deslauriers-Poehling-Hathaway
York-Sanheim
Seeler-Walker
Zamula-Belpedio
Petersen
(Ersson)
Place Your Bets (via DraftKings)
Philadelphia Flyers (+154)
Los Angeles Kings (-185)
Tyson Foerster over .5pt (+130)
Game Information
You can watch the Flyers host the Kings at the Wells Fargo Center on NBC Sports Philadelphia. The radio broadcast will be on 97.5 the Fanatic and Flyers Radio 24/7. The puck drops at 7:30pm.
(Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)
