It’s as true for the Philadelphia Flyers as for Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz: there’s no place like home. Only Dorothy’s home has Auntie Em and the Flyers’ home has thousands of fans with hoagies and beer.
Returning home from a four-game road trip, John Tortorella’s Flyers (8-7-1) have a lunchtime date with Bruce Cassidy’s defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights (13-3-1).
The first meeting of the season between these two teams came three weeks ago on October 24th where the Flyers lost when Shea Theodore blasted a shot from the left circle with 32.5 seconds left to give Vegas a 3-2 victory. The Saturday tilt will be the second and final contest of the 2023-24 season between the two squads.
A win on Saturday would build on the four-game winning streak the Flyers are riding after a successful road trip. The Flyers are 2-2-1 in their last five games against the Golden Knights.
Where to Watch
When: November 18th, 1:00pm
Where: Wells Fargo Center
How to watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Flyers vs Golden Knights betting info
Moneyline: Philadelphia Flyers +136 | Vegas Golden Knights -162
Spread: Philadelphia Flyers +1.5 -180 | Vegas Golden Knights -1.5 +150
Total: O/U 6
Las Vegas Golden Knights
Even though it’s the Flyers’ home ice, it’s a big day for two Vegas guys. William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault will play in their 450th game as Golden Knights. It’s been a great season for Karlsson as well, leading the team with 19 points (8G, 11A). Jack Eichel is coming into Saturday’s game off a three-point game in the team’s 6-5 over the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday. Eichel had two assists against the Flyers back on October 24th. In Vegas’ most recent contest, both Eichel and captain Mark Stone scored power-play goals 44 seconds apart late in the third period.
Between the pipes, Logan Thompson is expected to get the start for Vegas. In his last start against the Washington Captials, Thompson suffered. He allowed two goals on 30 shots. But in a twist of fate, Thompson was also in goal for Vegas’ win over the Flyers. In that evening event, the 26-year-old made 26 saves on 28 shots.
A weakness the Flyers can exploit is poor puck management. But the penalty kill against the Canadiens was a plus for Vegas. The squad was 3-for-7 on the power play and killed all three Montreal opportunities. Cassidy said that the Golden Knights’ special teams were quite the different makers.
“We’ve talked about that being more important for us this year. Last year, we got a lot of wins and it wasn’t always a strength of ours. And this year, especially the kill lately has been excellent. Another short-handed goal to give us some juice. The power play came through at the end, so I’m happy for those guys.”
Bruce Cassidy, 11/16/23
Here is the projected lineup for the Vegas Golden Knights, according to Jonathan Bailey.
Ivan Barbashev – Jack Eichel – Jonathan Marchessault
Michael Amadio – Brett Howden – Mark Stone
Pavel Dorofeyev – William Karlsson – Paul Cotter
William Carrier – Nicolas Roy – Keegan Kolesar
Alec Martinez – Alex Pietrangelo
Shea Theodore – Brayden McNabb
Ben Hutton – Zach Whitecloud
Logan Thompson
(Adin Hill)
Philadelphia Flyers
Philly finished off a 3-1-0 road trip with a 3-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes behind 32 saves from Hart. The Orange and Black also had goals from three different lines as Owen Tippett (6th goal of the season), Travis Konecny (10th), and Ryan Poehling (1st) scored one each. Add in Morgan Frost and the Flyers are bringing a couple of strong scorers back home.
Tippett and Frost are two to watch in Saturday’s contest. Winger Tippett is on a three-game scoring streak, scoring twice on the rush and an empty netter. Frost (don’t look at Flyers’ Twitter about him) has two goals and two assists in the past three games. He also got the primacy assist on two of Tippett’s goals. There’s also Tyson Foerster, who leads all Flyers players both in overall individual scoring chances with 26.
Torts acknowledged he wants both older and younger guys to make these scoring opportunities.
“We’re going to be making these decisions all year long, whether it be older guys or the younger guys, as we continue. We want to grow them, but we’re trying to win hockey games, too, as we’re involved in the season.”
John Tortorella, 11/15/23
It’ll be nice to have Carter Hart back in the net for his second game since having an illness and a mid-body injury. He had a great outing on Wednesday, having made 31 saves in a 3-1 victory over the Hurricanes.
But of course, with any team, there’s a weakness. This time, it’s the Flyers’ power play. They have no problem scoring at 5-on-5 with some regularity but are in an 0-for-26 drought on the power play. Philly also ranks 30th on the power play, 4-for-53 (7.6 percent). However, Vegas will need to watch out for the penalty kill unit. Philadelphia ranks 14th in the NHL at a success rate of 80.4 percent.
Here’s the projected lineup for the Philadelphia Flyers, according to Jonathan Bailey:
Tyson Foerster – Sean Couturier – Travis Konecny
Owen Tippett – Morgan Frost – Cam Atkinson
Joel Farabee – Ryan Poehling – Scott Laughton
Nicolas Deslauriers – Noah Cates – Garnet Hathaway
Cam York – Travis Sanheim
Nick Seeler – Sean Walker
Marc Staal – Louie Belpedio
Carter Hart
(Sam Ersson)
AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker
