The Philadelphia Flyers (16-10-3) will host the Detroit Red Wings (15-10-4) on Saturday night in what will be the first time these two teams see each other this season.
Riding a seven-game point streak, the Flyers are coming off a shootout victory on Thursday versus the Washington Capitals. They’ll look to extend that streak to eight games before playing four games next week ahead of Christmas break.
Detroit Red Wings
Currently fourth in the Atlantic Division, the Red Wings are a point shy of Philadelphia in the NHL standings. However, Detroit limps into tonight’s contest losers in four of their last five games. Recently, they hosted the Carolina Hurricanes, losing 2-1.
Alex Lyon is the projected starter. Ville Husso kept the Red Wings competitive with the Hurricanes, stopping 37/39 shots on goal. Derek Lalonde offered his thoughts on Husso:
“Ville was excellent. It’s frustrating because [Thursday was] his best game in a while. The miscue reflects our overall game a little bit, where we have to be good all the time. It’s unfortunate.”
Derek Lalonde; 12/14/2023
Detroit doesn’t have history on its side while they look to change their fortunes in Philadelphia. Since the Red Wings swept the Flyers in the 1997 Stanley Cup Finals, they’re 2-16-2 on Broad Street.
JT Compher is expected to return to the lineup tonight. He was on injury reserve with an undisclosed injury. Compher totaled 19 points in 24 games this season.
Here’s the tentative lineup for the Detroit Red Wings:
Rasmussen-Compher-Kane
DeBrincat-Veleno-Raymond
Fabbri-Copp-Sprong
Kostin-Czarnik-Fischer
Walman-Seider
Chiarot-Petry
Maatta-Gostisbehere
Lyon
(Husso)
Philadelphia Flyers
Another win after regulation is as taxing as it is rewarding. In December, two-thirds of the Flyers’ games played went to an overtime or shootout. Tough performances are paying off as they keep finding ways to win.
Philadelphia hopes to add another to the win column, starting a streak again. Sam Ersson will be the catalyst with Carter Hart out of the lineup due to an illness. Ersson is keeping the team afloat in December; 2-0-1 with an 89.2%SV and a 3GAA.
Yegor Zamula will enter the lineup, replacing Marc Staal. Sean Couturier took a maintenance day and was not present at an optional morning skate. If he doesn’t take the ice, Olle Lycksell could enter the lineup.
On the powerplay, the Flyers are only converting 10.9% of their man advantages, unable to score versus the Capitals. The penalty kill still ranks among the elite; fifth in the NHL. They’ll face a test. The Red Wings powerplay ranks 13th; 22.3%. John Tortorella spoke about his penalty kill:
“Our powerplay has been inconsistent, so our penalty kill has kind of done double duty there. But special teams, it comes and goes. The biggest thing with our PK [penalty kill]; I think we’re all in sync.”
John Tortorella 12/16/2023
Here’s the tentative lineup for the Philadelphia Flyers:
Foerster-Couturier-Konecny
Farabee-Laughton-Atkinson
Tippett-Frost-Brink
Deslauriers-Poehling-Hathaway
York-Sanheim
Seeler-Walker
Zamula-Ristolainen
Ersson
(Hart)
Place Your Bets (via DraftKings)
Philadelphia Flyers (-125)
Detroit Red Wings (+105)
Alex DeBrincat anytime goal (+160)
Travis Sanheim over .5pt (+114)
Game Information
Tonight’s matchup between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Detroit Red Wings will begin at 7pm. The telecast is available on NBC Sports Philadelphia and the radio broadcast can be heard on 93.3WMMR.
(AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)
