Prior to embarking on a three-game road trip, the Philadelphia Flyers (21-14-6) took the shootout victory against the Montreal Candiens on Wednesday night. Despite surrendering two goals on as many shots in a rough first period, the Flyers were able to recollect themselves and even the game in the second period. With no more goals to be scored, the two teams went to overtime and eventually, a shootout.
Sean Couturier scored the lone goal of the shootout to give the Flyers the win. One of the bigger storylines from Wednesday’s contest was the debut of newly acquired defenseman Jamie Drysdale. The 21-year-old recorded his first point with his new team on an assist to Morgan Frost in the second period.
Drysdale spoke about his first time on the ice in front of his new home crowd after the game:
“From the second I got on the ice, seeing the crowd, it was a pretty unbelievable environment and a really fun spot to play in.”
Jamie Drysdale 1/10/2024
The Flyers will look to begin their road trip with a win on Friday night in Minnesota against the Wild (17-19-4).
Flyers vs Wild: Game Info
Date: Friday, January 12th
Time: 8:00 PM ET
Location: Xcel Energy Center, Minnesota
TV channel: ESPN+
Flyers vs Wild: Betting Info
Spread: Philadelphia Flyers -4.5 | Minnesota Wild +4.5
Moneyline: Philadelphia Flyers -112 | Minnesota Wild -108
Total: Over/Under 6
Minnesota Wild
The Wild are 1-4 in the month of January entering Friday’s contest. In their last two games, the team has been outscored 11-2. Despite losing 7-2 on Wednesday to the Dallas Stars, Minnesota head coach John Hynes thought that his team played better than the final score suggests:
“I thought there were times early in the game where we couldn’t get the goal or get the momentum going, where we did have some looks. Even right after they scored the goal, we had a look before that and right after that. There were moments in the game where you need to score at a certain time when you have looks, and we didn’t have that, particularly early in the game.”
John Hynes 1/11/2024
Friday night will be the second time the two teams have faced off this season. The Flyers won the first game on Oct. 26 by four goals, 6-2. However, the Wild hold the edge over the Flyers with a 6-3-1 record in their last ten meetings.
Here are the tentative lines for the Wild tonight:
Boldy-Hartman-Zuccarello
Johansson-Eriksson Ek-Foligno
Maroon-Rossi-Gaudreau
Duhaime-Dewar-Raska
Middleton-Faber
Goligoski-Bogosian
Merrill-Mermis
Fleury
(Gustavvson)
Philadelphia Flyers
The Flyers have been getting some help from some of their young forwards. Both Frost and Owen Tippett have been impactful on the ice over the last several games. Frost has recorded three points (2g, 1a) in the last three games.
Tippett has scored goals in each of the last two games. The 24-year-old left wing had also recently recorded the fastest skating speed of any player in the NHL this season. In Wednesday’s win against Montreal, Tippett was recorded 24.21mph at the end of overtime.
Carter Hart will get the start tonight for the Flyers after Sam Ersson started Wednesday. The goaltender is coming off a 35-save performance in the loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins last week. Hart has scuffled a bit in three starts in January, posting a 3.67GAA. He will look to turn things around tonight against a Minnesota team that averages under three goals per game.
Bobby Brink will get the night off and Nic Deslauriers will re-enter the lineup tonight. Brink, a Minnesota native, will be out because John Tortorella feels that other players have played better recently:
“Other players have played better. This is all part of the process for Bobby. He’s going to be a really good player, but there are a lot of things he needs to work on, and I think he’s been a little inconsistent. Bobby Brink doesn’t have a cemented spot in the National Hockey League. He has a ways to go as far as to find that. But that’s to be expected. I think he’s going to be a really good player for us.”
John Tortorella 1/12/2024
Here is the tentative lineup for the Flyers tonight:
Farabee-Couturier-Konecny
Tippett-Frost-Atkinson
Foerster-Laughton-Hathaway
Poehling-Deslauriers
Sanheim-Drysdale
York-Walker
Seeler-Ristolainen
Zamula
Hart
(Ersson)
Place Your Bets (via DraftKings)
Philadelphia Flyers (-112)
Minnesota Wild (-108)
Matthew Boldy over .5pt (-180)
Sean Couturier (+175)
How to Watch
Tonight’s matchup will start at 8pm. The game will be televised on NBC Sports Philadelphia+ and 93.3 WMMR will carry the radio broadcast.
AP Photo/Matt Slocum
