No pun intended, but things are getting a little wild for the Philadelphia Flyers (22-14-6).
They’re making headline trades, they’ve won consecutive games requiring more than regulation time, and the Flyers did it with varying lineups. The game-winner against the Minnesota Wild was a powerplay goal, making a four-game streak for the last-placed special teams unit in the NHL.
Philadelphia hopes to add to their 8-3-2 record in back-to-back games this season. The Winnipeg Jets (28-9-4) stand atop the NHL. Here’s the tale of the tape head of tonight’s matchup at the Canada Life Centre:
Winnipeg Jets
On an eight-game winning streak, the Jets are flowing through the competition. They defeated the Chicago Blackhawks, 2-1, on Thursday. Rick Bowness understands the assignment ahead of his lineup on home ice versus the Flyers:
“It’s a John Tortorella coached team. They’re coming hard whether they played last night or not. I watched the game in Minnesota, and they were down three-one, and they kept battling back. That’s how they play. There’s a lot of similarities between the two teams [the Flyers and Jets] and how the pressure we put on the opposition; they work hard, they’re coming at us, they’re going to be on top of us, and that’s how we play. We try to pressure them as much as possible as well. I know they played last night. They had a big game, a big win, come from behind; they’ll be pumped up.”
Rick Bowness; 1/13/2024
Josh Morrissey was a workhorse in the victory versus the Blackhawks, notching a secondary assist when Gabriel Vilardi scored a game-tying goal. He matched Chicago physically, was responsible with the puck in forcing a turnover, and drew a couple of penalties, which is where he could get Philadelphia into trouble.
Here’s the tentative lineup for the Winnipeg Jets:
Ehlers-Lowry-Vilardi
Perfetti-Namestnikov-Iafallo
Niederreiter-Kupari-Appleton
Barron-Toninato-JonssonFjallby
Morrissey-DeMelo
Dillon-Pionk
Samberg-Schmidt
Hellebuyck
(Brossoit)
Philadelphia Flyers
Consider this another measuring stick road trip for the Flyers. It’ll be another physical, grinding end to a back-to-back. Tortorella cited just how important their momentum is heading into tonight’s game:
“It’s a pretty important couple of points. We’re going to Winnipeg; I don’t know how long it’s going to take for us to get out of here, as far as flying. It’s a six o’clock game in Winnipeg; the best team in the National Hockey League waiting for us; it gets stacked against you a little bit. To win our last home game before a three-game trip, and to win that first one, I think later in the year, that could help you with those points as far as where you want to be. Again, we just take ’em one at a time. We’ll get on a plane, it’ll probably take us a little while to de-ice, it’s so damn cold out here, and try to get to Winnipeg as quickly as possible.”
John Tortorella; 1/12/2024
Travis Konecny continues to be on a roll, linking with Joel Farabee to begin the scoring against the Wild, then serving the primary assist to Owen Tippett to tie the game, 3-3. Konecny took risks that paid off last night, and he’ll have to remain a threat on the rush, stealing high-danger scoring chances any way he can.
Here’s the tentative lineup for the Philadelphia Flyers:
Farabee-Brink-Konecny
Tippett-Frost-Atkinson
Foerster-Laughton-Hathaway
Poehling-Deslauriers
York-Sanheim
Seeler-Walker
Zamula-Ristolainen
Staal
Ersson
(Hart)
Place Your Bets (via DraftKings)
Philadelphia Flyers (+160)
Winnipeg Jets (-192)
Josh Morrissey over .5pt (-140)
Josh Morrissey over 2.5SOG (-135)
Travis Konecny anytime goalscorer (+135)
Travis Konecny under 3.5SOG (-130)
Game Information
Watch the Philadelphia Flyers visit the Winnipeg Jets on NBC Sports Philadelphia and listen to the radio broadcast on 97.5 the Fanatic. The opening faceoff is at 7pm.
(AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
