The 2024 NHL Trade Deadline passed through, and two players were on the ice for the morning skate in Tampa. On the final day of the deadline, well after sending Sean Walker and a 2026 fifth-round pick to the Colorado Avalanche for a 2025 first-round pick and Ryan Johansen and getting a 2024 fifth-round pick from the Vegas Golden Knights for retaining $1.237mil (25%) of the contract of Noah Hanifin, Daniel Briere sent a 2024 fourth-round pick to the Buffalo Sabres for Erik Johnson, then traded Wade Allison to the Nashville Predators for Denis Gurianov. Johnson will slot into the lineup, and Gurianov might not be far behind.
“We removed a pretty big piece in Sean Walker, and the guys have worked extremely hard to get us to the point that they’ve gotten us this year. I’m not expecting and asking Erik Johnson to replace Sean Walker. What we’re looking for from Erik is to bring his experience; the fact that he’s played for a long time, the fact that he’s played a lot of playoff games, [and] the fact that he’s won a Stanley Cup. Hopefully, he can share a little bit of that with our group; with our young group especially on defense right now with all the injuries, too, that we have. It’s a pretty young group. We’re hoping he can share a little bit of his experience with our team. That’s the reason.”
Daniel Briere; 3/8/2024
Walker was arguably the best defenseman for the Philadelphia Flyers (33-23-8) this season. Since his departure, John Tortorella coached his lineup to a huge win against the best team in the NHL, taking the season series from the Florida Panthers to begin the visit to ‘The Sunshine State.’
With a win at Amalie Arena against the Tampa Bay Lightning (33-25-6), the Flyers will take the season series against both clubs from Florida.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Jon Cooper knows what Philadelphia is all about. The Lightning are 1-1-0 versus the Flyers in 2023-2024, with or without the lights on:
“We got to bring our jam, I’ll tell you that. We’ve played them [the Philadelphia Flyers] a couple times this year. They really work. It’s always tough to go to those tough areas with them; corners, front of the net, you have to be willing to play a price, and in the end, we have to defend and capitalize on our chances. They don’t give a whole bunch up.”
Jon Cooper; 3/9/2024
Steven Stamkos notched an assist in the recent loss to the Calgary Flames. He took a couple of quality shots on goal, which the Flames blocked a lot of his attempts, and he turned the puck over four times throughout the game. This season, Stamkos notched a six-on-five goal and a powerplay assist versus Philadelphia, striking when Tampa Bay is on the man advantage.
Here’s the tentative lineup for the Tampa Bay Lightning:
Stamkos-Point-Kucherov
Hagel-Cirelli-Chaffee
Duclair-Paul-Eyssimont
Sheary-Glendening-Motte
Hedman-Raddysh
De Haan-Cernak
Dumba-Perbix
Vasilevskiy
(Johansson)
Philadelphia Flyers
Sam Ersson got his win back against Andrei Vasilevskiy in a very disjointed game due to the power outage at the Wells Fargo Center. Tortorella cites Ersson as a much-needed backbone for his lineup to compete each night:
“If you’re going to win, you need good goaltending. He’s [Ersson] been a key that way. He’s given us a chance every night, our guys play well off of him, he’s getting better with the puck, too. He’s just progressed. That’s not a concern. He’s shown us that he can deliver in any type of situation.”
John Tortorella; 3/9/2024
Travis Konecny returned against Florida. He took a couple of quality shots on goal but was on the receiving end of a few hits. Konecny was out day-to-day with an upper-body injury when the Flyers hosted the Lightning recently, and will be looking for his first point against them tonight.
Here’s the tentative lineup for the Philadelphia Flyers:
Foerster-Couturier-Konecny
Farabee-Laughton-Tippett
Cates-Poehling-Hathaway
Deslauriers-Frost-Atkinson
York-Sanheim
Staal-Johnson
Zamula-Attard
Ersson
(Sandstrom)
Place Your Bets (via DraftKings)
Philadelphia Flyers moneyline (-198)
Tampa Bay Lightning moneyline (+164)
Steven Stamkos over .5pt (-175)
Garnet Hathaway anytime goal (+500)
Game Information
Watch the Philadelphia Flyers visit the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena on NBC Sports Philadelphia. Listen to the radio broadcast on 97.5 The Fanatic. The puck drops at 7pm.
(AP Photo/Derik Hamilton)
