A back-to-back in this seven-game gauntlet adds another wrinkle to a brutal stretch. Yesterday, the Philadelphia Flyers (36-26-9) earned what might be described as their biggest win of the season. Tonight, they’ll hope to add to their momentum versus the Florida Panthers (45-20-5).
“For me, it’s not so much on a game last week to now. It’s when we get scored on, [and] they tie it. How do we play after that? We end up scoring a goal, [and] then we get scored on again. How do we play after that? It’s more of a closeness of reaction as far as the flow and momentum of the game.”
John Tortorella; 3/23/2024
‘Undefeated’ describes the Flyers against the Panthers this season. Philadelphia is 2-0-0 in Florida, winning 2-1 each time.
Will the Flyers complete the season sweep of the Panthers at the Wells Fargo Center?
Florida Panthers
In their last five games, Florida is 1-3-1, recently surrendering a lead and losing to the New York Rangers in a shootout, 4-3. Matthew Tkachuk noted the back-to-back against Philadelphia, preparing to grind for a much-needed road win:
“We play in less than twenty-four hours. It’s a crazy back-to-back, playing at six o’clock tomorrow. We’ll grind it out and we’ll find a way. We’re built for these games.”
Matthew Tkachuk; 3/23/2024
Sam Bennett won half of his faceoffs and created a couple of scoring chances, including a high-danger opportunity saved by Igor Shesterkin while three-on-three in the overtime period. He was active in all scenarios, blocking shots on the penalty kill, forechecking and taking the puck away on the powerplay, and recording four hits at even strength. Bennett didn’t record a point yesterday or the last time the Panthers faced the Flyers but had the same success in the faceoff circle and generated offense via rebounds. He’ll likely go head-to-head with Scott Laughton, and Felix Sandstrom must tighten his rebound control.
Here’s the tentative lineup for the Florida Panthers:
Luostarinen-Lundell-Reinhart
Verhaeghe-Bennett-Tkachuk
Rodrigues-Stenlund-Tarasenko
Cousins-Lorentz-Okposo
Mahura-Montour
Mikkola-Balinskis
Bjornfot-Ekman Larsson
Stolarz
(Bobrovsky)
Philadelphia Flyers
Sandstrom will make his first start versus Florida this season. Ersson, resting after a big win versus the Boston Bruins, secured two victories against the Panthers this season.
Owen Tippett is on a six-game point streak, with a point in each game of the daunting seven-game gauntlet. He notched a secondary assist after Morgan Frost completed the offensive zone entry and dropped a pass to Konecny for the screened goal. Linus Ullmark denied Tippett two high-danger chances, but Tippett didn’t just cause mayhem with the puck; he made three hits, forced a takeaway, and blocked a shot. All of those things are what John Tortorella looks for from his lineup. Tippett stood by that against Florida on March 7th, trading hits Dmitry Kulikov and Aaron Ekblad, to name a couple, and blocking two shots, including Kulikov.
Here’s the tentative lineup for the Philadelphia Flyers:
Tippett-Frost-Konecny
Farabee-Laughton-Brink
Foerster-Poehling-Hathaway
Cates-Couturier-Lycksell
York-Sanheim
Ginning-Attard
Zamula-Johnson
Sandstrom
(Ersson)
Place Your Bets (via Draft Kings Sportsbook)
Florida Panthers (-162)
Philadelphia Flyers (+136)
Sam Bennett anytime goal (+210)
Owen Tippett over .5pt (-125)
Game Information
Watch the Philadelphia Flyers host the Florida Panthers on NBC Sports Philadelphia. Listen to the radio broadcast on 93.3 WMMR. The puck drops at 6pm.
(Photo by Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire)
