The Flyers are making a couple of notable changes as they head into Monday night’s game against the host Tampa Bay Lightning, and the biggest one is Denver Barkey sliding back into the mix.
Barkey is expected to make his season debut after missing time with a lower-body injury suffered against Washington in an exhibition game. The move isn’t official yet, but Rick Tocchet sounded confident enough about it before puck drop.
“There’s a good shot he’ll play tonight,” Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet said Monday morning prior to the game.
Tocchet said Barkey had been having a strong camp before the injury and pointed to the areas that make him useful in this spot. “Well I think for him he’s a really smart hockey player,” Tocchet said.
“He goes to the right areas, the right spots, he defends well. I think it’s just his hockey IQ is really outstanding.
Other than getting hurt he was actually having a really good camp for us.”
The coach also noted Barkey’s puck possession and playmaking as traits that could matter against a Lightning team “that likes to swarm.” Tocchet didn’t lock him into a specific role, but said Barkey would most likely line up on the wing.
That would fit with the most likely look for Philadelphia’s forward group. Barkey is expected to skate with Trevor Zegras and Owen Tippett, while Carl Grundstrom appears headed to the fourth line with Sean Couturier and Noel Acciari. That would bump Alex Bump out of the lineup after he played that spot Saturday night.
Bump’s start to the season hasn’t given the Flyers much to hold onto. He has no goals, no points and only four shots on goal through the first three games.
He logged a little over 14 minutes in the opener against Pittsburgh, then dropped to 8:18 against New Jersey before getting back up to 13:27 against Carolina, where he had three shots. Even with that uptick, he still hasn’t made a major imprint.
His underlying numbers haven’t helped the case either. Bump’s expected goal percentage sat at 27.62 per cent, and his Corsi For percentage was 34.62. There was even a sense that, if the exhibition schedule had been longer than four games, he might have already been passed by Cole Knuble or Jett Luchanko.
For Bump, the scratch looks like a reset more than anything else, a chance to step back and try to re-enter the lineup soon.
In goal, the Flyers are turning to Dan Vladar, who will make his second start of the season. His first went sideways fast, with Vladar and the rest of the team taking a 7-0 beating from the Penguins on opening night.
Now Philadelphia is looking for a much cleaner response against Nikita Kucherov and the Lightning in what already feels like a big fourth game of the season.
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