The Flyers open their Western Canada trip on Sunday night in Calgary, where they’ll face the Flames at 7:00 PM ET at the Saddledome.
Philadelphia comes in at 4-10-4 after a 3-2 loss to the Rangers on Thursday. That result left the Flyers with just one win in their last five games, though they have picked up a point in two of those contests. If they lose Sunday, the recent stretch will look even rougher: one win sandwiched between two separate three-game losing streaks.
Calgary hasn’t exactly been lighting it up either, but the Flames have found a better groove lately. They are 2-2-1 over their last five, yet they’re also riding a four-game winning streak that pushed them to 6-3-1 over their last 10. Like the Flyers, they come into Sunday off back-to-back losses.
The Flyers’ expected defense pairs are Travis Sanheim with Jamie Drysdale, Cam York with Oliver Bonk, and Nick Seeler with Simon Benoit.
In goal, Joseph Woll is listed, with Dan Vladar also on the board.
On special teams, the first power-play unit is Drysdale, Zegras, Barkey, Martone, and Michkov. The second group is Bonk, Dvorak, Foerster, Tippett, and Konecny. On the penalty kill, the first unit features Couturier, Dvorak, York, and Sanheim, while the second includes Cates, Foerster, Drysdale, and Seeler.
There’s still some shuffling going on up front, but one change stands out. Porter Martone and Matvei Michkov had been clicking since being put together, only for head coach Rick Tocchet to split them up during the Minnesota game by moving Martone and Tyson Foerster around. The two are back together for Sunday as the Flyers try to straighten things out.
Foerster may not be staying put for long, though. Based on Saturday’s lines, he appears set to skate on the top line with Christian Dvorak and Travis Konecny, while Trevor Zegras drops to the third line with Cole Knuble and Owen Tippett.
Sunday also brings a couple of familiar names on the Calgary side. Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee are both in the Flames’ mix, with Farabee leading the team in goals with 6 and Frost sitting third on the club with 12 points. Both former Flyers have been productive enough that they could have fetched more than the Flyers got back for both of them at the trade deadline.
It’s the first half of a back-to-back for Philadelphia, and with the Flames and Canucks on the schedule, the goaltending assignment could go either way. Since Joseph Woll started in New York on Thursday, Dan Vladar would seem to be the likely choice for Sunday.
Calgary’s power play ranks fourth in the league, while the Flyers are one of only two teams that score fewer than the Flames. That sets up a matchup that may not turn into a shootout.
In Other News...
Flyers Frustrations Are Starting To Force Bigger Roster Questions
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Even with some encouraging signs from Jamie Drysdale and Denver Barkey, the bigger question is whether the current group is enough to steady the season. Around the team, there is already speculation about potential roster movement as the Flyers try to find a cleaner fit and more stability up the middle, and the recent results have only added urgency to those conversations. [Read more 🡒]
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One lingering issue is the blue line, where the Flyers have had to keep adjusting their mix while waiting for more stability. Rasmus Ristolainen is still on injured reserve with an upper-body injury, and his absence has only added to the challenge of building depth on defense. The Flyers are working to correct the slide as the schedule moves on, but until that side of the roster settles in, the pressure on the rest of the group will keep growing. [Read more 🡒]
Cutter Gauthier Is Making The Ducks Rebuild Look Way Ahead Of Schedule
Cutter Gauthier keeps turning Anaheims rebuild into something much more immediate. He scored another hat trick in the Ducks win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, helping stretch the clubs winning streak to five games and further validating the kind of long-term bet Anaheim made when it committed major money to its young core. Leo Carlsson is also off to a strong start, and together the two have given the Ducks a much faster timeline than many expected.
Gauthiers production has been the loudest part of it, with the winger sitting at the top of the league scoring race and piling up milestones at a pace that is starting to feel historic. For Flyers fans still watching the other side of that trade, it is hard not to notice how quickly Anaheim is building around him, and how much more dangerous the Ducks look when their young stars are driving results instead of just projecting them. [Read more 🡒]