The Flyers are still chasing their first win of the season, and they’ll try to get it Thursday night in Ottawa against a Senators team that has started fast despite an early stumble.
Philadelphia enters the matchup at 0-2-2 after a rough opening stretch that included a season opener that got away, two straight overtime losses, and a 4-1 defeat to the Tampa Bay Lightning. That latest loss stayed within reach for most of the night before slipping late. Ottawa, meanwhile, opened with back-to-back wins over the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins before dropping its first game of the year to the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday.
Puck drop is set for 7:00 PM ET at the Canadian Tire Centre.
The Flyers’ lineup features Travis Konecny with Sean Couturier and Porter Martone on the top line, while Trevor Zegras skates with Christian Dvorak and Owen Tippett. Tyson Foerster joins Denver Barkey and Matvei Michkov on the third line, and Michael Bunting is listed with Noah Cates and Noel Acciari. On defense, Travis Sanheim pairs with Jamie Drysdale, Cam York is alongside David Jiricek, and Nick Seeler is with Simon Benoit.
Joseph Woll and Dan Vladar are listed as the goaltenders.
Philadelphia’s power-play groups have Drysdale, Zegras, Foerster, Martone and Michkov on the first unit, with York, Cates, Tippett, Konecny and Barkey on the second. The penalty kill units are Couturier, Dvorak, York and Sanheim, followed by Cates, Foerster, Seeler and Benoit.
There’s still no update on defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen after he missed Monday’s game with an injury believed to be related to his high left hand after blocking a shot in Saturday’s home loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. The Flyers were without him Monday and could be missing him again Thursday.
Michael Bunting also could make his Flyers debut after signing with the club Tuesday. Philadelphia is looking for a jolt offensively, and while a bottom-six signing usually does not change everything, Bunting has shown a scoring touch before. The Flyers will get their first look at what he can bring in orange and black if he’s in the lineup.
Ottawa may be missing Jake Sanderson, who was not on the ice for the morning skate because of an injury. The Senators’ skate also showed these lines ahead of the game:
Eklund-Stützle-Batherson
Greig-Cozens-Zetterlund
Amadio-Pinto-Giroux
Foegele-Halliday-Cousins
Chabot-Spence
Yakemchuk-Kleven
Matinpalo-Crotty
Zub
Ullmark
Ersson
The Flyers are also expected to face Linus Ullmark rather than former teammate Sam Ersson. Ullmark has been excellent so far, going 2-0-0 with a 1.20 GAA and a .949 SV%.
Thursday could also be the first of three final meetings between Philadelphia and former captain Claude Giroux. Giroux is on a one-year deal, and at 38 years old, this could be the last season for No.
- If that’s the case, October 17th might be the final time he ever skates in Philadelphia.
In Other News...
Flyers Already Face A Franchise-Level Problem After Another Lopsided Loss
The early-season alarm bells keep getting louder for the Flyers, who were beaten 5-1 by the Bruins and are now off to a six-game losing streak to open the year. It is only the second time in franchise history they have started this poorly, and the latest loss looked familiar in all the wrong ways, with Boston controlling play for long stretches and Philadelphia chasing the game again.
The Flyers were without Travis Konecny, Cam York and Rasmus Ristolainen, a blow to a lineup already trying to find traction. The absences have only added to the pressure on a group that has been outshot badly through six games and is struggling to generate much offense at all, leaving an increasingly uncomfortable question hanging over a start that has already gone from disappointing to historic. [Read more 🡒]
David Jiricek Just Gave The Flyers A Real Reason To Believe
David Jieks latest turn against the Ottawa Senators on Oct. 8 offered the kind of all-around shift the Flyers have been waiting to see more often. He played about 18 minutes, showed up in the shot-creation department and looked comfortable enough to stay involved in key situations at both ends, a noticeable step forward from some of his earlier outings.
Jiek also found his way onto the top power-play unit, where he was part of a sequence that helped set up one of Matvei Michkovs goals. He still finished without a point, but for a Flyers team trying to sort out how much trust to place in him, the performance mattered because it suggested he can do more than just survive on the ice. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers Still Searching For First Win As Tocchet Tests New Look In Boston
The Flyers head into TD Garden trying to end the road trip on a positive note and, more important, to get their first win of the season. Philadelphia has spent the week sorting through lineup decisions and special teams looks ahead of a matchup with a Boston club that arrives with a recent victory, and the game offers another chance for Rick Tocchet to keep evaluating how the group fits together in a new setting.
There is still a sense that certain combinations are starting to take hold, even as the results have not followed yet. The projected lineup shows the coaching staff leaning on some familiar pairings and trying to stabilize both ends of the ice, with the next question being whether those choices can finally translate into something tangible in a difficult building against an opponent that already has its footing. [Read more 🡒]