Flyers Gameday Thread: Dec. 16 @ Canadiens

MTL has the worst team D in the conference. The Flyers should be able to generate more offense, which has been in short supply except the Zegras line. We’ve also seen them shut down pretty well by teams struggling on D, so no guarantees. Some line juggling coming with Grundstrom moving up to Top 9 and Michkov flipped to Cates and Brink. On the plus side, Risto is back. This is a huge upgrade despite there likely being some rust that has to be played off. If the PP doesn’t pick up, look for him to be added to one of the units. He does have two 20+ PP assist seasons from his BUF days. If the Flyers get two points tonight, that’s 7 in this very tough 6 game stretch they’re wrapping up tonight. Not bad. The schedule over the last 50 games gets easier. Hopefully, that shows up in their results.

Above average goaltending just makes such a huge difference for a team. Vladar has been terrific. The blueline now with Risto back is probably safely top 3 in the division. I do not think that is controversial. Drysdale has really improved in the defensive zone. Andrae is not quite there yet in the defensive zone, but there is no reason not to leave him in the lineup. Really it is just time to move Zamula. Not doing him any favors, just sitting in the pressbox as the #8 Dman.