Flyers Game Day: 10/13 vs. SEA

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Rick Tocchet’s Philadelphia Flyers (0-5-2) are home on Tuesday to clash with Lane Lambert’s Seattle Kraken (4-2-0). It’s the Flyers’ fourth game in six nights. Seattle plays their third-game on an Eastern Conference road trip.

The Flyers enter this game coming off losses in Boston (5-1) and at home (4-1) against the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes. 

Sunday’s match against Carolina was almost two games in one: scoreless for 30 minutes and then a barrage of goals. Unfortunately, the only tally for Philly was a Christian Dvorak deflection goal (1st). 

Since the Kraken entered the NHL, the Flyers are 4-5-1 in 10 games against the Western Conference team. Last season, the clubs split their two games.

The Flyers hope to start getting some healthy defensemen back in the lineup in upcoming days. Cam York missed both games over the weekend, while Rasmus Ristolainen has missed the last four.  On Sunday against Carolina, Oliver Bonk was thrust into the 1st pair right defense spot. David Jiricek has started five of seven games to date.

Meanwhile, the injured Travis Konecny still leads the team in scoring with three points (0g, 3a) despite missing the past two games. Matvei Michkov (2g, 0a) is the only Philadelphia player with more than one goal. Michkov and Porter Martone (1g, 0a) are the only Philly players with a power play goal to date. 

On Monday, the Flyers made a roster move. Veteran winger Carl Grundstrom was sent to the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Fellow vet Jack Studnicka took his place on the NHL roster. Recently signed veteran Michael Bunting is poised to play his third game for the Flyers.

On the Seattle side, nine players have compiled five or more points through their first six games. Jared McCann (2g, 5a) tops the early leaderboard in points. Frederick Gaudreau has four goals and five points including three tallies in his last two games.

Projected Goalie Matchup: TBD

Flyers: Dan Vladar (0- 3-0, 5.08 GAA, .857 SV%) or Joseph Woll (0-2-2, 2.95 GAA, .914 SV%)
Kraken: Joey Daccord (3-1-0, 2.73 GAA, .917 SV%) or Philipp Grubauer (1-1-0, 2.59 GAA, .917 SV%)

Flyers scoring leaders

Points
Travis Konecny — 3
Matvei Michkov — 2
Travis Sanheim — 2
Sean Couturier — 2
Trevor Zegras — 2
Christian Dvorak – 1

Goals
Matvei Michkov — 2
Tyson Foerster — 1
Porter Martone — 1
Owen Tippett – 1
Travis Sanheim — 1
Rasmus Ristolainen — 1
Christian Dvorak — 1

Assists
Travis Konency — 3
Trevor Zegras — 2
Denver Barkey — 2
Sean Couturier — 2
Nick Seeler — 2
Three players — 1

Where to Watch

Time: 7:00 p.m. EDT
Venue: Xfinity Mobile Arena
Networks: NBCSP

Flyers Lineup and Injuries

The Flyers have featured seven different starting lineup arrangements over the season’s first seven games. Tuesday brings the eighth different set of combinations. The team did not practice on Monday but will hold a morning skate at XMA on Tuesday.

Denver Barkey- Christian Dvorak – Tyson Foerster
Michael Bunting – Trevor Zegras – Matvei Michkov
Owen Tippett – Sean Couturier –  Porter Martone
Jack Stundicka – Noah Cates – Noel Acciari

Travis Sanheim – Oliver Bonk
Nick Seeler – Jamie Drysdale
Simon Benoit – David Jiricek

PP1: Jiricek, Foerster, Barkey, Martone, Michkov
PP2: Drysdale, Zegras, Dvorak, Bunting, Tippett

Available: Garrett Wilson
Injury: Cam York (DTD), Rasmus Ristolainen (IR but now day-to-date)
IR: Travis Konecny (lower body), Nikita Grebenkin (back surgery)

Note: The listed lines are defaults from Sunday starters, with the exception of Jack Studnicka. The Flyers recalled Studnicka from the Phantoms on Monday. Correspondingly, they sent Car Grundstrom to Lehigh Valley.

The Flyers announced various injury updates back on Saturday. Unfortunately, none of the news was positive.

• Travis Konecny missed the last two games with a lower-body injury. He is now on IR.
• Cam York also missed both games. He is day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
• Ristolainen (upper body) is on injured reserve, retroactive to October 3. He’s close to returning.
• Nikita Grebenkin underwent back surgery. He is out for at least four months.

Team Toyota Pre-Scout: Seattle poses a tough challenge

The Seattle Kraken are not a high-profile team. They are not a big or especially physical club. However, they are the type of club that often gives Philly fits.

In fact, the Flyers have played the Kraken 10 times in Seattle’s still young history. Philly has a 4-5-1 record so far.

Seattle blocks lots of shots

t’s no secret that the Flyers have had trouble generating shots and chances so far this season. Philly needs to be more connected as five-man units moving up ice and then better at getting pucks and traffic to the net once they get there.

So far this early season, Seattle leads the entire NHL in blocked shots per game at 17.83 (107 total blocks through 6 games). The shooting and passing lanes disappear in a hurry against this club.

Kraken feasting off opposing turnovers

The Flyers have been plagued by turnovers so far this season: 40 giveaways over the last two games alone. In the six games all-time that Philly has lost to the Kraken, turnovers have usually been the main culprit: giveaways charged to Philly, takeaways credited to Seattle, and turnovers off failed breakouts/clears where Seattle regains possession.

In the early going of the current season,the Kraken are tied for 2nd place in total takeaways with 22 takeaways to date. The Flyers have to be smarter and quicker in how they manage the puck, which has been a major problem over the first seven games. .

Seattle power play has clicked

The Flyers’ PK has had an uptick in recent games after quickly giving up five opposing power play goals through five matches. They held the previously scorching-hot Bruins off the board on the power play Saturday. Just as important, the Flyers took just two penalties that left them shorthanded. On Sunday, Philly went 4-for-4 against Carolina.

Meanwhile, Seattle has been a good power play club so far this season. The Kraken enter the game clicking at a 23.5 percent success rate on the man advantage (ranked 10th leaguewide). They are 4-for-17. By contrast, the Flyers are 2-for-21 (9.5 percent success).

60th Anniversary: Today in Flyers History

A five-time NHL All-Star and a member of the Flyers Hall of Fame, left winger Brian Propp notched eight regular season hat tricks and two in the playoffs during his 10-and-a-half seasons in Philadelphia.

His final Flyers hat trick came on October 13, 1988 in a 7-6 road win over the Minnesota North Stars. All three goals were scored on the power play at the expense of Finnish goaltender Jarmo Myllys; a legend of European and international hockey who struggled during his time in the NHL. Propp notched the Flyers’ first, fifth and seventh goals of the high-scoring affair, punctuating each goal with his signature “guffaw” celebration.

Tim Kerr (one goal, three assists), Pelle Eklund (one goal, two assists), Scott Mellanby and Rick Tocchet also scored for the Flyers, while defenseman Kerry Huffman notched a pair of power play assists. Ron Hexall stopped 44 of 50 shots. Myllys denied just 26 of 33.

Six of the Flyers’ seven goals in the game were scored on the man advantage. The feat matched a franchise record for power play goals in a game set against the California Golden Seals on January 9, 1972.