Flyers Game Day: Dec. 11 vs. Golden Knights

Bill Meltzer’s Flyers blog on Hockey Hot Stove is brought to you by Phans of Philly, by Lights On Electric, by New Balance of Mount Laurel, by Cover All Exteriors, and our newest sponsors, The Mens and Boys Store and Carl’s Cards and Collectibles.

Rick Tocchet’s Philadelphia Flyers (16-9-3) will host host Bruce Cassidy’s Vegas Golden Knights (14-9-6). This is the first of two meetings between the interconference teams and the lone game in Philadelphia.

Game time at Xfinity Mobile Arena is 7:00 p.m. EST. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN.

The Flyers enter this game coming off a solid 4-1 win over the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday evening. Christian Dvorak (7th goal of the season), Carl Grundstrom (1st), Noah Cates (7th) and Travis Konecny (ENG, 8th) scored for Philly. Dan Vladar (17 saves) earned the win in goal with several key saves.

Vegas is 7-2-5 on the road to date and 5-2-3 over the last 10 games. Thursday’s match is the fourth of a five-game road trip. The Golden Knights are 2-0-1 on the trip to date.

On Tuesday, Cassidy’s club earned one one from a 5-4 (1-0) shootout loss to the New York Islanders.Pavel Dorofeyev’s goal (12th) at 19:46 of the third period forced overtime. First period goals by Noah Hanafin (2nd) and Mitch Marner (6th) built an early 2-0 lead before the match turned into a seesaw contest. Vegas later trailed by scores of 3-2 and 4-3.

Leading scorers: Flyers (through 28 games)

Trevor Zegras — 27 points (10g, 17a)
Travis Konecny — 25 points (8g, 17a)
Owen Tippett — 19 points (9g, 10a)
Christian Dvorak — 19 points (7g, 12a)
Sean Couturier — 17 points (5g, 12a)
Matvei Michkov — 16 points (8g, 8a)
Noah Cates — 16 points (7g, 9a)
Top goal scorers —Zegras (10g, 26 points) and Tyson Foerster (10g, 13 points) are tied.

Injury report: Flyers

Foerster is on IR for two to three months with an upper-body injury.
Cam York is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. He could return on Saturday against Carolina.
Rasmus Ristolainen has been on IR all season while rehabbing from triceps surgery. He might return within the next week or so.

Where to watch

Time and broadcast: 1:00 p.m. ET on NBCSP
Listen online: FlyersRadio 24/7
RAV4 keys to the game for Philadelphia: click here
In-game watch party (Maher Media): click here

Confirmed Flyers lineup

The Flyers practiced in Voorhees on Wednesday and then held an optional morning skate at XMA on Thursday morning. Rick Tocchet confirmed that Dan Vladar will start in goal against Vegas. There are no lineup changes from Tuesday.

Trevor Zegras- Christian Dvorak – Travis Konecny
Matvei Michkov – Sean Couturier – Owen Tippett
Nikita Grebenkin – Noah Cates – Bobby Brink
Carl Grundstrom – Rodrigo Abols – Garnet Hathaway

Nick Seeler – Travis Sanheim
Emil Andrae – Jamie Drysdale
Ty Murchison – Noah Juulsen

Dan Vladar
[Samuel Ersson]

Projected scratches: Nicolas Deslauriers (healthy), Egor Zamula (healthy).