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Rick Tocchet’s Philadelphia Flyers (15-8-3) will hold an 11:30 a.m. practice on Saturday before having off for the evening. Teams have to get rest wherever they can because of how compacted the schedule is. It’s the Flyers’ third and final open night on the game schedule before things get very busy. Four games remain on the current homestand. Tough challenges await.
On Sunday afternoon, Jared Bednar’s Colorado Avalanche (19-2-6) come to town. The Avs have played on an otherworldly level so far this season. However, the Flyers will at least have a fatigue factor edge heading into the game. Sunday afternoon’s tilt will be Colorado’s third east coast road game in less than four nights. After sustaining a 6-3 loss to the New York Islanders on Thursday (just their second regulation defeat of the season), the Avalanche have a Saturday matinee against the Rangers.
Cam York is day-to-day with an upper-body injury sustained in Wednesday’s game against the Sabres. The injury happened late in the second period in the ensuing scrum after Rasmus Dahlin boarded Trevor Zegras.
Sunday’s game marks the start of a week with an alternating day schedule. On Tuesday, the Flyers host the San Jose Sharks. The Vegas Golden Knights come to town on Thursday. Next Saturday, the long homestand wraps up with the divisional match against Rod Brind’Amour’s Carolina Hurricanes.
Flyers Daily: Weekend edition
Jason Myrtetus assesses whether he thinks the Flyers will — or should be — buyers in the mid-season trade market. He also looks at some individual player development, and the sustainability of winning for this team. There’s also a look ahead to Sundays game against the top team in the NHL the Colorado Avalanche.
Phantoms fall to Baby Pens… again
John Snowden’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms (11-7-3) have been a good team overall so far this season. However, there have been a few red flags. First and foremost, the Phantoms are winless (0-5-1) against the two division-leading teams in the Eastern Conference: the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (16-5-1) and the Laval Rocket (16-6-0).
The “Baby Penguins” have, in fact, dominated the Phantoms. Each of the first three meetings resulted in 4-1 wins by WB/S. On Friday, the Phantoms suffered a 6-2 road loss in Wilkes Barre. The game was tied at 1-1 after the first period. However, the Penguins took control with three unanswered goals in the middle frame. The Phantoms made a “too little, too late” push in the third period, putting 18 shots on net but only getting on goal closer on the scoreboard. Even that was temporary. The Penguins soon restored their four-goal margin with a power play goal.
Tucker Robertson (3rd goal of the season) and Anthony Richard (8th) scored in a losing cause. Ethan Samson assisted on both goals. Meanwhile, Aleksei Kolosov yielded six goals on 27 shots. The Phantoms took an 0-for-4 horse collar on the power play while the Pens went 2-for-5.
On Saturday, the struggling Utica Comets (4-12-3) come to the PPL Center. The Phantoms need to take care of business against the Eastern Conference cellar dweller. Snowden’s club finishes its 3-in-3 gauntlet on Sunday with a road game against the archival Hershey Bears (11-7-1). Hersey faces off against WB/S on Sturday before playing the the Phantoms.
Flyers Peak Performer of the Week: Samuel Ersson
The Peak Performer of the Week is brought to you by Summit Public Adjuster. Dealing with damage to your house? Don’t panic. Call Brendan Gillespie (AKA Chef from O&B Puckcast). Summit works for you, not the insurance company.
The stat line shows a comfortable 5-2 Flyers win over the Sabres on Wednesday. The reality: After the Flyers exploded for three unanswered goals in the first period, the team got sloppy at times. Goaltender Samuel Ersson was tested often during the second and third periods. Many of the chances were of the high-danger variety.
With the victory, Ersson now has a 4-1-0 career record against Buffalo. He boats a 1.87 goals against average and .917 save percentage against the Sabres. Very quietly, Ersson has played quite well in each of his last three starts. With the Swedish netminder, talent and competitive drive are never the issues. Ersson’s problems are with injuries (specifically groin issues) and streakiness. He tends to come back to form slowly into form after injury-related absences. The same thing happened again earlier this season.
Lately, however, Ersson has given his team a chance to win. The shot totals and save percentages of late have been a bit deceptive. Now he needs to get into a groove to push Dan Vladar for more playing time.
Let’s Go Flyers