The Edmonton Oilers blanked the Dallas Stars, 3-0, on Friday night. The Western Conference Final is tied at one win apiece. Meanwhile, The Florida Panthers can seize a three games to zero lead in Eastern Conference Final with a victory in Sunrise on Saturday evening. Overseas, there are two semifinal matches on Saturday at the IIHF World Championships.The winners will play for gold on Sunday. The two defeated teams will compete for the bronze medal on Sunday.
Back in North America, it’s Day Two of the 2025 Memorial Cup in Rimouski, Quebec. Things are quiet on the Flyers’ front, temporarily.
2025 World Championships: Semifinals
Saturday marks the medal round semifinal games at the 2025 IIHF World Championships. In the early game, Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson is backing up Jacob Markstrom in the match between Team Sweden and Team USA. As of this writing, the Americans lead Tre Kronor, 3-0, in the second period. Cutter Gauthier and Brady Skjei scored first period goals for Team USA. Conor Garland added a third goal early in the third period.
If Sweden loses this game, head coach Anders Sorensen will be open for second-guessing. Although Markstrom is Tre Kronor’s highest-profile goaltender, Ersson has outplayed him during the current tournament.
In Saturday’s other semifinal match, Switzerland takes on Denmark. Despite the Danes’ monumental upset of Canada in the quarterfinal game on Thursday, Denmark remains a major underdog. Nevertheless, Team Switzerland had better be on guard and seize their opportunities in the first 30 minutes of the game. The longer Denmark hangs around, the more dangerous the team becomes.
2025 Memorial Cup: London vs. Moncton
The Ontario Hockey League champion London Knights, featuring Flyers prospects Oliver Bonk and Denver Barkey, take on the QMJHL champion Moncton Wildcats on Day Two of the 2025 Memorial Cup tournament.
On Friday, the Western Hockey League titleist Medicine Hat Tigers defeated the tournament host Rimouski Oceanic (QMJHL) by a 5-4 score. Bryce Pickford (2025 Draft prospect) scored twice for Medicine Hat, while Oasiz Wiesblatt collected three assists. Gavin McKenna (top 2026 Draft candidate) also scored. Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Harrison Meneghin stopped 20 of 24 shots.
For Rimouski, Mael Lavigne, Mael St-Denis, Jacob Mathieu, and Jonathan Fauchon scored once apiece. In a losing cause, Mathis Langevin made 33 saves.
Meanwhile, on Saturday night, keep an eye on Moncton center Caleb Desnoyers. He’s a player the Flyers have tracked very closely over the past year (having absolutely nothing to do with Phantoms forward Elliot Desnoyers being his older brother). With Desnoyers, the only question is whether he gets snapped up in the top five selections of the 2025 NHL Entry Draft. The Flyers, of course, pick sixth overall.
Tocchet on NHL Network
New Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet was on NHL Network this week. He discussed why he chose a “return home” to Philadelphia over other teams that expressed interest in hiring him. He also talked about why he is convinced the organization will have a dramatic upswing within the next couple seasons.
I see Spencer Gill is a no go for Rimouski. A broken ankle in March. He had hoped to be back by now as he’s at that 11-12 week return time frame but alas he’s still a few weeks away. Bit of an off season for the kid who had 1rst rnd grades by many last year when the Flyers got him in the 2nd rnd.
Sweden should have started Ersson.