UPDATE (12:40 PM EDT)
Per Dave Isaac, Predators captain Roman Josi is officially a game-time decision but it does not appear as if he'll play in this game. Peter Laviolette has also shaken up multiple line combos. Lineups have been updated below.
GAME 4 PREVIEW: FLYERS @ PREDATORS
Concluding their season-opening four-game road trip, Dave Hakstol's Philadephia Flyers (2-1-0) are in Music City to take on Peter Laviolette's defending Western Conference champion Nashville Predators (0-2-0). Game time at Bridgestone Arena is 8 p.m. EDT. The game will be televised on NBCSP.
This is the first of two meetings this season between the inter-conference teams, and the lone game in Nashville. The teams will rematch in Philadelphia on Oct. 19.
The Flyers and Predators split the season series last year, with both teams winning on the other's home ice. On Dec. 16, 2016 in Nashville, two goals by Wayne Simmonds and a 30-save performance in goal by Steve Mason paced a 4-2 Flyers win. Fifteen nights later in Philadelphia, Mason stopped 30 of 31 Nashville shots in regulation and OT but the Flyers managed only an Andrew MacDonald tally against Pekka Rinne on 32 shots. The Predators won via shootout, despite Mason stopping two of three Preds attemps.
Flyers Outlook
Philly won two of three games during the
California portion of the road trip. On Saturday night, the Flyers earned a 3-2 overtime win against an injury-riddled Anaheim Ducks teams that was missing seven regulars from the lineup.
Simmonds (fourth goal of the road trip) notched the game-winner at the 44-second mark of an overtime in which Anaheim never had a single second of puck possession time. The winning score was set up by Sean Couturier, who earlier tallied an even strength goal in the second period. Ivan Provorov opened the scoring in the first period, a split second after a Flyers power play expired.
Recording the 500th point of his NHL career, Antoine Vermette scored a four-on-four goal in the first period that knotted the game at 1-1. Cam Fowler scored an unassisted shorthanded goal that tied the score at 2-2 early in the third period.
The Flyers went with the same lineup as they did on Thursday night in Los Angeles, with two differences. Brian Elliott started in goal, and Nolan Patrick and Valtteri Filppula switched lines at 5-on-5. Travis Sanheim remained in the lineup, while Sam Morin was scratched for the third straight game along with forward Jori Lehterä.
The Flyers connected on each of their first three power play chances on opening night. After three games, the team is 3-for-15 on the man advantage. However, the Provorov goal in Anaheim came one second after the expiration of a power play. The Flyers also yielded a shorthanded goal to the Ducks. On the penalty kill, the Flyers were 2-for-2 in Anaheim and are 11-for-13 thus far on the season.
On Monday, the Flyers held a practice in Nashville. The practice lines were the same combinations as Saturday's game. If these hold, the only difference in the starting lineup could be Michal Neuvirth getting his second start of the season.
Neuvirth played a very strong game in a losing cause in Los Angeles last Thursday, stopping 25 of 27 shots. He made a host of outstanding saves including an early save-of-the-season candidate with a diving glove save on LA's Anze Kopitar at point blank range.
After this game, the Flyers will have their home opener on Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center when the Washington Capitals come to town. It will be the start of a five-game homestand.
Predators Outlook
Tonight's game is the Predators' home opener. Before the opening faceoff, the team will celebrate its first-ever trip to the Stanley Cup Final and raise its 2016-17 Western Conference championship banner. It will be the third opposing home opener the Flyers have had to wait out during the road trip.
Last season, the Predators peaked at the right time: the playoffs. The club underachieved a bit during the regular season but earned a lower wildcard seed primarily on the strength of racking up 55 points on home ice (24-9-8). The Flyers were also a 55-point team at home last year, but had just 33 points on the road. The Predators mustered 38 points on the road (17-20-4), which was enough to get into the playoffs in the West. In the East, the New York Islanders had an identical 41-29-12 overall record with the very same 39 regulation/OT wins in the primary tiebreaking category but fell short by one point of qualifying for the playoffs.
The Predators' got outscored by a combined 8-3 over the two road games in Boston and Pittsburgh that opened the 2017-18 regular season. Against the defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins on Saturday, the Preds got blanked, 4-0.
Nashville trailed, 2-0, at the first intermission after goals by Evgeni Malkin and Jake Guentzel. The deficit was 3-0 by the second intermission after Ryan Reaves scored mid-period. Pittsburgh defenseman Olli Määttä turned the match into a rout in the opening minute of the third period.
The Predators came up empty on 26 shots against Matt Murray on Saturday. Jusse Saros made 30 saves for Nashville in a losing cause. The Flyers will face Pekka Rinne tonight. Rinne stopped 28 of 31 shots against Boston in an opening night loss.
Before the last game, Predators offseason acquisition Nick Bonino, a two-time Cup winner in Pittsburgh as the pivot on the HBK Line, received a video tribute on the PPG Paints Arena scoreboard. Bonino signed a four-year, $16.4 million contract with Nashville on July 1. He enters Tuesday's game looking for his first point with his new team and is minus-four at even strength through two games.
Through the first two games of the season, the Predators are 2-for-12 on the power play. Nashville allowed a shorthanded empty net goal to Boston's Brad Marchand late in the third period of its 4-3 opening night road loss to the Bruins. The goal made it 4-1 at the time. The Predators scored twice on the power play in the final 1:48 of the game but it was too little and too late. On the penalty kill, the Preds are 9-for-10 through the first two games.
Beginning his second stint with the Predators, former Flyers fan favorite left winger Scott Hartnell scored an opening-night power play goal for Nashville late in the third period. In the opening period, Viktor Arvidsson's goal in the final 12 seconds marked the team's first goal of the new season. Arvidsson later assisted on the Hartnell goal. The final Nashville goal was a power play tally by Filip Forsberg that cut the final deficit to one goal.
Despite the Predators' stumbles in their first two games of the season, they remain an eminently dangerous team. The Flyers need to be especially aware of Predators captain Roman Josi and PK Subban pinching up on the play to be activated offensively. When Laviolette's attack-based system is running on high octane, the Predators are very aggressive on the forecheck and can also create off the rush.
They're also dangerous shorthanded. Last season, the waterbug-like Arvidsson racked up five shorthanded tallies while Forsberg had three SHGs. The Swedes shared the team's overall goal-scoring lead with 31 goals apiece. Arvidsson and Ryan Johansen tied for the overall team point lead with 61 points each. Johansen scored just 14 goals last season but compiled 47 assists.
On the injury front, Ryan Ellis is out 4-for-6 months after undergoing offseason knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus. An alternate captain for his team, Ellis played through the issue during the playoffs last season. During the offseason, the Predators signed unrestricted free agent defenseman Alexei Emelin.
PROJECTED LINEUPS (Subject to change)
Flyers
28 Claude Giroux - 14 Sean Couturier - 93 Jakub Voracek
40 Jordan Weal - 51 Valtteri Filppula - 17 Wayne Simmonds
22 Dale Weise - 19 Nolan Patrick - 11 Travis Konecny
20 Taylor Leier - 21 Scott Laughton - 12 Michael Raffl
9 Ivan Provorov - 47 Andrew MacDonald
6 Travis Sanheim - 3 Radko Gudas
53 Shayne Gostisbehere - 8 Robert Hägg
37 Brian Elliott
[30 Michel Neuvirth]
Scratches: Jori Lehterä (healthy), Brandon Manning (healthy), Sam Morin (healthy), Anthony Stolarz (SOIR).
Predators
33 Viktor Arvidsson - 92 Ryan Johansen - 15 Craig Smith
9 Filip Forsberg - 19 Calle Järnkrok - 22 Kevin Fiala
17 Scott Hartnell - 13 Nick Bonino - 46 Pontus Åberg
55 Cody McLeod - 51 Austin Watson - 20 Miikka Salomäki
25 Alexei Emelin - 76 P.K. Subban
14 Mattias Ekholm - 94 Samuel Girard
52 Matt Irwin - 7 Yannick Weber
35 Pekka Rinne
[74 Juuse Saros]
Scratches: Roman Josi (questionable-to-doubtful), Anthony Bitetto (healthy), Colton Sissons (healthy), Ryan Ellis (IR, knee surgery).
************
FLYERS ACQUIRE TOKARSKI FROM ANAHEIM
The Flyers acquired veteran backup goaltender Dustin Tokarski from the Anaheim Ducks on Monday and assigned the 28-year-old netminder to the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms where he will share netminding duties with second-year pro Alex Lyon. The Flyers sent "future considerations" to the Ducks to acquire Tokarski, who had been playing with the AHL's San Diego Gulls.
Simultaneous to the Tokarski acquisition, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms traded goalie Leland Irving to San Diego in exchange for future considerations. The former Calgary Flames' first-round pick made one preseason appearance apiece for the Flyers and Phantoms but did not get into either of the Phantoms' two regular season games to date before the trade.
Why were these two moves done as two separate "future considerations" trades rather than a single swap of the goalies? The reason is that Tokarski is on an NHL two-way contract, while Irving signed an offseason AHL-only deal with the Phantoms and is technically an NHL free agent.
The Tokarski trade had to be registered with the NHL, even though he'll play in the American Hockey League. Since Irving was not under Flyers contract, he was ineligible to be traded by Philadelphia. The Irving trade is officially classified as an AHL deal.
The benefit for the Flyers: With Anthony Stolarz sidelined for much or all of the 2017-18 season, Tokarski (who has previous NHL experience) becomes a call-up option as a third-string goaltender if either Brian Elliott or Michal Neuvirth go down with an injury. While Lyon could get a call-up and is off to a strong start in Lehigh Valley, the Flyers would prefer that he keep on playing rather than watching from the bench as a backup for an extended period of time. The choice of third-string goalie for recall would likely depend on the projected length of absence for Elliott or Neuvirth as well as the recent play of the two Phantoms goalies.
The benefit for Anaheim: The Ducks cleared a no-longer-wanted NHL contract off their reserve list. They already have John Gibson, Reto Berra and the injured Ryan Miller under NHL contract as well as San Diego goalie Kevin Boyle on a two-way NHL contract this season. If a fifth-string option was somehow desperately needed as an NHL backup, they could also convert Irving's AHL deal into an NHL two-way contract for the rest of this season.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
Join the Discussion:
»