GAME 15: FLYERS @ BRUINS (NHL Outdoors in Lake Tahoe)
Alain Vigneault's Philadelphia Flyers (8-3-3) will play Bruce Cassidy's Boston Bruins (10-3-2) on Sunday in the second game of the NHL Outdoors two-day event at the Edgewood Tahoe Resort in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. Due to the issues with melting ice and overly sunny conditions that caused the suspension of Saturday afternoon's Avalanche vs. Golden Knights game and its completion starting at 9 p.m. PT (midnight ET), the Flyers vs. Bruins game has been rolled back to 4:30 p.m. PT (7:30 p.m. ET). The television broadcast has moved from NBC to NBCSN.
The Flyers are 0-2-2 against the Bruins so far this season. However, Philadelphia has led in the third period of three of the four games. Boston has outscored Philly in third periods by an 11-3 margin and has also gone 7-for-13 on the power play against the Flyers this season.
For a look at four keys to the game from a Flyers' standpoint,
click here.
Flyers Outlook
The Flyers remain without six regular starters who are on the NHL's COVID-19 protocol: forwards Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek, Travis Konecny, Oskar Lindblom and Scott Laughton as well as defenseman Justin Braun. This will be the second game with a severely depleted lineup.
On Thursday, the Flyers dressed four Taxi Squad players -- Samuel Morin, Andy Andreoff, Maksim Sushko and David Kase -- in a 3-2 home shootout loss to the Rangers. The plan for Sunday, according to Vigneault, is to dress seven defensemen and 11 forwards. Defenseman Mark Friedman will skate shifts on right wing and might also move back to defense if the need arises.
Neither the Flyers nor the Bruins were able to get in a practice on the outdoor rink on Saturday. Instead, the NHL relocated their respective 30-minute practices to an indoor rink near the hotel.
Carter Hart will get the start in goal for the Flyers.
Bruins Outlook
The Bruins had a letdown game in their last match, dropping a 3-2 home decision on Thursday to the New Jersey Devils. One bright spot for Boston, which had significantly cooled off on the power play after clocking in an eye-popping 35 percent on the season through Feb. 3, was that both Jake DeBrusk (1st goal of the season) and David Pastrnak (7th) scored on the man advantage.
Beyond that, Cassidy did not like much of what he saw against New Jersey.
"I think it was our inability to win 1-on-1 battles, to defend areas of the ice, to give them access to our zone, to not keep forecheck situations alive or even create them. I just thought they were winning the races, the 1-on-1 battles. We just didn't want to do what it took to sort of get pucks back and win pucks and hang on to pucks," he said.
The Bruins do not have any players presently in the COVID-19 protocol but they have some notable injury-related absences, including second-line center David Krejci (lower body) and defensemen Matt Grzelcyk, Kevan Miller (knee soreness) and Jakub Zboril. In the absence of Krejci, Jack Studnicka will center Anders Bjork and DeBrusk. Urho Vaakanainen will substitute for Miller on the blueline.
Projected lineups
FLYERS
25 James van Riemsdyk - 14 Sean Couturier - 86 Joel Farabee
12 Michael Raffl - 13 Kevin Hayes - 62 Nicolas Aube-Kubel
82 Connor Bunnaman - 19 Nolan Patrick - ????
55 Sam Morin - 10 Andy Andreoff - 64 Maksim Sushko/ 3 Mark Friedman
9 Ivan Provorov - 5 Phil Myers
6 Travis Sanheim - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
8 Robert Hägg - 56 Erik Gustafsson
3 Mark Friedman
79 Carter Hart
[37 Brian Elliott]
PP1: JVR, Couturier, Farabee, Patrick, Gustafsson
PP2: Raffl, Hayes, Kase, Provorov, Gostisbehere
Scratches: 72 David Kase (healthy).
Injured reserve: 48 Morgan Frost (shoulder surgery).
COVID-19 protocol: 28 Claude Giroux, 61 Justin Braun, 93 Jakub Voracek, 23 Oskar Lindblom, 21 Scott Laughton, 11 Travis Konecny.
BRUINS
3 Brad Marchand - 37 Patrice Bergeron - 88 David Pastrnak
21 Nick Ritchie - 13 Charlie Coyle - 12 Craig Smith
10 Anders Bjork - 23 Jack Studnicka - 74 Jake DeBrusk
11 Trent Frederic - 52 Sean Kuraly - 14 Chris Wagner
79 Jeremy Lauzon - 73 Charlie McAvoy
27 John Moore - 25 Brandon Carlo
75 Connor Clifton - 58 Urho Vaakanainen
40 Tuukka Rask
41 Jaroslav Halak
PP1: Ritchie, Bergeron, Pastrnak, Marchand, McAvoy
PP2: Smith, Coyle, DeBrusk, Moore, Carlo
Scratches: 46 David Krejci (lower body), 48 Matt Grzelczyk (lower body), 57 Jakub Zboril (upper body), 86 Kevan Miller (soreness in surgically repaired knee).
Injured reserve: 28 Ondrej Kase (concussion).
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Phantoms and Prospect Roundup
1) Eighteen-year-old Lehigh Valley Phantoms rookie power forward Zayde Wisdom notched even strength and power play goals (his second straight two-goal game) as the Flyers' AHL farm team won their home opener, 3-0, on Saturday against the Binghamton Devils. Max Willman scored the other Phantoms goal, while goalie Zane McIntyre recorded a 25-save shutout.
The Phantoms (3-0-1) limited the Devils (2-2-1) to 10 shots through two periods as they build a three-goal lead. McIntyre was much busier in the third period, denying all 15 shots he faced.
Even apart from the four goals and five points he's recorded through his first four pro games, Wisdom has brought the forechecking tenacity and grit that are the hallmarks of his style of play. He also has underrated skill.
The Phantoms got two players back in the lineup on Saturday, as Tanner Laczynski and Linus Sandin returned from injury-related absences. The Phantoms return to action on Friday and Saturday with a home-and-home set against the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins, starting with a visit to Wilkes Barre.
2) NCAA Update:
* Playing the final game listed on their belated 2020-21 schedule, the Boston University Terriers (9-2-0) earned a 3-2 overtime victory against UConn on Saturday night. Coming off a hat trick in his last game, Flyers 2018 first-round pick Jay O'Brien notched a goal and an assist on Saturday to bring his season totals to seven goals and 12 points in 11 games. As a freshman at Providence in 2018-19, O'Brien struggled with injuries and ineffectiveness, and posted just five points (2g, 3a) in 25 games. A season in the BCHL in 2019-20 while in the NCAA transfer protocol helped to restore his confidence. For NCAA eligibility purposes, O'Brien was only a sophomore in 2020-21. The team isn't done for the season but won't know their next opponent until this coming week (Feb. 23).
* Flyers 2019 first-round pick Cam York chipped in an assist and three shots on goal in a strong overall performance on Saturday as Michigan (12-8-0) trounced struggling Ohio State (6-15-1) by a 6-0 score. York has 15 points (3g, 12a) in 18 appearances this season for the Wolverines as well as a +14 traditional plus-minus stat.
* North Dakota (17-4-1) had no problem with Omaha (13-8-1) on Saturday in a 7-1 blowout win. Junior left winger Gavin Hain did not get on the scoresheet but was +1 for the game.
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