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Flyers Gameday: 3/4/2024 vs. STL; Phantoms Update |
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UPDATE: FLYERS LINEUP
Travis Konecny participated in a non-contact jersey in Monday's morning skate and took PK reps during special teams work. He will not play against the Blues but might be ready by Thursday.
The Flyers appear set to go with a 12F/6D rotation. Ronnie Attard likely remains a healthy scratch and Marc Staal likely remains in the lineup. The only potential forward lineup change would be Olle Lycksell slotting back in and Nic Deslauriers exiting. Lycksell and Deslauriers rotated in reps at the morning skate with Lycksell going first.
As expected, Samuel Ersson will start in goal.
86 Joel Farabee - 21 Scott Laughton - 71 Tyson Foerster
27 Noah Cates - 25 Ryan Poehling - 19 Garnet Hathaway
74 Owen Tippett - 48 Morgan Frost - 89 Cam Atkinson
62 Olle Lycksell or 44 Nicolas Deslauriers- 14 Sean Couturier - 10 Bobby Brink
8 Cam York - 6 Travis Sanheim
24 Nick Seeler - 26 Sean Walker
5 Egor Zamula - 18 Marc Staal
33 Samuel Ersson
[32 Felix Sandström]
PP1: Zamula, Farabee, Frost, Foerster, Tippett
PP2: York, Laughton, Couturier, Atkinson, Brink
Projected scratches: 11 Travis Konecny (upper body), one of 44 Nicolas Deslauriers or 62 Olle Lycksell (healthy)
Update: Blues Projected Lineup
89 Pavel Buchnevich - 18 Robert Thomas - 25 Jordan Kyrou
20 Brandin Saad - 10 Brayden Schenn - 63 Jake Neighbours
76 Zach Bolduc - 12 Kevin Hayes - 42 Kasperi Kapanen
13 Alexey Toropchenko - 70 Oskar Sundqvist - 26 Nathan Walker
4 Nick Leddy - 55 Colton Parayko
47 Torey Krug - 72 Justin Faulk
6 Marco Scandella - 48 Scott Perunovich
50 Jordan Binnington
[30 Joel Hofer]
Scratched: Sammy Blais, Tyler Tucker, Nikita Alexandrov
Game 63 Preview: Flyers vs. Blues
There are 20 games left in the regular season for the Philadelphia Flyers (32-23-7). On Monday night, they will host the St. Louis Blues (31-26-3) at the Wells Fargo Center. Game time is 7:00 p.m. ET.
Both the Flyers and Blues have been inconsistent clubs of late. The Flyers, 5-4-1 over their last 10 games, enter this game coming off a 4-2 home win against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. The Blues, 4-5-1 in their last 10 matches, are coming off a 3-1 home win against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.
The Flyers were idle on Sunday but received help in their push for third place in the Metropolitan Division. The New Jersey Devils, Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins all lost in regulation on Saturday. The Flyers closest pursuer in the standings, the New York Islanders, were idle. The Islanders will not play again until Tuesday, when they host the Blues.
The Flyers had a complete off-day on Saturday after playing back-to-back games against Washington and Ottawa. They will have a morning skate at the FTC in Voorhees at 10:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday. The Blues will skate at the Wells Fargo Center at 11 a.m. ET.
Projected lineups will be posted to the gameday blog as top-of-the-page updates when available. Samuel Ersson is the expected starting goalie for the Flyers after Felix Sandström played on Saturday. Saturday's starting line against Ottawa is below:
86 Joel Farabee - 21 Scott Laughton - 71 Tyson Foerster
27 Noah Cates - 25 Ryan Poehling - 19 Garnet Hathaway
74 Owen Tippett - 48 Morgan Frost - 89 Cam Atkinson
44 Nicolas Deslauriers- 14 Sean Couturier - 10 Bobby Brink
8 Cam York - 6 Travis Sanheim
24 Nick Seeler - 26 Sean Walker
5 Egor Zamula - 18 Marc Staal
*******
Phantoms Beat Hershey via Shootout, 1-0 (2-1)
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms made a bit of franchise regular season history on Sunday against the Hershey Bears, playing to the first 60-minute scoreless deadlock in Lehigh Valley history.
The Phantoms, playing their third game in three days, produced a strong first period but were unable to solve Hershey's Clay Stevenson. Thereafter, the Phantoms didn't have many shots or scoring chances but remained patient. Stevenson was credited with a shutout, stopping 18 of 18 shots through regulation and overtime.
Phantoms goalie Cal Petersen only faced 16 shots on goal over regulation and overtime. However, he needed to step up big a few times: a tough deflection near the doorstep, a 2-on-0 opportunity for Hershey in overtime and an overtime penalty kill (the Phantoms went 6-for-6 on the PK including a 5-on-3 kill plus the overtime 4-on-3). The Phantoms also did a good job at blocking shots and killing plays, with Adam Ginning having a particularly strong performance.
In the shootout, the Phantoms tabbed rookie J.R. Avon to lead off in the top of the first round. Avon came in 4-for-5 in shootouts and promptly made it 5-for-6 with a slick backhanded finish against Stevenson. Hershey's Kevin O'Neil replied with a goal in the bottom of the first.
In the top of the second round, Wade Allison feigned cutting right and then beat Stevenson, who never flinched, with a shot upstairs inside the left post. Petersen stopped Joe Snively (Hershey's leading scorer with veteran Mike Sgarbossa currently on NHL recall to the Capitals) with a glove save in the bottom of the second round.
Phantoms rookie Samu Tuomaala, who has been struggling since the All-Star Game, had an opportunity to end the shootout in the top of the third round. Stevenson made a nice save to stone the Finnish winger. However, in the bottom of the third, Alex Limoges was unable to score.
Both the Phantoms and Bears -- but especially Lehigh Valley -- had to play with severely depleted lineup due to injuries and NHL callups. The Phantoms had to make due with various ECHL callups and players moved out of their normal positions in order to dress a full lineup.
On Sunday, all of the following were unavailable for Ian Laperriere's team due to injury, illness or callups to the Flyers: leading scorer Cooper Marody, Olle Lycksell, Tanner Laczynski, and Ronnie Attard. The Flyers scratched Lycksell against Ottawa after head coach John Tortorella benched both Bobby Brink and Lycksell throughout the third period in Washington. Attard was scratched both against the Capitals and Senators. Add those absences, last week's NHL recalls of Brink (goals against Tampa and Washington) and goaltender Sandström, and the Phantoms faced a very tough task going into the weekend 3-in-3.
Unsurprisingly, the Phantoms had a miserable time offensively over the weekend. They got shut out in Utica (3-0) on Friday. They were held to a Marody power play goal off a nifty shot pass from Emil Andrae in a 2-1 loss to last-place Bridgeport on Satuday. The Phantoms salvaged two points from the weekend despite the 65-minute shutout on Sunday by Stevenson and the Bears.
Petersen deserves credit for how he responded to last Sunday's debacle in Pittsburgh and subsequently being waived and sent back to the Phantoms by the Flyers. He gave the Phantoms a chance to win in Utica and then delivered a win on Sunday by the only means possible (a shutout of his own and outdueling Stevenson in the shootout).
Petersen did get some help from his goalposts on Sunday, but so did Stevenson. Ginning also saved a goal by sweeping the puck off the goal line during a Hershey power play.
With the desperately needed win, the Phantoms moved back above "Hockey .500" on the season (23-22-7). Hershey still leads the AHL with a 41-10-4 record. The Phantoms remain two points plus a tiebreaker disadvantage behind the Springfield Thunderbirds in the push for the final playoff spot in the Atlantic Division.
The Phantoms now have an opportunity to get some rest and then practice time before another three-in-three in the upcoming weekend: a home-and-home with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Friday (in Allentown) and Saturday (in Wilkes-Barre) before a Sunday road game in Bridgeport.
PHANTOMS LINEUP
17 Garrett Wilson - 22 Rhett Gardner - 27 Samu Tuomaala
13 Brendan Furry - 56 Jacob Gaucher - 19 Wade Allison
16 J.R. Avon - 24 Adam Brooks - 14 Zayde Wisdom
10 Evan Polei - 48 Alex Kile - 3 Karashik
6 Emil Andrae - 2 Helge Grans
37 Adam Ginning - 7 Louie Belpedio
98 Victor Mete - 5 Ethan Samson
40 Cal Petersen
[31 Parker Gahagen]
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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