The Flyers wrap up their brief trip to Florida with a visit to Tampa Bay.
The Philadelphia Flyers kicked off their two-game away stint in Florida in the most ideal way possible, nabbing a win against the league-leading Florida Panthers, and will look to carry that momentum into their game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
New Kids On The Block
The Flyers completed some business on Deadline Day, bringing in center Denis Gurianov and defenseman Erik Johnson to add some more depth to a team struggling with injuries, in addition to several AHL call-ups, like Ronnie Attard and Bobby Brink.
It will be interesting to see how these new acquisitions will fit in with the Flyers' famously tight-knit locker room, and it will be important to note what effect these new faces have on the team chemistry. It's not likely that they'll mesh perfectly in the first game, but in the home stretch of the season, it's crucial to be able to see how these guys have been able to integrate into the team.
Both Gurianov and Johnson bring valuable levels of experience to this team, and although they both have struggled with consistency in recent years, it's no small feat to be able to bring some more leadership and knowledge into a team with a young core like the Flyers.
Reading Vasilevskiy
The Flyers have run into some stellar goalie performances this season and, in many cases, that has been the difference between winning and losing for them. Andrei Vasilevskiy has been struggling with injury problems of his own this season, and didn't have the best outing against the Flyers in these teams' previous meeting. Historically, this hasn't been the case, and Vasilevskiy has left Philadelphia's offense incredibly frustrated.
Being able to read Vasilevskiy's performance early on and adjust accordingly will be a key factor in the Flyers' offensive success against the Lightning. Their forward line combinations have left something to be desired, but they absolutely have the capability of getting something going if they can exploit any weaknesses being shown by their opposing goalie.
Don't Look Back
The Metropolitan Division is a tight one, and the Flyers have very little security surrounding their third place position in the standings. The New York Islanders have been catching up to them, and while teams have to treat every game like a must-win to be successful, for the Flyers, there is very little room to slip up now.
John Tortorella is not the kind of coach to worry about any other teams —instead choosing to focus on "playing our game"—but that mindset will be a life-saver in keeping the Flyers focused on getting into playoffs. When they're focused and dialed in to their style of play, they can handle any team they face. But when they play distracted, it's noticeable, and their performances suffer because of it. There can't be any looking back and worrying about other teams catching up. The only thing they should be worrying about is getting as many of their own points as possible.
Flyers Projected Lines:
Forwards:
Foerster - Couturier - Konecny
Farabee - Laughton - Tippett
Cates - Poehling - Hathaway
Deslauriers - Frost - Atkinson
Defense:
York - Sanheim
Staal - Johnson
Zamula - Attard
Starting Goalie:
Ersson
Lightning Projected Lines:
Forwards:
Stamkos - Point - Kucherov
Hage - Cirelli - Duclair
Eyssimont - Paul - Chaffee
Motte - Glendening - Sheary
Defense:
Hedman - Raddysh
Fleury - Cernak
Perbix - de Haan
Starting Goalie:
Vasilevskiy
Make sure to bookmark THN's Philadelphia Flyers site for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more.