The Philadelphia Flyers will be without John Tortorella behind the bench and a good portion of their defensemen as they host the San Jose Sharks at the Wells Fargo Center.
The Philadelphia Flyers will be without John Tortorella behind the bench and a good portion of their defensemen as they host the San Jose Sharks at the Wells Fargo Center.
The Philadelphia Flyers will be without John Tortorella behind the bench and a good portion of their defensemen as they host the San Jose Sharks at the Wells Fargo Center.
The Flyers come into this game off of a devastating 7-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, while the Sharks are riding a bit higher after their 2-1 win over the Ottawa Senators.
A Torts-less Affair
John Tortorella won't be permitted to be behind the bench for the next two games after getting ejected from the Flyers' game against the Lightning. He is still able to participate in practices, but in-game coaching will be left to the rest of the coaching staff.
Flyers CEO Dan Hilferty announced that he would pay any fine the league slapped on Tortorella, showing a promising display of solidarity with his head coach. Although it will be a significant loss to not have Tortorella able to coach in the game, the response of fans and the front office proves how united the organization has become.
Speaking to Al Morganti of NBC Sports Philadelphia, Hilferty said, "I'm really proud of Torts for standing for his/our team. This new era of Orange is about having each other's backs. [Against Tampa Bay], Torts had our collective backs. I respect any action the league might feel a need to take, but if it includes a fine, I am paying it."
Bouncing Back
After beating the Florida Panthers 2-1, the Flyers completely fell apart against the Lightning, and will be looking to get back to winning ways in order to keep their playoff position. They're still two points ahead of the New York Islanders, who lost 3-0 against the Los Angeles Kings, but every point will count in these remaining games.
It will be a testament to the culture change the front office has been preaching all season to see how this team can respond after a harrowing loss, especially when they're dealing with a host of injuries to their defense with no real timeline on when players will be returning. They've called up defensemen Ronnie Attard and Adam Ginning from Lehigh Valley, and signed experience blueliner Erik Johnson, so there are some reinforcements, but they will still need to adjust to playing together with the existing pairs.
No Easy Games
The Sharks might have one of the worst records in the league, but as Tortorella has pointed out on multiple occasions, no game can be taken lightly, especially not in the home stretch of the season. The Flyers' playoff position is theirs to lose, and they often end up being their own worst enemy in games that they "should" win.
Without Tortorella to keep them in line in the way that only he can, it could be very easy for the Flyers to overthink this game and do too much, resulting in them making this game more complicated than it needs to be.
Flyers Projected Lines:
Forwards:
Foerster - Couturier - Konecny
Farabee - Laughton - Tippett
Cates - Poehling - Hathaway
Gurianov - Frost
Defense:
York - Sanheim
Staal - Attard
Zamula - Johnson
Ginning
Starting Goalie:
Ersson
Sharks Projected Lines:
Forwards:
Barabanov - Granlund - Zetterlund
Zadina - Eklund - Kunin
Bordeleau - Sturm - Lebanc
Kostin - Carpenter - Bailey
Defense:
Ferraro - Burroughs
Thrun - Vlasic
MacDonald - Addison
Starting Goalie:
Chrona
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