The Flyers head to St. Louis in their final game of a whirlwind road trip.
The Philadelphia Flyers have been riding high on this most recent road trip, despite a busy travel and playing schedule, along with losing two key players for their last game against the Winnipeg Jets. The playing has been great, the mentality has been tough, and the vibes are higher than ever as they close out this away stretch.
Although this Flyers team has given fans many positive things to talk about, much of the focus of this game will be on the fact that this will be Kevin Hayes' first time playing the Flyers since being traded last summer. However, this isn't simply a case of a player going up against his former team for the first time—Hayes got dragged into the never-ending trade drama surrounding Cutter Gauthier's departure from the Flyers. His involvement (or lack thereof, depending on who you ask) has divided fans across social media, making for what is sure to be a mixed (at best) reaction to seeing Hayes against the Flyers.
In more cheerful news, Jamie Drysdale is expected to return to the lineup against the Blues after being scratched last-minute against the Jets due to an unspecified illness. As of writing this, there have been no updates on the minor injury that caused Sean Couturier to miss the Jets game.
The Flyers did get a rest day on Sunday after playing two high-intensity games in two games, and will be expected to finish out what has been a very enjoyable road trip to watch. A thrilling comeback win against the Minnesota Wild to kick things off, then astonishing performances from Sam Ersson and Cam Atkinson against the Jets have set the bar quite high for this team, but they've now proven time and time again that they're more than willing to rise the occasion and entertain the crowd while they're at it. We've only just entered to second half of the season—there is still plenty of hockey to be played as the Flyers currently sit two points out of first in the Metro, but the large majority of the rest of the Flyers' games are either at home or on the East Coast, and if the Flyers' scouting presence across league games lately is any indication, Danny Briere might have some more tricks up his sleeve before the trade deadline as this new era of orange continues to usher in excitement.
Flyers Projected Lines:
Forwards:
Farabee - Couturier - Konecny
Tippett - Frost - Brink
Foerster - Laughton - Atkinson
Poehling - Hathaway
Defense:
Sanheim - Drysdale
Seeler - Ristolainen
York - Walker
Zamula (7th D)
Hart
Projected Blues Lines:
Forwards:
Buchnevich - Thomas - Kyrou
Saad - Schenn - Neighbours
Toropchenko - Hayes - Kapanen
Blais - Walker - Sundqvist
Defense:
Leddy - Parayko
Krug - Faulk
Perunovich - Kessel
Binnington