Finally, some Flyers hockey!
After a much-needed week-long break, the Flyers are back in action away against the Florida Panthers on Feb. 6 at 7 p.m.
Before the break, the Flyers were struggling—forward Owen Tippett became unavailable due to a lower body injury, Carter Hart took an indefinite leave of absence and was charged in connection with the 2018 WJC sexual assault case, and the team went from a euphoric five-game winning streak to a crushing five-game losing streak. There was no doubt that the Flyers were exhausted, and a week off would be incredibly beneficial for everybody.
Things are already looking up. Tippett returned to the ice for practice in Florida on Feb. 4 and Feb. 5—a huge step forward for one of the Flyers' most in-form players. The former Panther told reporters that he was feeling better and that the break helped his recovery.
Head coach John Tortorella also looks open to trying out some new defensive pairings, particularly between young defensemen and close friends Cam York and Jamie Drysdale. Tortorella expressed that he thought that York was one of the team's "better defenseman" and that he hoped York was teaching, particularly teaching Drysdale.
The Panthers have fared better going into the break, enjoying a four-game win streak with some standout performances from Aleksander Barkov, Sam Reinhart, Matthew Tkachuk, and Carter Verhaeghe. They're also particularly adept at getting their defensemen involved in their offense, which could make for an added threat on the Flyers' blueliners and Sam Ersson.
The Flyers have their own attacking threats, with young players like Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost on hot streaks, Cam Atkinson and Tyson Foerster getting their scoring sticks back, and Travis Konecny hunting to find the net in the midst of a scoring draught. Make no mistake—all of the pieces are there for the Flyers, they just need to find the mental clarity to make the team cohesive again.
Flyers Projected Lines:
Forwards:
Tippett - Couturier - Atkinson
Farabee - Frost - Konecny
Foerster - Poehling - Cates
Laughton - Hathaway
Defense:
York - Drysdale
Sanheim - Ristolainen
Seeler - Walker
Zamula
Ersson
Panthers Projected Lines:
Forwards:
Rodrigues - Barkov - Reinhart
Verhaeghe - Bennett - Tkachuk
Luostarinen - Lundell - Cousins
Gadjovich - Stenlund - Lomberg
Defense:
Forsling - Ekblad
Mikkola - Montour
Ekman-Larsson - Kulikov
Stolarz