The Flyers are at home Tuesday night for another tough matchup, again looking for their first win after a tough go in the first three games of the regular season. And this one, despite that fact that it’s a really tough matchup against the defending Pacific Division champs, feels basically like a must win.
If the Flyers lose this one, consider the near future: Saturday on the road in Dallas, next Tuesday on the road in Chicago, and then the following night on the road in Pittsburgh. The Flyers need this win tonight, because this is one tough road trip coming up.
They’ll be without Braydon Coburn again tonight, and they’ll also be without Vincent Lecavalier. The defense should be the same as we saw over the weekend, with Nick Schultz having a much larger role, but there are some changes up front with Lecavalier’s absence.
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare will jump into Vinny’s spot, centering Brayden Schenn and Wayne Simmonds on what I guess is the second line. Matt Read and R.J. Umberger will swap wings, and Blair Jones checks in as the fourth line center. The Flyers have not made any call ups from Lehigh Valley for tonight’s game despite the injury to Lecavalier, but we expect that’ll change before the upcoming road trip.
Steve Mason gets the start for the Flyers, while John Gibson will probably get the start for Anaheim on the tail end of a back-to-back. The Ducks were in Buffalo on Monday afternoon, where they beat up on the Sabres, 5-1. After the game, Buffalo coach Ted Nolan called his team a “pee wee team” playing against an NHL team. So there’s that.
Anaheim lost Patrick Maroon — who you might remember — in the Buffalo game after what looked like a nasty knee injury. Maroon’s a top liner for the Ducks, typically the linemate of Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf, so it’s not a minor loss.
Anaheim Ducks at Philadelphia Flyers
7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT
Wells Fargo Center in South Philadelphia
In Philly: CSN Philly, 93.3 WMMR, SiriusXM
In Montreal: Prime Ticket, AM 830, SiriusXM
Everywhere else: NHL Center Ice, GameCenter Live
Get Anaheim coverage over at Anaheim Calling
