After a heartbreaking 4-3 shootout loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday night, the Flyers will look to get back in the win column vs. the Carolina Hurricanes. The Canes are off to a hot start this season, continuing their success from last season, sitting third in the Metro division with a 9-4-1 record. As for the Flyers, even with their recent struggles still technically post a winning record of 6-5-2.
Carolina started the season 5-0-0, but then lost four out of their next five before going on a three game win streak, and finally losing to the New Jersey Devils in their last game. Their surprising success last season was seen as possibly a fluke, but with how they’ve began this season it looks like the real deal. They’ve gotten solid goaltending so far this year from Petr Mrazek (Flyers legend) and James Reimer.
Speaking of goaltending, Carter Hart will get the nod in net for the Flyers, after not playing in the Maple Leafs game. Hart looked much better in his last game vs. the Devils, despite allowing three goals. A strong performance from Hart tonight would hopefully signal he’s back on track for good, especially against a good team like the Canes.
Players to watch for
Carter Hart — Self explanatory, but Hart’s performance tonight will be key for the Flyers to pull off the win tonight. Carolina is a damn good team with many offensive weapons to beat teams, and that’s without their superstar Sebastian Aho playing at his expected level. Hart and the Flyers’ defense will have to keep them in check much like they did for most of the Toronto game.
Travis Sanheim — It’s been a very … confusing start for Sanheim to say the least. His metrics have been great, but his mistakes have been huge ones that lead to goals against. It’s no secret he’s had his issues with falling down on the ice, and it needs to stop sooner rather than later. A jump in production from Sanheim was expected, and his start hasn’t lived up to those expectations. He scored his first goal of the season vs. the Leafs, so it would be nice to see him build on that.
Two Big Questions
1. Will the process continue to be strong?
Over the past two games the Flyers’ process at the very least has been good enough to win games. They were able to pull it off vs. New Jersey, but came just short vs. Toronto. If they keep the process strong, the results should follow and lead to more wins. It’s going to be tough though against a good team like the Canes.
2. Can the power play keep it going?
With two power play goals vs. Toronto, and Claude Giroux seemingly back on his usual left side for good, hopefully the power play can continue its success. They’ve been solid so far, but their zone entries and passing in the offensive zone has struggled at times. That changed with their performance vs. Toronto, but now the goal is to keep that going.
Flyers Projected Lineup
Forwards
JVR — Giroux — Farabee
Lindblom — Couturier — Konecny
Raffl — Hayes — Voracek
Twarynski — Rubtsov — Pitlick
Defense
Provorov — Niskanen
Gostisbehere — Braun
Sanheim — Myers
Goalie
Hart
(Elliott)
