Flyers vs. Ducks: Preview, How to Watch, Prediction

The Philadelphia Flyers will try to keep their perfect home record intact when they meet the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Philly (4-2-1) is 3-0 at the Wells Fargo Center, including Thursday’s 6-2 spanking of Minnesota. In that game, rookie winger Bobby Brink scored the first two goals of his career.

The Flyers went 2 for 3 on the power play Thursday, breaking out of a 1-for-20 funk. They are now clicking at 13% (23rd in the NHL). The Ducks have the league’s worst power play (4%).

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Anaheim (3-4) is coming off a thrilling 4-3 overtime win in Boston (6-1), which absorbed its first loss of the season. The Ducks rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the final two minutes of regulation. Former Flyers defenseman Radko Gudas, 33, scored his first goal with the Ducks; he signed a three-year, $12 million contract in the offseason.

The Ducks, playing for the third time on a four-game road trip, have been led Frank Vatrano (five goals), Ryan Strome (seven points) and Mason  McTavish (six points). But their offense has sputtered (2.57 goals per game, 25th in the NHL), primarily because Trevor Zegras, the Ducks’ top-line left winger, has no goals and just one point. He had 23 goals and 65 points last season

The Philadelphia Flyers, who own a 3-1-1 record against Western Conference opponents, have received great production from Travis Konnecy (nine points, including six goals), defenseman Travis Sanheim (eight points), Cam Atkinson (seven points) and Sean Couturier (six points). Philly is averaging 3.43 goals per game, 12th in the league.

Couturier and Atkinson are off to strong starts after missing last season because of injuries.

How to watch

The 1 p.m. game will be shown on NBC Sports Philadelphia.

Prediction

Flyers 3, Ducks 2.

Breakaways

The projected starting goalies are Carter Hart (2.18 GAA, .924 save percentage) and Anaheim’s Lukas Dostal (2.34, .929). … Besides Gudas, Anaheim’s defense includes former Flyer Robert Hagg, who is expected to be out of the lineup. … After Saturday’s matchup, the Flyers have a tough home game Monday against Carolina. The Hurricanes’ Tony DeAngelo, a former Flyer, has four points and a minus-5 rating in nine games this season. He was minus-27 in his lone year with the Flyers in 2022-23.

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