Cali Comeback? Flyers Game 14 vs. Ducks: Lines, Notes & How to Watch

The Philadelphia Flyers (5-7-1) will be looking to bounce back from their 2-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks when they travel south to face the Anaheim Ducks (7-5-0) Friday night.

The Flyers have lost five of their last six since first losing 7-4 to the Ducks on Oct. 28.

After starting this four-game road trip off 0-4, the Flyers’ power play is now scoreless in their last 19 attempts.

The Ducks, on the other hand, are sixth in the NHL with just 34 goals against in total.

Flyers Game Time

Tonight’s game should begin around 10 p.m. EST, in what will be their second of three very late starts on this trip.

Flyers Preview

A loss tonight would put the Flyers on another three-game losing streak – tied for their longest of the year. Philadelphia will need a renewed offensive effort tonight against the league’s sixth-best scoring defense. They’ve scored two goals or fewer on seven different occasions this season.

This Anaheim defense isn’t infallible, though, and they’re without young star Jamie Drysdale, who remains on IR. The Ducks have relied heavily on young players like Pavel Mintyukov, Mason McTavish, and 2023 No. 2 overall pick Leo Carlsson. Frank Vatrano scored a hat trick on the Flyers in their last meeting.

The Ducks had planned on sitting Carlsson on occasion to limit his early workload, but the 18-year-old has played in each of the team’s last six games. It’s possible Carlsson gets a break tonight, and Benoit-Olivier Groulx draws in.

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Tonight’s game will be the first leg of a back-to-back, as Philadelphia faces the Los Angeles Kings tomorrow night. The Ducks will play their first game since Tuesday, when they were blanked 2-0 by the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins.

Before that loss, the Ducks were on a six-game win streak; they started the year 1-4-0. For Anaheim, this will also be their fourth game of a five-game homestand.

The Flyers are tied for first in the NHL with four shorthanded goals, while the Ducks are 16th in the league in power play percentage.

Nicolas Deslauriers will play in his 600th NHL game tonight, and needs one assist to reach 100 in his career. Behind him on the bench, head coach John Tortorella will tie Darryl Sutter for the eighth-most coached games in NHL history with 1,478.

Carter Hart was supposed to start after recovering from a lower-back injury, but he’s feeling under the weather. Instead, Sam Ersson will start again.

Expected Flyers Lines

Cam Atkinson – Sean Couturier – Tyson Foerster

Owen Tippett – Morgan Frost – Travis Konecny

Joel Farabee – Noah Cates – Bobby Brink

Nicolas Deslauriers – Scott Laughton – Garnet Hathaway

Flyers Defense

Travis Sanheim – Cam York

Nick Seeler – Sean Walker

Yegor Zamula – Louie Belpedio

Flyers Goaltending

Sam Ersson

Cal Petersen

Carter Hart (Illness)

Expected Anaheim Ducks Lines

Trevor Zegras – Leo Carlsson – Troy Terry

Ryan Strome – Mason McTavish – Frank Vatrano

Alex Killorn – Adam Henrique – Jakob Silfverberg

Ross Johnston – Sam Carrick – Brett Leason

Ducks Defense

Pavel Mintyukov – Ilya Lyubushkin

Cam Fowler – Jackson Lacombe

Urho Vaakanainen – Radko Gudas

Ducks Goaltending

Lukas Dostal

John Gibson

Flyers Special Teams

Flyers power play: 8.89%, 31st

Flyers penalty kill: 79.49%, 14th

Ducks power play: 18.42%, 17th

Ducks penalty kill: 79.31%, 15th

Flyers Game Notes

A win tonight would snap the Flyers‘ two-game losing streak. Philadelphia is 6-4-0 in their last 10 meetings with Anaheim.

Sean Couturier leads the team in career scoring against the Ducks, with eight goals, nine assists, and 17 points in 15 games. Ersson is 2-1-0 in his career against tonight’s opponents, but he has a .876 save percentage in those games.

Lukas Dostal is 5-1-0 this season with a 2.8 GAA and .920 save percentage. In his lone career appearance against Philly, he recorded a win but had a 4.02 GAA and .867 save percentage in the game.

The Flyers are 13-13-4 in their last 30 games against Western Conference teams. Against Pacific Division teams this season, they’re 2-4-0.

This back-to-back is the first of four road back-to-backs, with the next being Dec. 28 and Dec. 29 against the Vancouver Canucks and Winnipeg Jets, respectively.

How to Watch the Flyers

TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia

Radio: 93.3 WMMR

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