Flyers lines vs Avalanche: Expected lineups and how to watch

The Philadelphia Flyers (14-10-2) travel east to face their hosts, the Colorado Avalanche (16-8-2), at Ball Arena for the first time this season at 9 p.m. The Flyers are 3-0-1 in their last four, and 4-1-1 in their last six. Four of those six have gone to overtime or beyond. The Flyers are 12-1-0 when scoring first, and lead the NHL in road wins since Nov. 3. In addition, Philadelphia leads the NHL in short-handed goals, with seven.

The Flyers will hold their morning skate at 11:30 a.m. prior to their 8 p.m. (9 EST) puck drop.

Flyers lines @ Avalanche, Dec. 9

Tyson Foerster – Sean Couturier – Travis Konecny

Owen Tippett – Morgan Frost – Bobby Brink

Joel Farabee – Scott Laughton – Cam Atkinson

Nick Deslauriers  – Garnet Hathaway

Flyers Defense

Cam York -Travis Sanheim

Nick Seeler – Sean Walker

Egor Zamula – Rasmus Ristolainen

Marc Staal

Flyers Goaltending

Philadelphia has been utilizing a 2:1 split of starts between Carter Hart and Sam Ersson lately. If the pattern holds, Sam Ersson will start against Colorado. The team’s extra skaters include Marc Staal, Olle Lycksell, and Louie Belpedio (AHL). If Poehling is still sick, expect Lycksell to play in his second NHL game of the season.

Edit: The Flyers will be going with 11 forwards and seven defensemen. Carter Hart is Saturday’s confirmed starter.

Flyers Game Notes:

• Sam Ersson has never played against the Avalanche, nor has Ivan Prosvetov faced the Flyers.
• With this appearance against the Avs, Sean Couturier will tie Joe Watson for the sixth-most games played in franchise history.
• Carter Hart needs one win to have the fourth-most in franchise history.
• Nick Deslauriers recorded his 100th NHL point against the Arizona Coyotes.
• Travis Konecny is two assists away from 200 in his NHL career.

Expected Avalanche lines

Jonathan Drouin – Nathan MacKinnon – Mikko Rantanen

Tomas Tatar – Ryan Johansen – Joel Kiviranta

Miles Wood – Ross Colton – Logan O’Connor

Andrew Cogliano – Fredrik Olofsson – Kurtis MacDermid

Avalanche Defense

Devon Toews – Cale Makar

Bowen Byram – Josh Manson

Jack Johnson – Sam Malinski

Avalanche Goaltending

Alexandar Georgiev has started each of the Avalanche’s last three games, but has only won one of those three. It’s likely Ivan Prosvetov commands the crease to give Georgiev a break after a rough stretch of games.

How to watch the Flyers game

Thursday’s game will be broadcast on NBC Sports Philadelphia, and can be heard on 97.5 The Phanatic.

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