Philadelphia Flyers
Flyers @ Capitals: Fedotov’s Redemption, Must-Win Rematch?
The Philadelphia Flyers (1-4-1) are chugging along in a bad way as they travel to Washington, D.C., to face the Washington Capitals (4-1-0) to wrap up their early season home-and-home series at 7:30 p.m on Wednesday night.
Tuesday night’s 4-1 loss to the Capitals was just a continuation and a microcosm of the Flyers’ struggles so far this season. An immediate rematch against their Metropolitan Division rivals, who made moves left and right this offseason, is going to be a major gut-check for the Flyers.
They have one goal in four periods of play at home, and after the loss to Washington on Tuesday night, they’ve been out-chanced in all but one game so far.
If the Flyers lose to Washington again? Well…
We’re not there yet, though.
Head coach John Tortorella is continuing his line-shuffling gimmick, however, and we’re anticipating further lineup changes as the Flyers grow increasingly desperate for offense.
Flyers Game Lineup (proj.)
Travis Konecny – Morgan Frost – Matvei Michkov
Scott Laughton – Sean Couturier – Owen Tippett
Joel Farabee – Ryan Poehling – Tyson Foerster
Nick Deslauriers – Noah Cates – Garnet Hathaway
Cam York – Travis Sanheim
Nick Seeler – Jamie Drysdale
Egor Zamula – Rasmus Ristolainen
Extra: Erik Johnson
Ivan Fedotov (S), Sam Ersson
Capitals Game Lineup (proj.)
Alex Ovechkin – Dylan Strome – Aliaksei Protas
Connor McMichael – Pierre-Luc Dubois – Tom Wilson
Andrew Mangiapane – Hendrix Lapierre – Jakub Vrana
Brandon Duhaime – Nic Dowd – Taylor Raddysh
Jakob Chychrun – John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin – Trevor van Riemsdyk
Martin Fehervary – Dylan McIlrath
Logan Thompson (S), Charlie Lindgren
Edit: Flyers’ lineup has been adjusted
My belief is that Flyers center Morgan Frost will be removed from the lineup on Wednesday night after being benched in the third period on Tuesday night. Frost missed half of the third period against the Capitals before returning to ice to center the Flyers’ top power play unit, which ultimately did not score on that opportunity.
Tyson Foerster, who “wasn’t playing well” according to Tortorella, is under consideration to be re-inserted into the lineup, though it seems as if Tortorella is prepared to try anything at this point in time.
Starting Sam Ersson in consecutive games on consecutive nights only compounds that desperation, and we all remember how last season went. Ivan Fedotov is expected to start for the Flyers, and this will be an important redemption game for him.
If Fedotov can at least keep Philadelphia in the game, it should provide a massive spark for a team that has been sleepwalking through the first two weeks of the season.
Speaking of sparks, that is what the goal is for rookie center Jett Luchanko. The Flyers are trying to keep him fresh and avoid burning him out with back-to-backs early in his NHL career.
If Luchanko plays, he’ll have the freshest and fastest set of legs on the ice for those 60 minutes.
How to watch the Flyers game
Wednesday night’s Flyers game vs. the Capitals will be televised on TNT as the only NHL game of the day. Fans unable to watch the game can catch the radio broadcast on 97.5 The Fanatic or on Flyers Radio 24/7.
Putting Jett in between TK and MM will give him the best opportunity to utilize his speed and hopefully get off the schneid and get his first point of his career.
Hopefully Fedotov can get his act together or his countryman from Allentown could be replacing him by Thanksgiving if not sooner.
The way I would set up the lines, but Torts probably knows best:
First Line: Joel Farabee, Jett Luchanko, Matvei Michkov…..Second Line: Tyson Foerster, Morgan Frost, Travis Konecny…..Third Line: Owen Tippett, Sean Couturier, Bobby Brink…..Fourth Line: Scott Laughton, Noah Cates or Ryan Poehling, Garnet Hathaway
Cates-Poehling-Hathaway was their best line for the last 60 days of the season last year. Honestly really surprised Torts has not gone back to that.