Flyers Game 49: Lines, Notes & How to Watch vs. Mammoth

The Philadelphia Flyers (23-17-8) continue their trip out West on Wednednesday when they take on the Utah Mammoth (25-20-4) at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Philadelphia started the road trip on the right foot, snapping its losing streak with a bold 2-1 win vs. the Las Vegas Golden Knights on Monday. Before that, it was six straight losses where the team, quite honestly, did not look like itself.

Utah has been steady, picking up steam lately. The Mammoth are currently riding a seven-game point streak and have won their last three regulation games. Over the past 7 games, they are 6-0-1.

The Mammoth have not played since Saturday, so netminder Karel Vejmelka, one of Dan Vladar’s Czech teammates, is expected to be in goal. If Vladar returns, we will get another matchup of the Czech goalies.

Puck drop is at 9:00 p.m. EST at the Delta Center. Here is how the Flyers are expected to line up.

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Flyers projected lines & pairs @ Mammoth

Forwards

Trevor Zegras-Christian Dvorak-Travis Konecny
Denver Barkey–Sean Couturier–Owen Tippett
Matvei Michkov–Noah Cates–Bobby Brink
Carl Grundstrom–Lane Pederson–Garnet Hathaway

Defensemen

Cam York–Travis Sanheim
Emil Andrae–Jamie Drysdale
Nick Seeler-Noah Juulsen

Goaltenders

Sam Ersson
Aleksei Kolosov

Special Teams
PP1: York, Dvorak, Michkov, Tippett, Zegras
PP2: Drysdale, Sanheim, Cates, Grundstrom, Brink

PK1: Couturier, Dvorak, York, Sanheim
PK 2: Hathaway, Grundstrom, Seeler, Juulsen

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Things to watch

Is it a coincidence that Bobby Brink was out for the entire losing streak and back for the team’s first win? Probably, but he looked pretty damn good on Monday. Brink was undoubtedly missed. Let’s see if he can impact the score sheet on Wednesday.

One of the keys to success was the defensive structure not breaking. That was both even strength and the penalty kill. If they play that well in the defensive zone, the Flyers could flip their losing streak and turn it into a points streak. That’s IF, and only IF, the defensive structure stays as strong. That is one thing I will be watching closely.

Honestly, with no real update on Vladar (other than his partial skate on Tuesday), it’s hard to tell who is in goal. At this point, I wouldn’t be confident rolling Aleksei Kolosov out there, but I don’t know if Ersson can handle 172 straight minutes. It will create an interesting situation.

Trevor Zegras is a goal away from 20, which is notable because his career high is 23. Through 48 games, Zegras is 4 goals shy of a career high that he hit in 75 and 81 games played. There is a real chance Zegras sets his new career high before the Olympic break, which starts in early February.

How to watch Flyers @ Mammoth

TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia, ESPN+ (Stream)
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic

Puck drop is at 9:00 p.m. EST at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.

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