Wrapping up a three game road trip, John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (23-14-6) will take on Drew Bannister's St. Louis Blues (21-18-2) on Monday evening. Game time at the Enterprise Center is 8:00 p.m.ET.
The game will be televised on NBCSP. The radio broadcast is on 97.5 The Fanatic with an online simulcast on Flyers Radio 24/7.
This is the first of two meetings this season between the two games, and the lone game in St. Louis. The Flyers and Blues will rematch at the Wells Fargo Center on March 4.
The Flyers have won three straight games and are 4-1-1 in their last six games. The Blues are 3-1-1 since the calendar flipped to January, but are coming off a 4-3 overtime home loss to the Boston Bruins on Saturday. It's the final game a four-game homestand for the Blues.
Philly enters this game coming off a rousing 2-0 road victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday. Despite playing without Sean Couturier (injury) and Jamie Drysdale (illness), the Flyers ended the Jets' eight-game winning streak and 14-game point streak.
Samuel Ersson was stellar in net, stopping all 35 shots he faced in recording his third shutout of the season. Cam Atkinson ended a 26-game goal drought with even strength and power play tallies (9th and 10th goals of the season).
Here are five things to watch on Monday:
1. Same process as last game
There's no time for the Flyers to be satisfied with the four points they've earned so far on the road trip. After a well-deserved off-day on Sunday, the Flyers go right back to work on Monday. Just as the glow of the team's win in Vancouver in the first game after the Christmas break faded fast as the club went winless in their next three games, things can change fast in the tightly packed standings if Philly does not keep winning.
On Saturday, the Flyers overcame both the fatigue factor and the absences of Couturier and Drysdale. Philadelphia played from ahead and out-chanced the Canucks for most of the first two periods. From late in the second period through the end of the game, Ersson's stellar goaltending was the No. 1 reason the Flyers were able to slam the door.
Now the Flyers need to do it again in St. Louis. The process for victory is the same: Compete from the outset. Play from ahead. Get contributions from around the lineup. Receive strong goaltending, especially if legs get heavy by the third period.
Once again, the Flyers are playing their third game in four nights, and fourth in six nights (fifth match in eight nights). The opponent has had no travel over the last week, and at least one night off between every game. The Flyers showed on Saturday that winning such a game is doable. It's not easy but it's far from impossible.
2. Contributions up and down the lineup
As of this writing, the availability of Couturier and Drysdale for Monday's game is unknown. Couturier sustained an undisclosed minor injury in Friday's 4-3 overtime win in Minnesota. Drydale felt lousy on Saturday morning but reportedly was doing better later in the day. The Flyers have an 11:30 a.m. CT (12:30 p.m. ET) morning skate at the Enterprise Center on Monday.
At that time, Tortorella will announce whether Hart or Ersson gets the start in goal. He'll also address whether Drysdale or Couturier are good to go, game-time decisions or still unable to play.
Even if Drysdale and/or Couturier return, the Flyers will need to have multiple players step up in similar fashion to the game in Winnipeg,
Without Couturier in the lineup, the Flyers rotated three centers: Scott Laughton (29 shifts, 24:50 TOI, two blocked shots, two blocks, one hit, three shots on goal and seven shot attempts), Morgan Frost (25 shifts, 19:23 TOI, primary assist on the Atkinson PPG, five shots on goal and six shot attempts, 62.8 percent on-ice Corsi, four scoring chances created for linemates, two individual scoring chances, two blocks, two hits), and Ryan Poehling (26 shifts, 16:06 TOI, secondary assist on the first Atkinson goal, team-best 11-for-17 on faceoffs, 2:40 of strong PK work, several good defensive plays).
To keep on winning, the Flyers will need regular contributions from forwards other than Travis Konecny, Couturier and Joel Farabee. The last week has trended positively in that regard.
Owen Tippett recently put together a three-game goal streak. Frost has four points (2g, 2a) in the last five games including points on three of Philly's five power play goals in the last five games. Tyson Foerster broke a 16-game goal drought with a key third period goal in Minnesota to narrow a 3-1 deficit to one goal. Atkinson had the two goals in Winnipeg.
With Drysdale unavailable, the blueline reverted back to the pre-trade pairings: Travis Sanheim with Cam York, Nick Seeler with Sean Walker, and a mix-and-match of Egor Zamula or Marc Staal alongside Rasmus Ristolainen.
York had a particularly strong game in Winnipeg, even apart from a secondary assist on the PPG sequence. Sanheim played 22:38 of all-situations ice time. Seeler came up with a key shot block. Walker moved the puck well, made a couple intelligent pinches and also chipped in three credited hits. The third pair did not get scored upon and Zamula continued to look confident on the power play.
It was nothing spectacular, but all totaled, the Flyers' blueline crew did the job.So did the forwards. Philly needs more of that against the Blues.
3. Flyers power play vs. Blues PK
The Flyers power play has now scored a goal in five straight games, with one power play goal apiece from Couturier, Tippett, Frost, Farabee (4-on-3), and Atkinson.
Since the Christmas break, the Flyers' PP is 6-for-33 (18.2 percent, tied for 20th in the NHL in that span). That's not earth-shattering, but it's a huge improvement. For the season, the Flyers still rank last (32nd) in the NHL at 12.4 percent (17-for-137, two shorthanded goals allowed).
The Blues penalty kill ranks 22nd overall this season (78.0 percent, with opponents going 24-for-109). St. Louis is the NHL's least-penalized team in terms of times shorthanded. Since the holiday break, the Blues rank 24h in the NHL (73.7 percent, with opponents going 5-for-19 and the Blues scoring one shorthanded goal).
The Flyers need to be careful about how they manage the puck on the power play. St Louis has scored nine shorthanded goals this season: two apiece for Pavel Buchnevich and Alexey Toropchenko, and one each for Robert Thomas, Kasperi Kapanen, Oskar Sundqvist and defensemen Nick Leddy and Marco Scandella.
4. Flyers PK vs. Blues power play
The Flyers went 3-for-3 on the penalty kill against the Jets on Saturday. Philly checks into Monday's game with the NHL's top-ranked penalty kill at 86.8 percent (opponents are 18-for-136). The Flyers are also tied with the Calgary Flames for the most shorthanded goals (10) scored this season: five for Konecny, two for Walker, and one apiece for Poehling, Laughton and Garnet Hathaways.
Since the Christmas break, the Flyers have killed penalties at a 90.3 percent clip (28-for-31, three shorthanded goals scored). Over the last 20 games, the Flyers have also maintained a 90.3 percent clip on the PK (56-for-62, five shorthanded goals).
Much like the Flyers, the St. Louis power play has struggled for most of the season to date (ranked 30th at 13.3 percent, 16-for-120, four shorthanded goals allowed). However, the PP has shown improvement since the holiday break, going 5-for-25 (20.0 percent, ranked 16th) without yielding any shorthanded goals.
5. Behind Enemy Lines: St. Louis Blues
Bannister took over as interim head coach on Dec. 14 when Craig Berube was dismissed amid a four-game losing streak and 13-14-1 record at the time. Since then, St. Louis has gone 7-4-1. For the season, the Blues have posted a 13-7-1 record at home but a mark of 8-11-1 on the road.
Side note: Former NHL defenseman Bannister was Frost's head coach with the OHL's Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds for three seasons. Subsequently, Bannister coached in the AHL for six seasons, and led the Springfield Thunderbirds to the Calder Cup Finals in 2021-22.
Robert Thomas leads the Blues in scoring with 44 points (16g, 28a) in 41 games played. He's followed by Buchnevich (13g, 19a, 32 points in 33 games),Jordan Kyrou (12g, 19a, 33 points in 41 games), and former Flyers centers/wingers Kevin Hayes (10g, 10a, 20 points in 41 games) and Brayden Schenn (9g, 10a, 19 points in 41 games.
Torey Krug leads the St. Louis defense corps in scoring (1g, 18a, 19 points) while dressing in every game to date. Forwards Jake Neighbours (13g, 3a, 16 points) and Brandon Saad (10g, 8a, 18 points) have also played in every game this season and round out the St, Louis list of players with double-digit goals to date.
In goal, Jordan Binnington (14-11-2 record, 3.04 goals against average, .906 save percentage) has appeared in 30 games. Twenty-three-year-old Joel Hofer has appeared in a total of 15 games (7-7-0, 2.87 GAA, .908 SV%, one shutout).
Monday's game marks the first game for Hayes since the offseason season trade that sent him from the Flyers to the Blues. Meanwhile, the 32-year-old Schenn will play in the 900th regular season game of his NHL career.
