5 Things: Flyers @ Panthers

In their first game after the NHL All-Star break, John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (25-19-6) are in Sunrise to take on Paul Maurice's Florida Panthers (31-14-4) on Tuesday evening. Game time at Amerant Bank Arena is 7:00 p.m. ET.

The game will be televised on NBCSP. The radio broadcast is 97.5 The Fanatic with an online simulcast on Flyers Radio 24/7.

This is the first of three meetings between the teams during the 2023-24 season. The Flyers and Panthers will rematch in Sunrise on March 7 before the venue shifts to the Wells Fargo Center on March 24.

Last season, the Flyers won two of the three games against Florida, with the home team prevailing in each game. The Flyers' last road win over the Panthers came back on Feb. 20, 2020, in a 6-2 Flyers victory. The most recent meeting between the teams was on March 21, 2023, with a line of Morgan Frost (1g, 1a), Tyson Foerster (2a) and now-former Flyer Brendan Lemieux (1a) leading the Flyers offensively in a 6-3 win for Philadelphia.

Heading into the All-Star break, the Flyers put together a five-game winning streak but followed it with a five-game losing skid. The Panthers won each of their last four games prior to the break.

Here are five things to watch in Tuesday's game:

1. Ersson vs. Bobrovsky

The Flyers collectively need to give goalie Samuel Ersson a chance to provide the team with a reasonable opportunity for an upset win over the defending Eastern Conference champions in the first game after the break.

During the Flyers' five-game skid, they were not necessarily giving up a lot of shots on goal. However, the team was plagued by turnovers in dangerous areas of the ice, and yielded chances to some of the most dangerous shooters in the entire NHL (including Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, Nikita Kucherov, Dylan Larkin, and David Pastrnak).

In his last four starts, Ersson was also victimized by horrid puck luck, including two goals that teammates accidentally redirected into the net on attempted shot blocks and by a triple deflection that ultimately went in off Boston forward Danton Heinen's face after he tipped the puck with his stick.

Last but not least, Ersson needs the team to provide some goal support. The Red Wings shut out the Flyers, 3-0, on January 28. The game against Boston was already a blowout (on the way to a 6-2 final) before Foerster netted a pair of goals long after Ersson was relieved by Cal Petersen at the start of the second period.

Two-time Vezina Trophy winning goalie Sergei Bobrovsky endured a couple of roller coaster seasons in his first two campaigns with the Panthers after signing a lucrative long-term contract with Florida in 2019. More recently, the former Flyer has regained something much closer to the form he displayed in his best years as a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

This season, the now 35-year-old Bobrovsky represented the Panthers in the 2024 All-Star Game in Toronto. For the season, "Bob" has posted a 23-10-2 record, .910 save percentage and two shutouts while starting 36 of the 39 games that Florida has played to date.

A fellow former Flyer, Anthony Stolarz, serves as Bobrovsky's backup. Stolie the Goalie has appeared in 15 games this season, posting an 8-4-2 record, 2.11 GAA and .916 save percentage.

2. Tippett Returns to Face Florida

Flyers winger, who recently signed an eight-year contract extension to preempt restricted free agency this summer, was on an offensive tear before suffering a lower-body injury early in the third period of the team's 7-4 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on January 20. Tippett was subsequently placed on retroactive Injured Reserve and missed the games against Ottawa, Tampa Bay, Florida and Boston.

The weeklong hiatus provided a physical respite for Tippett and other players who recently dealt with injuries (Sean Couturier) or illness (Jamie Drysdale) that forced them to miss two or more games. For the rest of the team, it was a much-needed mental break. Collectively, the entire team needed a reset.

When the Flyers resumed practice on Sunday and Monday in Sunrise, Tippett was on the ice with his teammates. He said after the first practice that he was feeling much better, and the break was a big help.

Tippett, of course, began his NHL career with the Panthers before coming over to the Flyers along with a 2024 first-round pick in the deal that sent longtime Flyers captain Claude Giroux to the Panthers as a rental on March 19, 2022. Tuesday's game will be Tippett's first game back in Sunrise since the trade to the Flyers.

Due to a concussion suffered in the 2022-23 regular season opener, Tippett missed the Oct. 19, 2022, road game against the Panthers. He played in the Oct. 27, 2022, and March 21, 2023, home games versus Florida, recording one point (0g, 1a).

3. Puck possession game

From a team metrics standpoint, the Panthers rank second in the NHL in terms of five-on-five shot attempt differential (56.84 percent team Corsi share) and tied for third in shot quality with a 55.57 percent expected goals share.

The Flyers are tied for 11th in expected goals share at 5-on-5 (51.67 percent) and are 12th in team Corsi (50.98 percent shot attempt share). The Panthers are a team that likes to put pucks at the net from a variety of angles, leading the NHL in average shots on goal per game (34.3). Florida is also stingy in the volume of shots they allowed (27.3 percent, ranking second best in the NHL).

For the Flyers, this presents four major challenges with the teams playing at even strength:

1) Establish and sustain a forecheck.

2) Clean breakouts.

3) Strong puck management including minimal failed clearing opportunities.

4) Holding their own on faceoffs against a top one-third ranked (10th overall) opponent on the draw.

4. Flyers special teams vs. Panthers special teams

From the leaguewide holiday break to the All-Star break, the Flyers were 18.5 percent on the power play (10-for-54, ranked 21st, one shorthanded goal allowed). In the same span, the Flyers penalty kill ranked sixth in the league at 86.3 percent (opponents went 7-for-51, Philly scored three shorthanded goals).

Florida's Christmas-to-ASB splits: a spectacular 32.8 percent on the power play (19-for-58, ranked 2nd leaguewide, three shorthanded goals allowed), and 82.5 percent on the penalty kill (ranked 10th, opposing power plays went 11-for-63, Florida scored three shorthanded goals).

Overall, for the season, the Flyers rank second leaguewide on the penalty kill at 85.9 percent with 10 shorthanded goals scored (five by Konecny, two by Sean Walker, one apiece for Ryan Poehling, Scott Laughton and Ryan Poehling. The Flyers' power play ranks 30th and 13.3 percent with three shorthanded goals allowed.

The Panthers rank 10th leaguewide on the power play for the season at 23.8 percent success but tied with Carolina for the most shorthanded goals yielded (eight). The Florida PK ranks eighth overall at 82.7 percent. The Panthers have scored four shorthanded goals this season, all by Sam Reinhart.

5. Behind Enemy Lines: Florida Panthers

In addition to goaltender Bobrovsky, team leading scorer Reinhart (37g, 25a, 62 points, 20 power play goals) represented the Panthers in the 2024 All-Star Game. The 28-year-old center, who notched goals in each of the final four games heading into the ASB, already has set a new single-season career high in goals.

Two-way center Aleksander Barkov (11g, 37a, 48 points in 32 games, +18) was the last NHL player other than the now-retired Patrice Bergeron to win the Selke Trophy. The next-to-last to win the award was the Flyers' Sean Couturier in 2019-20. If the voting were held right now, there'd be a good chance that Barkov would collect the award for the second time.

Florida boasts a particularly strong top six group at forward. Carter Verhaeghe (24g. 26a) trails only Reinhart and Matthew Tkachuk (16g, 35) on the Panthers' scoring leaderboard. Tkachuk and ex-Flyer Nick Cousins are particularly adept at getting under opponents' skin. Cousins missed 10 games in January with a concussion but has since been cleared.

Additionally, the Panthers are a team that often likes to bring their defensemen up on the play to join the attack. This is true nearly leaguewide in today's game, but Florida is a club that does it well. Veteran defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson leads the Panthers offensively with nine goals among his 26 points. Meanwhile, Aaron Ekblad (21:25 TOI, +18, 13 points) remains a key minutes-eater who plays the toughest matchups for Maurice's club.