In the first game of a Sunshine State road trip, John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (32-23-8) are in Sunrise to visit Paul Maurice's Florida Panthers (43-16-4) on Thursday evening. Game time at Amerant Bank Arena is 7:00 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 second of three meetings between the teams this season and the second and final one in Florida. The season series will wrap up on March 24 at Wells Fargo Center.
On Feb. 6, in the first game after the NHL All-Star break, the Flyers earned a 2-1 win at Amerant Bank Arena. The Panthers had a strong first period, but Samuel Ersson limited the damage to a Carter Verhaeghe power play goal. The Flyers outplayed the Panthers over the final 40 minutes. At 13:33 of the second period, Travis Konecny tied the score. Early in the third period, Noah Cates turned a Florida turnover into an unassisted go-ahead goal. Ersson and company slammed the door from there. Anthony Stolarz took the loss in net for the Panthers.
The Flyers, in third place in the Metropolitan Division, are 16-10-5 on the road this season. Philly has been inconsistent in recent weeks, going 4-4-2 over the last 10 games. The Flyers enter this game coming off a 2-1 (2-1) home shootout loss to the St. Louis Blues on Monday, gaining one point for their efforts. Scott Laughton (10th goal of the season) had the lone tally for Philadelphia.
Here are five things to watch on Thursday:
1. Pressure and Opportunities for Young Defensemen
Throughout the first three quarters of the 2023-24 regular season, the combination of Nick Seeler and Sean Walker was a steady and consistent defensive pairing for the Flyers. On Monday against St. Louis, Seeler sustained a lower-body injury while blocking a shot. He was placed on IR on Wednesday. Walker was traded to the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday in a deal that brought a conditional 2025 first-round pick and veteran center Ryan Johansen to Philadelphia.
Seeler's temporary absence, Walker's departure and the ongoing injury-related absences of Jamie Drysdale (IR, upper body) and Rasmus Ristolainen (IR, upper body) create both a very steep challenge and a tremendous opportunity for the Flyers' blueline.
Recalled last Thursday, Ronnie Attard will slot into the Flyers' lineup in a right defense slot vacated by Walker. Attard has always brought a heavy shot and a physical element to his game. He has spent most of the past two seasons in the American Hockey League with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, working on his defensive reads and awareness. Attard played in the AHL All-Star Game last season and has played strong hockey overall for the Phantoms over the last several months.
On Wednesday of this week, the Flyers recalled defenseman Adam Ginning from the Phantoms. The Swedish blueliner, who appeared in one NHL game late last season, had a promising AHL rookie season with the Phantoms last season as a shot-blocking shutdown defenseman with some physicality to his game. Ginning got off to a slow start this season but has stepped up of late. Most recently, Ginning strung together three consecutive strong performances over the course of a Friday-Saturday-Sunday gauntlet for the Phantoms. Already a solid defender, most of the work he's put in at the AHL level has been focused on his work with the puck on his stick.
Cam York, who has taken huge strides at the NHL level this season, took a maintenance day on Wednesday but will be OK to play against the Panthers. The combination of York and Travis Sanheim will shoulder a very heavy burden against Florida as well as other upcoming opponents.
Rookie blueliner Egor Zamula may also see an ice time uptick at 5-on-5. He's seen regular power play time in the second half of the season. Veteran defenseman Marc Staal, who went to the Stanley Cup Final with the Panthers last season, may also see increased minutes -- particularly on the penalty kill -- as the Flyers try to work Attard and Ginning into the rotation.
2. Konecny and Laughton
Riddled with recent injuries, the Flyers got some much-needed hopeful news on the injury front at Wednesday's practice. NHL All-Star winger and Flyers leading scorer Travis Konecny (27 goals, 27 assists, 54 points in 57 games played) ditched the non-contact jersey he wore at last Friday's practice and was a full participant in Wednesday's drills at the FTC in Voorhees. The work most notably including a small-area battle drill.
It is possible -- but not a lock --- that Konecny could return to the lineup to play against the Panthers. In either case, it's encouraging that the Flyers most important forward is very close to being ready to play. The team has missed him during his six-game absence due to an upper-body injury sustained in practice on Feb. 23.
In Konecny's absence, center Scott Laughton and winger Tyson Foerster have both stepped up dramatically. Foerster generated a half-dozen shots on goal in the St. Louis game, although he did not get on the scoresheet. Over his last six games, Foerster has racked up six goals and seven points.
Laughton, meanwhile, has recorded at least one point in nine of his last 11 games (5g. 7a, 12 points). With Sean Couturier struggling since mid-January, Laughton has at least temporarily moved up to center Philly's top forward line at 5-on-5.
On Wednesday, Laughton did not practice. According to Tortorella, the player was dealing with an illness. Laughton has dressed in all 63 games the Flyers have played this season (10g, 22a, 32 points).
If Konecny is able to return on Wednesday, it's possible that veteran Cam Atkinson could exit the lineup. Alternatively, rookie Olle Lycksell is a potential scratch.
3. Ersson the Workhorse
Playing his first full season in the National Hockey League, Samuel Ersson (17-12-5, 2.57 GAA, .899 SV%, three shutouts) has started all but three games in goal since the All-Star break. It is likely, but not confirmed, that Ersson will be tabbed again in Sunrise. Ersson is coming a very strong performance against St. Louis, making 24 saves on 25 shots over the course of regulation and overtime.
At Wednesday's practice, Ersson was the first goalie off the ice at the end of practice. Felix Sandström stayed out for some extra reps.
4. Flyers Special Teams vs. Florida Special Teams
The Flyers went 0-for-2 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill against the Blues on Monday evening. The Panthers were 1-for-2 on the power play and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday.
For the season, the Flyers rank last (32nd) in the NHL on the power play at 12.9 percent (26-for-201, three shorthanded goals allowed). The Panthers' penalty kill ranks in a tie for 7th leaguewide at 81.9 percent (opponents are 38-for-210 on the power play). The Cats have scored five shorthanded goals this season.
The Flyers penalty kill ranks No. 1 in the NHL at 86.5 percent (opposing power plays are 27-for-200) and also leads the league with 14 shorthanded goals scored: five by Konecny, three by Ryan Poehling, two by Laughton (plus four shorthanded assists for six shorthanded points overall), two by now-former Flyer Walker, and one apiece by Garnet Hathaway and Sanheim. Meanwhile, the Florida power play ranks No. 5 leaguewide at 26.5 percent (56-for-211, eight shorthanded goals yielded).
5. Behind Enemy Lines: Florida Panthers
The Panthers, currently holding the best record of any team in the NHL, are scorching hot at present: six straight wins and victories in nine of their last 10 games. On home ice, the Panthers are 20-8-2.
On Wednesday, the Panthers acquired veteran sniper Vladimir Tarasenko from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for a conditional fourth-round selection in the 2024 NHL Draft and Florida’s third-round selection in the 2025 NHL Draft. With Ottawa this season, Tarasenko posted 41 points (17 goals, 24 assists) in 57 games. Tarasenko scored a goal against the Flyers this past Saturday at Wells Fargo Center in a game that the Flyers won, 4-2.
As their gaudy record suggests, the Panthers are a team laden both with high-end talent and impressive depth. Eight players have scored double-digit goals (six with 14 or more, three with 20-plus). Seven players have posted at least 20 assists.
Leading the way: Sam Reinhart (45g including 25 on the power play and five shorthanded tallies, 30 assists, 75 points), Matthew Tkachuk (21g, 50a, 71 points), Verhaeghe (30g, 34a, 64 points), Selke Trophy candidate Aleksander Barkov (15g, 47a, 62 points), Evan Rodrigues (10g, 26a, 36 points), defenseman Gustav Forsling (9g, 22a, 31 points, plus-44) and Sam Bennett (14g, 16a).
Top pairing defenseman Aaron Ekblad has dealt with injury issues this season and has dressed in just 44 games. Nonetheless, he's posted a traditional plus-26 rating and averaged 21:28 of ice time alongside Forsling. Fellow defenseman Brandon Montour (47 GP, 25 points) tops the team with an average 23:14 of ice time since returning from shoulder surgery that cost him the first 16 games of the season.
The Panthers have had a packed schedule lately. which is true of every NHL team in March to slightly different degrees. Most recently, the Panthers came through a three-in-four road gauntlet with flying colors: a 4-0 shutout win in Detroit this past Saturday, a 4-2 victory over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Monday, and a 5-3 win in Newark over the New Jersey Devils the next night.
In Tuesday's 5-3 victory over the Devils, agitating former Flyers forward Nick Cousins scored two goals. Tkachuk collected three assists, while Rodrigues (power play), Eetu Luostarinen and Reinhart (empty net) scored one goal apiece. Stolarz made 22 saves on 25 shots.
Thursday's game against the Flyers will be Florida's fourth match in six nights. The team had off-day on Wednesday. The Panthers will hold a morning skate at their training facility in Fort Lauderdale. The likely starter in goal against Philly is two-time Vezina Trophy netminder Sergei Bobrovsky (31-11-2, 2.29 GAA, .918 SV%, four shutouts), who broke into the NHL with the Flyers in the early 2010s.
