Playing their fourth game -- and first home match -- of the four-game preseason schedule, the Philadelphia Flyers (1-2-1) will take on the New Jersey Devils (3-0-0) at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday evening. Game time is 7:00 p.m. EDT.
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.
After this game, the Flyers will host the Bruins on Oct. 2 and the New York Islanders on Oct. 5 to wrap up the preseason. The regular season starts on Oct. 12 with a road game in Columbus.
Here are five things to watch in Saturday's game,
1. Home crowd could see a host of projected NHL roster players
Most of the Flyers' returning players -- as well as the most notable prospects in NHL camp -- have gotten into either one or two of the first three preseason games played to date. Owen Tippett and Travis Sanheim dressed for the first in exhibition schedule to date as did blueline rookie hopeful Egor Zamula.
Exceptions: Number one goalie Carter Hart has yet to appear in a preseason game. The same goes for last season's leading scorer, Travis Konecny, veteran winger Cam Atkinson and veteran defensemen Rasmus Ristolainen and Marc Staal.
Originally, Atkinson was slated to be on the same schedule as veteran center Sean Couturier: playing their respective first games since the 2021-22 season in the preseason opener in Newark. However, a minor lower-body injury slightly delayed Atkinson's first 2023 preseason appearance. He returned to practice mid-week and is ready to go.
Likewise, Konecny was off the ice for several days (Sunday, Monday, and the teamwide off-day on Tuesday). He was part of the non-game group practices on Wednesday and Friday and the team's "A group" practice in between. As with Atkinson, Konecny declared himself fully healthy and ready to play.
Barring any game-day setbacks, the odds are strong that most or all the veteran players who have yet to play in the preseason will be on the ice in front of the home crowd on Saturday evening.
2. Getting work for Hart in the second half of the preseason
Thus far in the preseason, both Samuel Ersson and Cal Petersen have roughly played three-and-a-half periods of hockey so far. Felix Sandström has played two periods. Hart has been practicing and scrimmaging throughout camp but has yet to see his first exhibition game action this September.
That could change come Saturday night. This morning, assistant coach Rocy Thompson confirmed that Hart will be in net to start against the Devils on Game 4 of the preseason. He also may very well go the distance in the final game of the preseason, because that's been pretty standard leaguewide for many years (barring an injury to the projected opening night goalie). Meanwhile there's still an ongoing battle for the NHL backup spot.
On Friday in Boston, Ersson fell victim to a pair of sniper goals by the deadly David Pastrnak. He only saw 10 shots overall, so his save percentage took a hit. Overall, Ersson has played well. The same goes for Sandström in playing the third period against the Devils on Monday and the first period against the Islanders two nights later.
Petersen, meanwhile, had a rough night in New Jersey on Monday. On Friday, after coming in midgame, he yielded a leaky goal he'd have liked to have back. Thereafter, however, there was a 180-degree reversal of fortunes. Petersen was outstanding over the rest of the game, especially late in the third period, during overtime and in going 2-for-2 in the shootout.
3. Not a "revenge" game but a chance for improvement
The preseason opener in Newark, marked most notably by the Devils rocketing out to a 4-0 lead in the first 5:50 of the game, could hardly have been uglier from the Flyers standpoint. The Flyers never came close to making a serious or sustained push to climb into the game. The Devils were methodical in expanding their already commanding lead by two more goals.
Heavy-legged from the ultra-high volume of skating in the first four days of training camp, the Flyers were severely out-skated by New Jersey -- one of the NHL's fastest teams -- and spent most of the night trying in vain to move the puck north.
Saturday's rematch in Philadelphia cannot accurately be called a "revenge" game. It's still the preseason, after all. Even so, it's a good opportunity for the Flyers to put forth an immensely superior performance to Monday's nearly teamwide debacle of a game. The Flyers would like to give the Wells Fargo Center crowd something to cheer about in the first NHL hockey game in the building since the 2022-23 home finale against Columbus back on April 11.
4. Another chance for roster bubble players to impress
On Friday evening, Bobby Brink replaced what had been a so-so Rookie Camp and NHL camp to date by leaving a very positive impression from his two point evening (power play primary assist, game-tying goal), shootout winner and generally being in the thick of numerous scoring opportunities. Likewise, veteran goaltender Petersen helped himself in the goalie roster spot battle by atoning himself for his role in Monday's blowout loss.
On Saturday, the Flyers will look for other players who are in a battle for an opening night roster spot to step up with an impact performance.
The trio of Nic Deslauriers, Poehling and Garnet Hathaway entered camp with the inside track to open the season as the team's fourth-line forwards and further solidified those spots in Wednesday and Friday's games. As such, the pressure is very high for players such Tanner Laczynski and Wade Allison to make statements of their own as soon as they get their next opportunity to play as they battle to beat the numbers game.
5. Behind enemy lines: New Jersey Devils
The Devils started the week by winning both portions of split-squad games on Monday: the 6-0 home win against the Flyers and, simultaneously, a 4-2 road win against the Montreal Canadiens. On Wednesday, the Devils were in Manhattan and skated to a 3-2 win over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. After Saturday's game in Philly, the Devils will return home to "The Rock" to host the New York Islanders on Monday.
So far in the preseason, the Devils are 8-for-9 on the penalty kill and 4-for-10 on the power play. The Flyers finally bagged their first power play goal in Boston on Friday, and have yielded at least one power play goal in each game so far. Michael McLeod leads the team with two goals so far (one at the Flyers' expense on Monday), while Jesper Bratt (two points against the Flyers) and Jack Hughes have nabbed a goal and three assists apiece for four points.
Apart from McLeod, the Devils got goals from Ondrej Palat, Erik Haula, Tage Thompson, Alexander Holtz and Timo Meier in Monday's game against the Flyers. Vitek Vanecek played the first 40 minutes of the game for the Devils, denying all 11 shots he faced. Erik Källgren came in at the start of the third period, turning back 10 of 10 shots.
