Rick Tocchet's Philadelphia Flyers (32-23-12) are right back in action on Thursday as they visit D.J. Smith's Los Angeles Kings (28-24-15). The Flyers bring a five-game road winning streak into Thursday's match.
Game time at Crypto.com Arena is 10:30 p.m. EDT. The game will be televised on NBCSP.
On Wednesday, the Flyers earned a 3-2 overtime road win over the Anaheim Ducks. Noah Cates (13th) goal of the season rescued the victory in OT after Philly was unable to protect a 2-0 lead. Luke Glendening (1st goal as a Flyer, 1st of the season) and Owen Tippett (23rd) scored in regulation. Dan Vladar earned the win in net with a stellar 34-save performance. Additionally the team in front of him blocked 19 shots.
The Kings were idle on Wednesday night after returning home from a road trip. On Monday, LA skated to a 4-1 road win over the New York Rangers. Drew Doughty (5th), Mikey Anderson (4th), Alex Laferriere (PPG, 17th) and Trevor Moore (ENG, 9th) scored for the Kings. Darcy Kuemper earned the win in goal with 21 saves.
Thursday's game is the second and final meeting of the two-game season series between Philadelphia and Los Angeles. On January 31 at Xfinity Mobile Arena, Adrian Kempe staked LA to a 2-0 lead with a pair of first period goals. The Flyers pushed back for second and third period tallies by Trevor Zegras (PPG) and Travis Konecny. In overtime, Quinton Byfield won the game for the Kings.
Here are the RAV4 Things to watch in Los Angeles on Thursday.
1. Key game for Ersson
Samuel Ersson is tasked with the chore of matching or topping Vladar's strong performance from Wednesday night. Ersson (10-10-5 record, 3.30 GAA, .863 save percentage) had arguably his best start of the season in the Flyers' 4-1 home win against the Washington Capitals last Wednesday. The Swedish netminder stopped 21 of 22 shots and tracked the puck well with an economy of motion. Philly needs a similar performance in Los Angeles.
2. Tippett Tracker
No Flyers player has been hotter offensively -- or in terms of his all-around game -- than winger Owen Tippett since the Olympic break. Tippett has bypassed Trevor Zegras for second on the team in goal scoring including three goals and four points in his last four games. Tippett has also upped his physical game this season and relished the opportunity to start killing penalties. Opponents of late have especially struggled to deal with Tippett's combination of speed and power. Tippett's three shorthanded goals this season lead the team.
3. Solid start
The Flyers can ill-afford to have again what happened the last time they played the Kings. The two quick goals by Kempe forced the Flyers to play in comeback mode. Philly also caught a huge break when a would-be goal from ex-Flyer Andrei Kuzmenko (which would have opened a 3-0 lead for the Kings) was overturned due to an offside entry. With the Flyers playing the second game of a back-to-back and the middle match of a 3-in-4, Philly needs a much stronger start against the Kings to set themselves up with a fighting chance to grind out a victory.
4. Kopitar and Panarin
Thursday's game marks the final time the Flyers will play against future Hall of Fame center Anze Kopitar. The game's first Slovenian star plans to retire at the end of this season. In 30 career games against the Flyers, the two-time Selke Trophy winning center has nine goals and 21 points.
In the meantime, the Kings acquired veteran superstar Artemi Panarin from the New York Rangers since the last time LA played the Flyers. Overall this season, Panarin has 70 points (22g, 48a) in 63 games including 10 assists and 13 points in his first 11 games for the Kings.
