Returning home from a five-game road trip, Rick Tocchet's Philadelphia Flyers (21-12-7) host Joel Quenneville's Anaheim Ducks (21-18-3) on Tuesday evening. It's the annual Ed Snider Legacy Game. Tonight marks the midpoint of the Flyers' 2025-26 regular season schedule.
Game time at Xfinity Mobile Arena is 7:00 p.m. EST. The game will be televised on NBCSP.
Tuesday's game marks the first of two meetings this season between the inter-conference teams. The clubs will rematch in Anaheim on March 18.
The Flyers went 3-2-0 during their recent road trip, dating back to Dec. 23. On Saturday afternoon, Philadelphia skated to a 5-2 victory over the defending Western Conference champion Edmonton Oilers.
Denver Barkey (1st NHL goal), Travis Sanheim (4th), Bobby Brink (11th), Nick Seeler (1st) and Owen Tippett (ENG, 13th) scored for the Flyers. Dan Vladar made 23 saves, including numerous difficult and timely saves.
The Ducks are winless in their last six games. Anaheim is playing the latter game of a back-to-back set and the second match of an Eastern road trip that will see the team play four times in six nights.
On Monday, the Ducks fell short in a comeback bid against the Washington Capitals. The Caps prevailed, 7-4. Washington led, 5-1, before the Ducks pushed back within one goal. However, the Caps pulled away again with two empty net goals late in the third period. Chris Kreider (14th), Alex Killorn (3rd), Jacob Trouba (7th) and Beckett Sennecke (14th) scored in a losing cause.
Here are the RAV4 Things to watch on Tuesday evening.
1. Zegras and Drysdale
It's to imagined that Flyers leading scorer Tevor Zegras (15 goals, 24 assists, 39 points) has been waiting for this matchup with his former team. The same goes has defenseman Jamie Drysdale (3g, 15a, 18 points). This will be Zegras' first game against the Ducks since coming over from Anaheim during the 2025 offseason. Former Ducks blueliner Drysdale had a breakout game last season in an emotionally charged match against Anaheim.
Meanwhile, there are some familiar faces on the visiting team, too, including longtime Flyers defenseman Radko Gudas. Ryan Poehling spent the last two seasons with the Flyers before going to Anaheim in the Zegras trade. Additionally, Ducks backup goaltender Petr Mrazek was part of the 2017-18 Flyers squad that earned 98 points. Mrazek started Monday's game in Washington. Look for Lukas Dostal (13-10-2, 3.18 GAA, .887 GAA) to be the likely starter against the Flyers after relieving Mrazek in the third period.
2. Emotion and discipline
The first game back after a long road trip is notoriously tough for teams at all levels of the standings. There's often a subconscious tendency for the home team to let down their guard and pay the price for it. This already happened to the Flyers once this season. After going 3-1-0 on a tough trip to conclude the November portion of their schedule, the Flyers came out flat on Dec. 1 in a 5-1 home loss to the archrival Pittsburgh Penguins.
The home crowd will be riled up for Tuesday's game. Last season's game in Philadelphia against Anaheim was the most emotionally charged game of the season. It was former first-round pick Cutter Gauthier's first game against the Flyers after the organization traded his rights to the Ducks in exchange for Drysdale. Gauthier had a rough "welcome" to Philadelphia from both the Flyers fans and the home team on the ice.
On Tuesday night, the Flyers' players will once again look to feed off the emotion and energy the crowd will surely supply from the outset. From there, it will be up to the Flyers players on the ice to sustain it in similar fashion to last January's 6-0 blowout romp. On the flip side, the Flyers need to maintain the structure that has made them successful so far this season.
3. Dvorak here to stay
Veteran center Christian Dvorak bet on himself last summer by signing a one-year contract with the Flyers as an unrestricted free agent. Would the 29-year-old forward be a rental until the 2026 trade deadline? Would he stay the one year and cash in elsewhere as a UFA again?
Dvorak and the Flyers answered those questions on Monday. He signed a five-season contract extension that runs through the 2030-31 season. The deal carries a $5.15 million average annual value (AAV).
The first game after a player signs an in-season long-term extension tends to be one in which there's added focus on his performance. It may just be one game, but it's symbolic of demonstrating ongoing commitment to the player earning his keep. Dvorak has had a solid two-way season for the Flyers and has also established strong on-ice chemistry with Zegras. Dvorak's task is to just keep doing what he's done all season. The stakes are now a bit higher, with the organization having committed to him as part of the long-term plan.
4. Flyers power play
Tuesday's game marks the fifth match for the Flyers since the leaguewide holiday break. The team is still looking for its first power play goal since Christmas, going 0-for-8 so far. Dating back to December 1, the Flyers are 6-for-46 (13.0 percent) over their last 16 games. For the season, the Flyers are ranked in a tie for 30th in the NHL (17-for-109) with a 15.6 percent success rate on the man advantage.
Meanwhile, Anaheim has also been in a deep funk on the power play. They are last in the NHL since Dec. 1 with a 10.4 percent (5-for-48) mark in 17 games. For the season, the Ducks power play ranks 25th in the NHL at 16.5 percent success.
