Rick Tocchet's Philadelphia Flyers (0-1-1) are home on Saturday to take on Rod Brind'Amour's defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes (0-1-1) at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Game time is 7:00 p.m. EDT. The game will be broadcast on NBCSP.
The Flyers got a spectacular goaltending performance from Joseph Woll in Saturday's 3-2 overtime road loss to New Jersey Devils. One night earlier, the Flyers were on the wrong end of a 7-0 score against the Pittsburgh Penguins at XMA.
Carolina is on the back end of consecutive game days. On Friday, the Hurricanes sustained a 5-2 home loss to the Washington Capitals. Carolina got one point from their 1-0 overtime home defeat by the Florida Panthers on Wednesday. With Brandon Bussi having played each of the first two games, look for Pyotr Kochetkov to start the team's road opener on Saturday.
Here are the RAV4 Things to watch.
1. Puck possession
The Hurricanes, year in and year out, are the NHL's top team in puck possession metrics. Meanwhile, the Flyers were out-possessed by both Pittsburgh and New Jersey to alarming levels. This has to improve significantly and immediately.
This topic can be broken down into two equally important areas. First, the Flyers need to win the small battles (faceoffs, loose pucks, board play) it takes to get the puck on a Flyers' stick in the first place. Second, the Flyers need to take care of the puck once they have it.
Across the board, Philly hasn't been nearly good enough in the first two games. Not in any zone. The team's defensive zone containment was marginally better on Thursday than Wednesday. That's about it. The Flyers blocked a lot of shots and they got strong goaltending. Puck possession was still unacceptable.
2. Playing with pace
The New Jersey Devils have excellent team speed. So does Carolina, and the Canes are better than the Devils at making things happen -- clean zone entries, chip-in recoveries, scoring chances etc. -- once they get moving up ice.
The Flyers didn't have their feet moving nearly often enough in either of the first two games. They need to play faster -- as well as cleaner -- with the puck. It's always a tall order to match Carolina's pace. But the Flyers absolutely need to even this factor up as much as possible to stand a chance to win.
3. Special teams
On Wednesday, the Flyers were 0-for-3 on the powerplay with a shorthanded goal allowed. They went 2-for-4 on the penalty kill. On Thursday, the Flyers only had one power play opportunity. They did not score. However, Philly did score on a 6-on-5 delayed penalty. The PK was better, going 4-for-4. Three kills came durring the first period.
4. Flyers forwards
The Flyers got two goals from their defense corps on Thursday: Rasmus Ristolainen and Travis Sanheim (1G, 1A). No Flyers forward has scored yet. The team juggled the starting line combos from Wednesday to Thursday. It did not make much impact -- to the point that it's easier to discuss the forward corps collectively than focus on a particular line or player.
That said, Philly absolutely needs plays from the likes of Trevor Zegras, Travis Konecny, Porter Martone and Matvei Michkov. Tyson Foerster has had some isolated good moments, but also a couple mistakes.
