Rick Tocchet's Philadelphia Flyers (0-1-2) are in the Sunshine State on Monday to take on Jon Cooper's Tampa Bay Lightning (1-1-0).
Game time at Benchmark International Arena is 7:00 p.m. EDT. The game will be broadcast on NBCSP and NHL Network.
On Saturday against Carolina, the Flyers received another outstanding goaltender performance from Joseph Woll. Philadelphia earned one point -- and held a 2-1 lead entering the third period -- despite a heavy puck possession disadvantage for the third straight game.
Ultimately, two goals and an assist from Sebastian Aho paced the Hurricanes to a 3-2 overtime win. Owen Tippett and Matvei Michkov scored their respective first goals of the 2026-27 season.
Tampa Bay enters this game coming off a solid 3-1 home win against the Washington Capitals on Saturday. Jake Guentzel led the way offensively with a goal and two assists. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 20 of 21 shots.
Here are the RAV4 Things to watch.
1. Chance creation
The Flyers have been heavily outchanced -- not just outshot -- in each of the first three games this season. Overall, the Flyers have been outchanced 59 to 22. Moreover, they've already allowed 26 high-danger chances when generating a meager five of their own.
Shot volume is less important than shot quality. Nevertheless, the negative disparity in shot volume is astonishing in its own right. Opponents have averaged 41 shots per game to just 22 for the Flyers.
However, in pockets of Saturday's game, the Flyers did create some much better opportunities than they had against the Penguins or Devils. Sustainability was a problem.
Bottom line: Philly needs to win more battles to get possession of the puck and then manage the puck more wisely once they have it. That's especially true because Monday is the Flyers' fourth game in six nights to start the season.
2. Attack/defend the middle of the ice
This, along with turnovers, gets the heart of the negative chance disparity. The Flyers actually did make some progress in this area, at least sporadically, against Carolina. There were still missed opportunities to attack the middle (choosing perimeter plays instead) and time where pucks were forced toward the middle from low-percentage setups. Even so, there were some baby steps.
Likewise, on the defensive side of the puck, there were stretches of Saturday's game where Carolina was contained to the perimeter, Woll saw the shots clearly and the defense boxed out effectively.
Again, these were small steps and not maintained at some key junctures. But it's something the team no doubt isolated on video and during Sunday's practice. These are the kinds of habits the Flyers need to rediscover quickly.
3. Special teams
The Flyers took a baby step forward on the power play on Saturday, at least in terms of generating puck movement and solid looks at the net. However, that's not very comforting when none got finished and a crucial late game power play was Philly's worst of the night. Bottom line, the power play is 0-for-8 so far with a shorthanded goal allowed (plus several other shorthanded chances).
Meanwhile, the Flyers have allowed multiple opposing power play goals in two of the three games played to date. That cost the Flyers a point on Saturday.
4. Playing without Ristolainen
The Flyers lost top-pairing right side defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen on Saturday. He suffered an upper-body injury in the second period. Ristolainen returned for one shift to start the third period but was unable to continue.
Flyers number one defenseman Travis Sanheim logged very heavy minutes against Carolina and took a maintenance day on Sunday. He's fine to play on Monday. The Flyers will have to reconfigure their pairings against the Lightning.
