In my 19 years of writing with HockeyBuzz, I've never before written a narrative version of a game day blog. However, so much happened since I sat down late on Friday evening to write "Five Things" (the game preview on PhiladelphiaFlyers.com) and the HockeyBuzz version of the preview (which I always try to at least somewhat differentiate from the Flyers website version).
While I think yesterday's
Postgame 5 on the Flyers site captured the essence of the wild (literally) matinee on Saturday, there were still several things I wanted to discuss that I simply didn't have the time or article space to address.
Some of those topics -- the specific dynamics of Sean Couturier's line with Travis Konecny (on left wing) and Matvei Michkov (now back on his off-wing as he prefers), the reunion of a Rasmus Ristolainen pairing with Travis Sanheim (a staple pairing during Ristolainen's first season with the Flyers but seldom together the last couple years) and the recalls of goalie Aleksei Kolosov and defenseman Emil Andrae -- appear as the bulk of today's Five Things on the Flyers website. Sunday's "Five Things" is finished and awaiting publication. It should go live around 10 a.m. EDT.
Even then, there are topics I could not yet get to. With an off-day tomorrow for the Flyers, I will address two of them. For right now, though, I think it's helpful to recap the major happenings of the last 24 hours.
* The Flyers loaned 18-year-old 2024 first-round pick Jett Luchanko back to the Ontario Hockey League's Guelph Storm. (This will be one of tomorrow's two main topics in a "Musings and Quick Hits" blog on HB, and I have no doubt that Jason Myrtetus and I will discuss it at length on the "Monday with Meltzer" edition of Flyers Daily. Jason and I will record it after tonight's game).
* Cam York was placed on IR with the upper body injury he suffered late in Wednesday's game in Washington. He will miss a minimum of two weeks; a huge absence for the Flyers defense corps.
* The Flyers recalled defenseman Andrae and 22-year-old rookie goalie Aleksei Kolosov from the Phantoms. Kolosov is expected to get the start on Sunday at home against Montreal. With York's absence, I would think that Andrae comes in (with either Erik Johnson or Egor Zamula exiting). I'd also expect that he'd replace Zamula on the second power play unit, even if Zamula is dressed for the game.
For Monday's blog, I planned to to discuss the struggles of the Flyers' "F Troop" (Joel Farabee, Morgan Frost and Tyson Foerster) in the early going of the 2024-25 season. Instead, I'll write about right now in the hopes that Sunday's game against Montreal sees at least two and hopefully all three of these players get going. In fact, I'd like to see them as a line and given a chance by head coach John Tortorella -- meaning to leave them alone as a trio for longer than few shifts or a single period of it doesn't click instantly -- to work things out together.
Farabee collected points in each of the first three games. He's slumped a bit since then and also seen his time go down. He's kicked himself over a couple of point blank chances that he didn't pot for goals -- the same thing has happened with Frost the last two games in particular -- and is clearly pressing right now. He's also a bit banged up.
Frost racked up three power play assists, including a nice primary assist on a Michkov one-timer, in the season's first three games plus a shooting winning goal in the opener in Vancouver. Since then, it's been nothing but a wave of frustration for Frost. His minus-12 is more a matter of the team being hemmed in the defensive zone much -- plus being out for two opposing empty net goals apiece against Calgary and Washington -- than shirking defensive responsibility. On Saturday, Tortorella used him only for a third period power play (he got a fortuitous assist as Konecny potted a carom of a missed shot by Frost off the end boards in front) and then benched him the rest of the game.
Foerster, who scored the season's first goal in the opener in Vancouver, has been putting a lot of pressure on himself to snap back into his rookie form from last year. Tortorella even made him a health scratch for a game (first time since opening night of the 2023-24 season in Columbus).
The Flyers need to get all three of these players back on top of their respective games. I'd like to see Tortorella let them do it together -- playing Ryan Poehing and Garnet Hathaway top six type shifts solves nothing in the bigger picture.
Owen Tippett's seeing-eye goal from a "non-scoring" area (courtesy of a perfect screen by Couturier) on Wednesday in Washington was a very important play even though the Flyers lost the game. Tippett's relief was palpable and, in the game-plus since, he's been able to relax a bit and get back to just playing. He also got a couple more notches on the score sheet with a pair of secondary assists in the Minnesota game.
It would not surprise me if Tippett has a breakout game on Sunday. Three reasons: 1) he's had considerable individual success against Montreal in his Flyers career to date; 2) he's seemed on the cusp of a breakthrough a couple times prior to the goal in Washington; 3) Tippett's combination of size and speed makes him well-suited to provide what the Flyers need to build off Saturday's win (which was more grind than track meet for the Flyers despite the seven goals the scored).
In Monday's blog, I will address Bobby Brink. Brink has been a healthy scratch in each of the Flyers' last two games. It could be three in a row if the Flyers carry the same 12 forwards on Sunday from Saturday afternoon's win.
There is no morning skate on Sunday. So I will have the lineup against Montreal in tomorrow's blog as well as Postgame 5.
Phantoms Wrap Up 3-in-3 on Sunday
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms will wrap up their first 3-in-3 weekend gauntlet of the season on Sunday with a return match at home against the Grand Rapids Griffins. After losing on the road in overtime on Friday against the Hartford Wolf Pack, the Phantoms (1-3-1) sustained a 5-2 home loss to Grand Rapids on Friday.
Veteran goalie Cal Petersen, making his first start of the regular season after Aleksei Kolosov started each of the first four games (including a Friday/Saturday back-to-back against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton), yielded five goals on 22 shots in Saturday's game. The Phantoms trailed by two goals after the first (2-0) and second (4-2) periods.
In a losing cause, Rodrigo Abols (2nd goal of the seasons) deflected an Ethan Sansom shot into the net to cut the gap to 2-1 early in the second period. Late in the middle frame, Anthony Richard (2nd) temporarily brought the Phantoms back within 3-2 before the Griffins restored a two-goal margin less than a minute later. Grand Rapids added some extra insurance early in the third period.
Finnish goalie Eetu Makinemi served as the backup in each of the Phantoms last two games. With Kolosov on NHL recall and Petersen not being effective in Saturday's game, Makiniemi could get his first regular season appearance in Saturday's return game.
Cooper Marody has yet to play a regular season game, due to a preseason injury. Rookies Alexis Gendron and Massimo Rizzo have also not yet dressed in the regular season.
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