The Philadelphia Flyers are currently dead smack in the middle of a six game homestand. They will host the San Jose Sharks at the Xfininty Mobile Arena tonight at 7:00 PM.
How’s it goin’ so far?
Pens
The homestand started on Monday December 1st when Sidney Crosby and the cross-state rival Penguins came to town. No way to sugar coat it, the Pens totally spanked the Flyers 5-1. It was not a good night for the Orang and Black in any way shape or form.
The Penguins picked Flyers rising star Dan Vladar clean between the pipes, rocking him for all five goals. The Flyers penalty kill which has been really impressive so far this season gave up three power-play goals. Tyson Foerster suffered an injury that’s going to keep him out of the line-up for two to three months. It’s safe to say, game one was a disaster.
Sabres
Two nights later the Buffalo Sabres came to town and took the brunt of the Flyers bounce back. This was a chance for the Flyers to put the Pittsburgh game behind them and forge ahead. Unfortunately for the Sabres the Flyers forged all over them.
The Flyers scored three goals in the span of 59 seconds during the 1st period and were able to set it on cruise control for the rest of the tilt. Samuel Ersson had an impressive night in the net and the Flyers won the contest decisively 5-2.
Avs
The Flyers gave the NHL leading Colorado Avalanche a valiant run for their money and lost by just a goal 3-2. The Avalanche are rolling at 21-2-6. Samuel Ersson got his second consecutive start and did what he could. The Flyers outshot the Avs 13-3 in the 3rd period but could not complete the comeback.
Colorado played the part of Goliath in this match but it did not look at all like boys vs men out there on the ice. The Flyers did a respectable job as the underdogs and do not need to hang their heads over this one. …But another bounce back win would be nice.
Homestand 3-2-Go
Sharks
Dan Vladar should get the start tonight when the Flyers host San Jose. The Sharks are coming in one game ahead of hockey 500 with a record of 14-13-3. The Flyers are currently 15-9-3 and are favored to win this game. But as we all know in the sport of ice hockey anything can happen on any given night.
The line of Dvorak, Konecny, and Trevor Zegras looked particularly dangerous in the Colorado contest. TK is definitely looking more like himself as of late. Still looks a tad frustrated but he’s getting there. He’s also still 2nd in points on the team. We’ve come to expect a lot from Travis Konecny, he has really proven his value over the past few seasons.
Knights
The Vegas Golden Knights will be in town on Thursday night December 11th, 7:00PM. The Knights are currently 14-6-8 on the season.
An interesting wrinkle in this game will be the return to Philly of former Flyers goaltender Carter Hart. Can’t say at this point who will get the start but either way Hart should be in the net, on the bench, or at the very least somewhere in the building.
Canes
The Carolina Hurricanes will be the Flyers final guest of the homestand Saturday night December 13th at 7:00 PM. This game will have Metropolitan Division implications. It is not possible to overstate just how tight the Meto is at this point.
The Washington Capitals have been on a tear and have managed to “pull away” from the rest of the pack. And by “pull away” I mean they have opened up a three point gap between themselves and the 2nd place Carolina Hurricanes. Just four points separate the 2nd place Canes from the last place Blue Jackets. …So tight it squeaks.
Getting ahead of our selves just a bit. Saturday night’s game against the Canes will be the 1st game of a home-and-home back-to-back. There will be a rematch less than 24 hours later in Carolina. This NHL schedule is jam packed leading up to the abbreviated February schedule due to the Olympic break. It’s go time. These two games against Carolina will be huge as far as the division standings are concerned.
Check out our Flyers Nitty Gritty Store
Cool Matvei Michkov merchandise
About Author
