The Philadelphia Flyers have a chance to put together a winning road trip. However, it won’t be easy as they’ll have to play hard against a very talented Toronto Maple Leafs team.
The Flyers’ road trip has been full of ups and downs, but a win tonight should put them in good spirits heading home. Will the Flyers get it done? We’ll find out later tonight.
Ivan Fedotov will get his first net start since December 5th against the Florida Panthers. He was pulled after the first period in that one after allowing two goals. Flyers fans are hoping that he’ll be able to right the ship and help the team to a victory.
Through 10 games played, Fedotov holds down a 4-4-1 record, a 3.48 goals against average (GAA), and a .877 save percentage. He needs to use his size to his advantage and track the puck well tonight. That is something he’s struggled with this season. He’s either allowing pucks to go through his legs or is slowly going post-to-post. With Samuel Ersson needing time on the injured list, he and Aleksei Kolosov are going to have to pick up their game.
Let’s briefly go through each game of this road trip and the Flyers performance.
They started the six-game road trip against the Pittsburgh Penguins back on December 23rd. This was a game to forget. The Flyers scored three goals in that game, but poor defense and goaltending played a huge role in their 7-3 loss. Ersson was pulled after allowing five goals on fourteen shots while Kolosov made six saves in relief. This game could easily be called the “Sidney Crosby game.” Crosby always finds a way to do damage against the Flyers. He did just that in their first game.
The Flyers made it 1-1 on the road trip with a better performance against the Anaheim Ducks on December 28th where they won 3-1. This was their first game back from the holiday break. This might have been a game Flyers fans circled on their calendar. A game where they take on former Flyers prospect Cutter Gauthier. Noah Cates would extend his goal streak to five and Ersson made 32 of 33 saves. It would get the team back to hockey .500 on the season.
They’d take on the Los Angeles Kings the following night and put up a good hard fight up until the third period. The Flyers had a 4-3 lead going into the third period and unfortunately blew up. Anze Kopitar would deposit two goals to lead the Kings to a 5-4 win. A positive for this game was Matvei Michkov finding his game again and tallying a goal and an assist.
The Flyers would end 2024 on a high note with a 4-0 shutout against the San Jose Sharks on December 31st. Unfortunately, Ersson sustained an injury and was pulled before the third period started. However, Kolosov shut the door, making seven saves for the combined shutout. Travis Konecny scored a much-needed goal for his 17th of the season on the power play. This gave the Flyers their second win on the trip.
The New Year didn’t get off on the right foot as the Flyers lost to the Vegas Golden Knights 5-2 back on January 2nd. The second period has been very troublesome for the Flyers this season and it showed in this game. The Knights managed to score three second-period goals to put the Flyers down by two entering the third.
The Flyers stand at 2-2 on the road trip heading into tonight’s game. They need to help Fedotov out tonight and come out strong. Flyers forward Scott Laughton gives his opinion on what the team needs to do to help him out.
The Flyers take on the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight at 7 pm in Toronto.
