Feb 23, 2019; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Flyers center Claude Giroux (28) celebrates the game-winning goal during overtime against the Pittsburgh Penguins in a Stadium Series ice hockey game at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
The Flyers will take on the Boston Bruins today in their first game of the round robin tournament.
The Flyers played the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday where they won 3-2. The pace of their game seemed pretty consistent and fast, especially given the break.
Something positive to focus on from the exhibition game for the Flyers was their Penalty Kill. Kevin Hayes was at it again killing the penalty so efficiently. If that sample size is indicative of how the rest of the playoffs will go, fans should be excited. However, Special Teams are more than just the Penalty Kill. The Flyers will need to work on getting their power play going now, too.
“Our penalty killing against one of the better teams in the NHL was very effective. It’s a start. We talked today to our group about the need to get better,” Flyers Head Coach Alain Vigneault said after the Penguins game on Tuesday.
Vigneault isn’t worried about his teams Power Play either. After practice on Friday he said, “Our PP was one of the best in the league best in the league before the halt of play.”
Special Teams are super important in the playoffs and can really make or break a team, so it’s something the Flyers need to get rolling pretty fast now that hockey is starting back up and the games are going to count.
The Bruins played their exhibition game on Thursday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets and lost 4-1. The Bruins starting Goaltender, Tuukka Rask, didn’t look too sharp in the period and a half he played, letting in three goals. The goalies switched halfway through the game, which was to be expected, and Halak had a much better showing, only allowing one goal. Rask is coming off an injured finger, so he didn’t have as much time to practice at training camp. But regardless of everything, Rask might be in net for the Bruins against the Flyers (If he recovers from an illness that is not Covid-19 related).
Forward Brad Marchand left the exhibition game early, but should be good to go said Bruce Cassidy, “Brad Marchand was on the ice for full practice he should be good to go tomorrow.”
In the net for the Flyers against the Bruins will be Carter Hart. Hart has had success against the Bruins throughout this past season, winning two out of the three games they played against each other this past season.
The Flyers lines and D pairings for the game are as follows:
Giroux-Couturier-Voracek
Laughton-Hayes-Konecny
JVR-Grant-NAK
Raffl-Thompson-Pitlick
Provorov, Niskanen
Sanheim, Myers
Hagg, Braun
Hart
