The Flyers, believe it or not have a lot to play for. For starters, these young prospects are playing to stay within the organization, and in some cases are trying to make impressions to stay within the lineup next season.
John Tortorella and his staff are laying building blocks for a successful foundation, and that starts with playing hard and wanting to win, even though the Flyers already know their fate of missing the playoffs for the third straight season.
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It’s been tough times in Philadelphia, but their might be a silver lining, and that is giving each young player a shot. This includes Egor Zamula tonight, as the orange and black will play with 11 Forwards and seven Defensemen, per Tortorella, “I hope I have a good game,” Zamula said yesterday. “I think I need to play my game like I do at Lehigh. I need to play hard every shift.”
“We are still battling for playoffs so every game is a big game for the Phantoms. We lost three in a row, it’s not great, but I play big minutes, and PK and Power Play,” Zamula continued. Carter Hart, a 24-year-old netminder became the youngest goalie in Flyers history to win 80 games last week. Hart has been beaten and battered with a less than stellar team in front of him for the past two seasons. The fault does not lie with Hart at the Flyers failures, rather it was the inability of the Flyers front office to gain high-end talent, whether at the draft, via free agency or trade.
Thankfully Owen Tippett is ok, and he skated today at morning skate. He did not practice yesterday, as he was apparently banged up and given a maintenance day, per John Tortorella following practice yesterday. Tippett will play tonight, and Tanner Laczynski will sit in favor of Zamula.
Tippett is on fire as he has three goals and two assists in his last two games played, to include a hat trick this past Friday night on St. Patty’s Day. It’s really good to see the potential of this up and coming young player for the orange and black. If he hit the net more he could potentially be a 30-35 goal scorer in this league. He also has to learn to take the puck to the net more, as well.
What will transpire tonight is anyone’s guess, but the Flyers are looking to play playoff spoiler and upset the Florida Panthers tonight.
