OccamsRazor Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 Big game here. Chance to jump the Sabres. Doesn't have to be a regulation win but it needs to be a win. Time to see if they can hang with the big boys. Projected Lines (Subject to change)FLYERS25 James van Riemsdyk - 28 Claude Giroux - 11 Travis Konecny23 Oskar Lindblom - 14 Sean Couturier - 93 Jakub Voracek21 Scott Laughton - 19 Nolan Patrick -17 Wayne Simmonds12 Michael Raffl - 44 Phil Varone - XXXXX9 Ivan Provorov - 6 Travis Sanheim8 Robert Hägg - 3 Radko Gudas47 Andrew MacDonald - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere61 Phil Myers72 Carter Hart[56 Mike McKenna]Scratches: 27 Justin Bailey (healthy), 33 Cam Talbot (acquired Feb. 16), 30 Michal Neuvirth (IR, lower body), 37 Brian Elliott (IR, lower body, AHL rehab assisgnment), 5 Sam Morin (AHL rehab for ACL surgery).LIGHTNING18 Ondrej Palat - 91 Steven Stamkos - 9 Tyler Johnson 37 Yanni Gourde - 21 Brayden Point - 86 Nikita Kucherov17 Alex Killorn - 71 Anthony Cirelli - 10 J.T. Miller 73 Adam Erne - 13 Cedric Paquette - 7 Mathieu Joseph 77 Victor Hedman - 5 Dan Girardi 27 Ryan McDonagh - 81 Eric Cernak 55 Braydon Coburn - 98 Mikhail Sergachev 70 Louis Domingue[88 Andrei Vasilevskiy]Scratches: 24 Ryan Callahan (healthy), 6 Anton Strålman (healthy scratch on Monday) or 77 Victor Hedman (lower-body injury in Monday's game), 62 Danick Martel (healthy). I think it's time to pick a defense and stop this dressing 7 D men. Stop being scared Gordon to sit the guy who belongs in the 7th role. Andrew Macdonald. I think they need to have 4 lines ready to play this team. They role 4 lines. Flyers are 12-1-1 in their last 14 games. This game just as big as any. Don't look past it. Nolan Patrick look to have to coe alive 12 points in last 14 games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OccamsRazor Posted February 19, 2019 Author Share Posted February 19, 2019 It would help a lot to get some production in this game from the top line. Namely Giroux and JVR. The Bolts are on pace for 128 points which is insane. They are going need all hands on deck to be able to dispatch this team. I mean Kucherov ALREADY has 99 points. Unreal. Someone has to slow him and Point down. This is no easy task by any means. But if they are to continue to climbing the standing tonight game will be needed. I think the Canes and Blue Jackets as well as the Panthers play tonight. Some help from lady luck would be welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 Lightning - Flyers games are ALWAYS interesting, no matter where in the standings the teams seem to be. Been that way for a long, long time....as long as I can remember anyways. When the Bolts weren't that good, they always seemed to play up to the Flyers, now that the roles are reversed a bit, seems the other way as well. Not to mention a good couple playoff series between the teams, as well as some dealings between them. Yea, definitely some familiarity between the two. And if Philly somehow bucks the odds and makes the postseason, this could be a preview of the first round. That all said, looks like it will be Louis Domingue tonight in goal, as Vasilevskiy played last night, and Victor Hedman suffered some weird injury the Lightning aren't making too well known, and he may not be in the lineup tonight (although Coach Cooper says it doesn't look that serious), which means Anton Stralman, who sat out yesterday's game, comes in to play in his place. Last two games between the Bolts and Fly were wild scoring affairs, should there be a reason this one will be any different? Who knows. TB is red hot, the Flyers have been playing really well since giving Carter Hart the starter's job, so I expect this game to be ultra competitive. Nikita Kucherov may be tired from last night's 5 pt performance, but that's ok, as the OP mentioned, the Bolts DO roll out four lines and on any given night, any of the four can burn a team...from the top six lines headed by Stamkos and Point...down to the bottom six headed by Centers Anthony Cirelli and Cedric Paquette. Philly does have the advantage of last change, so we will see what Gordon does with that...he's got some good options, Flyers fans are hoping he makes the most of them and deploys them correctly. Looking forward to this game. The Flyers, like many other teams gunning for the top team in the league, should be more than ready to play, while I think the Lightning are settling into their role of "The Hunted". The complacency the Bolts seem to suffer from last year when they had a big lead seems nowhere to be found this season. They now know teams of all shapes and sizes will bring their "A" games when they come to town...…...Flyers will be no different. Good luck and good hockey, guys, and Go Bolts from this fan for obvious reasons! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OccamsRazor Posted February 19, 2019 Author Share Posted February 19, 2019 Anthony Mingioni @AnthonyMingioni Cam Talbot's visa situation is likely what predicates the Elliott recall (along with the trade deadline looming). Could see McKenna being waived & possibly a start for Elliott if Talbot's situation doesn't resolve itself before Thursday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brelic Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 2 hours ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said: Lightning - Flyers games are ALWAYS interesting, no matter where in the standings the teams seem to be. Been that way for a long, long time....as long as I can remember anyways. When the Bolts weren't that good, they always seemed to play up to the Flyers, now that the roles are reversed a bit, seems the other way as well. A bit??? Lol, you're too generous! 2 hours ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said: Not to mention a good couple playoff series between the teams, as well as some dealings between them. Yea, definitely some familiarity between the two. And if Philly somehow bucks the odds and makes the postseason, this could be a preview of the first round. That all said, looks like it will be Louis Domingue tonight in goal, as Vasilevskiy played last night, and Victor Hedman suffered some weird injury the Lightning aren't making too well known, and he may not be in the lineup tonight (although Coach Cooper says it doesn't look that serious), which means Anton Stralman, who sat out yesterday's game, comes in to play in his place. Last two games between the Bolts and Fly were wild scoring affairs, should there be a reason this one will be any different? Who knows. TB is red hot, the Flyers have been playing really well since giving Carter Hart the starter's job, so I expect this game to be ultra competitive. Nikita Kucherov may be tired from last night's 5 pt performance, but that's ok, as the OP mentioned, the Bolts DO roll out four lines and on any given night, any of the four can burn a team...from the top six lines headed by Stamkos and Point...down to the bottom six headed by Centers Anthony Cirelli and Cedric Paquette. Philly does have the advantage of last change, so we will see what Gordon does with that...he's got some good options, Flyers fans are hoping he makes the most of them and deploys them correctly. Looking forward to this game. The Flyers, like many other teams gunning for the top team in the league, should be more than ready to play, while I think the Lightning are settling into their role of "The Hunted". The complacency the Bolts seem to suffer from last year when they had a big lead seems nowhere to be found this season. They now know teams of all shapes and sizes will bring their "A" games when they come to town...…...Flyers will be no different. Good luck and good hockey, guys, and Go Bolts from this fan for obvious reasons! I don't have a good feeling at all about this one. Outside of the Pittsburgh game, the Flyers have been outshot and outplayed in many (most?) of the games in their 12-2-1 run. It's crazy to say, but really, Hart (.924 save percentage) is the primary reason they've continued to win, and has been the SOLE reason on many occasions, including their last game against the Wings. It just too often feels like they are hanging on for dear life! The Flyers defense (or defensive game in general) is not mature yet. Provorov and Sanheim, love them both, but they are prone to multiple dangerous turnovers and blatant giveaways per game. TK, Voracek, Simmer, JVR... they're all prone to multiple turnovers too or just sloppy play in general with the puck. The Flyers need an offseason with a real coach. Trotz is the living proof right now how elite level coaching can completely change everything for a team. Get one or two things right, and it's like the other dominoes fall into place. I feel a shellacking. 6-1 Bolts. I hope I'm wrong! GO FLYERS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Knut Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 5 hours ago, OccamsRazor said: Big game here. Chance to jump the Sabres. Doesn't have to be a regulation win but it needs to be a win. I actually don't think it needs to be a win, but I do think it needs to be a point and the win would obviously be better. It's FAR more important to make sure the next three games are regulation wins. NO LOSSES, NO OT. From there, this is where the S**T gets real. They only have 3 non conference games from now until the end of the year. They have to maintain their torrid pace of wins and if they drop any games at all, they will have to be strategically fortunate losses. They literally control their own destiny because they will be playing all the teams above them and most of them twice. Can they maintain intensity and focus for two games against each of the Penguins, Captials, Hurricanes, Canadiens, Islanders, Maple Leafs? As the playoffs get closer, will teams like Toronto, the Islanders and the Captials that seem like Shoo-ins right now ease off the pedal? Will The flyers insist on letting the G.D. devils continue to play spoiler? What's truly exciting is that the Flyers will play the Hurricanes twice in the last five games... which isn't as absurd as the home and home against the Rangers to end the 09-10 season, but could set up a game 82 that's just as much of a head to head decider. If only Hextall would have fired Hakstol sooner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OccamsRazor Posted February 19, 2019 Author Share Posted February 19, 2019 23 minutes ago, King Knut said: They literally control their own destiny because they will be playing all the teams above them and most of them twice. Can't say that right now they are too many points back with games against the teams ahead of them or not they need those teams ahead to lose some too in order to catch up. For instance if they keep winning then the Flyers can't make up any ground by winning it remains a 7 point gap. They need the 2 points and the Canes, Jackets and Panthers need to lose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Knut Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 2 minutes ago, OccamsRazor said: Can't say that right now they are too many points back with games against the teams ahead of them or not they need those teams ahead to lose some too in order to catch up. For instance if they keep winning then the Flyers can't make up any ground by winning it remains a 7 point gap. They need the 2 points and the Canes, Jackets and Panthers need to lose. Any loss right now is very bad, but what I'm saying is essentially that they can afford to lose against a team they're not going to catch as much as they can afford to lose to a non-conference team. Between now and the end of the season, they can likely afford to lose 3-5 games, but NONE of those games can be against teams immediately around them in the standings. Losing to Tampa is essentially like losing to Dallas or Chicago (I hope they can win both of those BTW). bad just less damaging. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brelic Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 42 minutes ago, King Knut said: Between now and the end of the season, they can likely afford to lose 3-5 games That's a bit ridiculous, isn't it? They'd have to go something like 18-5 (.782) in their last 23 games and that would give them 99 points. If they lose to Pittsburgh, I think that makes Fletch's decision much easier. If they go 3-0-0 or 2-0-1 (and the OTL is NOT against the Pens), he might think they can make the playoffs. Which they totally can... it's just very very long odds. There's a 5.4% chance they make it... or more frighteningly, a 94.6% chance they don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OccamsRazor Posted February 19, 2019 Author Share Posted February 19, 2019 26 minutes ago, brelic said: That's a bit ridiculous, isn't it? They'd have to go something like 18-5 (.782) in their last 23 games and that would give them 99 points. If they lose to Pittsburgh, I think that makes Fletch's decision much easier. If they go 3-0-0 or 2-0-1 (and the OTL is NOT against the Pens), he might think they can make the playoffs. Which they totally can... it's just very very long odds. There's a 5.4% chance they make it... or more frighteningly, a 94.6% chance they don't. Best thing they can hope for is for one or two of these teams ahead of them to go through some struggles and start a losing streak. Would help a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brelic Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 5 minutes ago, OccamsRazor said: Best thing they can hope for is for one or two of these teams ahead of them to go through some struggles and start a losing streak. Would help a lot. Doesn't even have to be a losing streak... .500-.600 record would do it provided the Flyers can keep up their pace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Knut Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 1 hour ago, brelic said: That's a bit ridiculous, isn't it? They'd have to go something like 18-5 (.782) in their last 23 games and that would give them 99 points. If they lose to Pittsburgh, I think that makes Fletch's decision much easier. If they go 3-0-0 or 2-0-1 (and the OTL is NOT against the Pens), he might think they can make the playoffs. Which they totally can... it's just very very long odds. There's a 5.4% chance they make it... or more frighteningly, a 94.6% chance they don't. Back when the win streak started, I calculated that they'd have to go at least .750 through the end of the year in order to have even a shot at it with 95 points. That was I think 8 losses. 9 and there wouldn't be a shot. I didn't really look at the schedule then because the numbers seemed to absurd. Since the losing streak ended though, they've gone 13-2-1 which is an .844 winning percentage. Looking at the schedule though and seeing just how many of the teams they're directly competing with for the 4 playoff spots that are still feasible for them (and yes, crazy as it sounds, 2nd place in the division isn't impossible, however improbable). So going .750 is actually affording them losing more more than they have been for the past 16 games. They did not rise to the occasion against the Penguins last week. Well they sorta did, they pretty much out-competed all the Penguins skaters, but Murray and the refs rose higher, which is all it takes. The question will be whether they can rise even higher to the occasion against the Penguins, Caps, Islanders, Habs, BJ's, Sabres and Canes. My feeling is they can drop a few games to the teams well above them (Toronto, Tampa) or the teams in the west (Chicago, St. Louis, Dallas) that they should probably beat anyway. They could theoretically also drop a game to the Devils or Rangers who probably won't be able to catch the Flyers, but that just sucks and I don't want to think about that. It's exactly as it was when the winning streak started... they'll have to be the best team in hockey for the rest of the year in order to make the playoffs, and even that might not be enough. The crazy part is that for the first 16 games of that stretch, they actually HAVE been the best team in hockey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brelic Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 41 minutes ago, King Knut said: It's exactly as it was when the winning streak started... they'll have to be the best team in hockey for the rest of the year in order to make the playoffs, and even that might not be enough. The crazy part is that for the first 16 games of that stretch, they actually HAVE been the best team in hockey. Yes they have. Serious question - in your eyes, do they actually *look* like the best team in hockey when you watch them? They certainly don't to me. And that's ok - I don't expect them to be. They're playing way over their heads now, just like they were playing way below their potential earlier in the year. I'm hopeful for the future when I see guys like Patrick, Lindblom, Sanheim, Hart find their groove. Carter Hart really is the difference. Period. We're not even having this conversation without him. If he can pull this magic trick off for the next 23 games, he's gotta be in both the Calder and Hart (ha!) conversation, right? He definitely wouldn't win the Hart, but he'd end up with a record of something ridiculous like 27-9-1 (assuming he goes 14-3-0). Elliott/Talbot would have to pick up the other 6 games and lose 2 maximum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OccamsRazor Posted February 19, 2019 Author Share Posted February 19, 2019 4 minutes ago, brelic said: Serious question - in your eyes, do they actually *look* like the best team in hockey when you watch them? No. They look like a 10th seed team fighting and trying to get in the playoffs who have good stretches of play combined with great goaltending and a lot of luck the opposition is missing a lot of their chances too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Knut Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 37 minutes ago, brelic said: Serious question - in your eyes, do they actually *look* like the best team in hockey when you watch them? They don't look like you'd want the best team in hockey to look, no. They're too inconsistent and they have to pull off magic miracles far too often and frankly, they're getting a tad less disciplined about their new forechecking/defensive coverage and their newfound goaltending miracles as they go. You'd want the best team in hockey to look like a machine... like Tampa kinda does. The thing the Flyers have going for them is that they seem to have completely turned their psychology around. They can be down three goals, but if they score one, they seem to assume, "Okay... now we're gonna win." before it was the oppositve. They could be UP three goals and if the other team scored a lucky one, they'd start packing up their kits to go home. This is hockey and in hockey, the spastic team that's a little unpredictable and has made a habit of pulling plays out of their ******* usually has a very good chance. The things I loved about those Kings teams that took the cups is that they were a combination of both. They were disciplined, had a strong system that they stuck to, had great solid goaltending but were ferocious and somehow offensively unrelenting and unpredictable all at once. Teams didn't really know what they were going to do in from the redline out, but the Kings knew 100% what they were doing from the neutral zone in. 37 minutes ago, brelic said: Carter Hart really is the difference. Period. We're not even having this conversation without him. I Just don't agree with this. I think we're not having this, "best team in hockey" conversation, but I genuinely don't think the "Blow the team up" conversation would still be happening either. Hart's fantastic. He's amazing... but he was spotty at best and they didn't start winning consistently until Gordon switched them to the 1-3-1. The fact of the matter is that it was only 3 games, but Stolarz actually played better than Hart was... which is SAYING A LOT. They needed BOTH Hart to be awesome and the team to start playing better in front of him and skating to the right places in their own zone to limit the shots against to lower % chances (that Hart can save but guys like Neuvy, Pickard, McKenna and Lyon couldn't), shut down the attack and turn it around. To me the Flyers clearly don't look like a thoroughbred yet. They look like the colt of two thoroughbreds taking it's first gallops instead of trying to stand up and falling down all the time. Cart is everything else everyone is saying about him. Fantastic, goalie of the next who knows how long. He's likely the answer we've been praying for. But the team's turnaround has more to do with coaching than with Hart who has nevertheless been awesome and key. Essentially, if Hart came up under Hakstol, who changed nothing else, I believe their winning % would be exactly the same as it was before Hart and we wouldn't be having ANY conversations about the Calder and we certainly wouldn't be saying "Goalie of the future" and in fact many of us would likely be saying "He's a BUST!!!" simply because a goalie alone (even Carter Hart) can't change the entire fortunes of the team in front of him. If you leave the best players in the world wide open in front of Carter Hart, he might save slightly more of their shots than Brian Elliott, but it's still not going to be enough to win because those guys are going to score on ANYONE most of the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intheslot Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 Good to be Lucky...... Lucky to be Good.. Flyers must run the fricking ball.. and score T D.. Flyers........7 bolts..........6 flyers played them tuff early in the year two 6 to 5 loses..with no goal tending ...... Which G shows up......popcorn G or a pair of goals...G.. 11/17/2018 flyers L 6 to 5 ot.. 12/27/2018...flyers L 6 to5 ot..... games played in 2018/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertaflyer Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 Dave IsaacVerified account @davegisaac 14m14 minutes ago More Dave Isaac Retweeted Caley Chelios #Flyers facing a team without Victor Hedman and perhaps its best overall player in Braydon Point. Also don’t have to face Andrei Vasilevskiy, although Louis Domingue has won his last 10 games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OccamsRazor Posted February 19, 2019 Author Share Posted February 19, 2019 3 minutes ago, albertaflyer said: Dave IsaacVerified account @davegisaac 14m14 minutes ago More Dave Isaac Retweeted Caley Chelios #Flyers facing a team without Victor Hedman and perhaps its best overall player in Braydon Point. Also don’t have to face Andrei Vasilevskiy, although Louis Domingue has won his last 10 games. What? I hadn't seen what happened to Point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 Bolts-Flyers.. Game ON!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 As John Forslund would say... "The Lightning are off and running!!" 1-0 TB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 Bolts now up 2-0. I tell you what...not sure what it is, but Flyer defenders are just not moving enough. Are they worried about TB snipers? Are they showing Bolts skaters TOO much respect, and thus affording them lots of time and space? I don't know. I DO know, if Philly hopes to compete here, they need to be more aggressive on defensive coverage. Granted, they could still get beat, but they will also give themselves a better chance to disrupt the Bolts and create chances for themselves. Standing around and just backing into their own zone will NOT work for them! Carter Hart is going to need better support than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samifan Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 AMac -2 already....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samifan Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 Oh forgot about Martel. Put him down for a goal because he’s a former Flyer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 Not for nothing, but are the Flyers awake!!?? They should have been going full bore after the Bolts players on that odd man rush... Bolts now KO Carter Hart on that 3rd goal, but not so sure it's his fault... Flyer coverage is ABYSMAL...and they are NOT getting back to check in time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkscrewy Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 yeesh what a start... 9 shots allowed, 3 goals in the first 10 min Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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