1. Coping without Ellis.
Vigneault was not optimistic that top-pairing defenseman Ryan Ellis would be able to play in this game. Ellis did not participate in practice on Friday. Vigneault described the issue as "bumps and bruises."
Ellis took maintenance days throughout the week leading up to the Flyers' regular season opener against Vancouver on Oc. 15, but dressed in each of the first three games of the season. Last week, the player said only that he was dealing with a nagging lower-body issue.
On Friday, Vigneault did not confirm or deny that Ellis' current issue is the same as last week. However, the coach did say that he does not expect Ellis' likely absence from the lineup to be anything long-term.
At Friday's practice, injury-rehabbing Lehigh Valley Phantoms defenseman Cooper Zech filled in on the third defense pair. However, the likely recall for the game against the Panthers is Nick Seeler. The veteran performed capably in the first two games of the regular season, which Rasmus Ristolainen missed.
Veteran defenseman Justin Braun played the first two games of the regular season paired with Travis Sanheim and the third game alongside Keith Yandle. On Friday, he practiced with Ivan Provorov. Vigneault indicated that, unless Ellis is ready to play in this game, Braun would play the right side on Provorov's pair.
2. Cam, NAK and Brown.
Cam Atkinson took a hard spill into the end boards on Wednesday's game in the process of being knocked to the ice while scoring his second goal of the game in a 6-1 win over Seattle. He took treatment after the game prior to doing his postgame media availability.
On Friday, Atkinson took a maintenance day and did not practice. However, Vigneault said that he expected the ebullient veteran winger to be ready to go come Saturday evening. Atkinson has gotten off to a torrid offensive start to the season, racking up four points (3g, 1a) in the first three games.
Patrick Brown, whom the Flyers claimed off waivers from the Vegas Golden Knights on Oct.11, has exited COVID-19 protocol and practiced in Atkinson's spot on Friday. However, he is not yet ready to step into the Flyers lineup because his allowed physical activity was limited while he, his wife and their 13-month-old son, Wellington, were dealing with the virus.
Vigneault also indicated on Friday that, due to travel restrictions in Canada, Brown (an American citizen) will not quite be far enough removed from contracting the virus to be permitted to travel with the team at the start of the upcoming road trip to Western Canada. He can join the team later in the week.
Fourth line winger Nicolas Aube-Kubel had a rough game on Wednesday against Boston. He was responsible for a couple of careless turnovers in the game. One game earlier against Seattle, Aube-Kubel took a needless cross-checking penalty deep in the offensive zone (his first minor of the young season, although he'd taken a couple of unnecessary penalties in the preseason).
On Friday, Vigneault praised the work ethic and energy that NAK has shown from the offseason through the first three games. However, he noted that the player has to clean up some of the aforementioned details. The player's north-south speed and forechecking ability are an asset when he plays with discipline.
3. Four for Farabee?
The trio of Joel Farabee, Derick Brassard and Atkinson has been the Flyers most dynamic line, shift-in and shift-out, at the start of the season. That's not to say that other lines haven't had their moments to shine as well but the Brassard line has been especially good in the first week of the campaign.
Back in 2007-08, Danny Briere started the regular season (his first as a Flyer) with goals in each of the first three games. Briere potted two goals in the opener in Calgary, a goal and an assist in the second game against Edmonton and enjoyed a three-point night (1g, 2a) in the third game in Vancouver for a total of four goals and seven points in the first three games.
Farabee has been only slightly less prolific (3g, 3a) over the first three games of the 2021-22 campaign. He carries his own season-opening goal streak into tonight's tilt. A goal against the Panthers would create some team history. However, "Beezer" has a long way to go to catch new Flyers Hall of Famer Rick Tocchet's franchise-record regular season goal streak of nine straight games (March 1, 1989 to March 19, 1989).
Brassard has posted five points (1g, 4) through the first three games of the season. Several of his assists have spectacular, pinpoint setups, and his two-way game has also been very good. Given the ongoing absence of Kevin Hayes (abdominal muscle surgery) from the lineup, Brassard's early hot streak has been quite a welcomed sight for the team.
In reality, the Flyers have been getting goal-scoring from a variety of sources in the first week of the season: both the forwards and the defense corps (two goals, including Ellis' first tally as a Flyer).
Travis Konecny has three goals and an assist, while linemates Sean Couturier (1g, 3a) and Claude Giroux (game-tying goal in the opener, two assists) have also stepped up when needed.
Meanwhile, Scott Laughton got on the scoresheet on Wednesday with his first goal of the season, which was set up by a gorgeous lead pass from Yandle to James van Riemsdyk and JVR's shot producing a rebound that went right to Laughton.
Overall, the Flyers have outscored their first three opponents by a combined 16-9 margin. They'll likely need that balanced scoring to continue against a formidable Florida lineup. The projected Flyers lineup for this game:
28 Claude Giroux - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny
86 Joel Farabee - 19 Derick Brassard - 89 Cam Atkinson
23 Oskar Lindblom - 21 Scott Laughton - 25 James van Riemsdyk
62 Nicolas Aube-Kubel - 44 Nate Thompson - 17 Zack MacEwen
9 Ivan Provorov - 61 Justin Braun
6 Travis Sanheim - 70 Rasmus Ristolainen
3 Keith Yandle - 24 Nick Seeler
79 Carter Hart
[35 Martin Jones]
4. Behind Enemy Lines: Panthers
Primarily because the Tampa Bay Lightning are the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions and have a star-studded lineup, the Panthers' rapid rate of improvement since the start of the pandemic flew under the radar in some circles. Hockey people leaguewide, however, will tell you that this Panthers' team is the real deal: a bonafide contender in the Eastern Conference.
Now that the Panthers are off to a 4-0-0 start to the 2021-22 regular season and have outscored their first four opponents by a combined 18-7 margin, even casual hockey observers have taken notice. Florida is a very well-coach, relentless team under Quenville while general manager Bill Zito has constructed a balanced roster that may only have a couple marquee names but is deep, talented, highly competitive and cohesive. Florida has a big lineup overall, but they also have speed and finesse.
Now 26 years old, reigning Selke Trophy winner Aleksander Barkov presents a formidable challenge for any opponent. The Finnish center can shut an opponent down defensively and also burn them offensively. Through four games, "Sasha" has posted five points (2g, 3a). He's been a point-per-game player or more for the last four-plus seasons.
Formerly with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Lightning organizations, 26-year-old Carter Verhaeghe had a breakthrough season for the Panthers in 2020-21. He's carried it over to the new season with three goals and five points in the early going.
Jonathan Huberdeau, now in his 10th NHL season, has long been one of Florida's two big-name forwards along with Barkov. Huberdeau, who has developed into a prolific playmaker but also has a 30-goal NHL season to his credit, is still looking for his first goal of the new season. However, he already has posted three assists.
Acquired from Calgary in the latter part of last season, Sam Bennett has scored four goals through the first four games of 2021-22. Meanwhile, the Flyers will get their first up-close look at highly touted 20-year-old Panthers' rookie Anton Lundell. The Finnish rookie, whom Florida chose with the 12th overall pick of the 2020 Entry Draft, has started his NHL career with four points (2g, 2a) through his first four games.
Anthony Duclair has bounced around the NHL due to extreme streakiness on both sides of the puck but always found new teams willing to take a chance on his blazing speed and excellent hands. Now 26 and with his sixth NHL team, Duclair seems to have found his niche under Quenneville. Last season, he posted 32 points in 43 games. So far this season, Duclair has three goals in four games.
During the 2021 offseason, the Panthers added the seemingly ageless Joe Thornton to the roster. The 42-year-old future Hockey Hall of Famer, who now has 1,683 career NHL regular season games to his credit, has dressed in three of his new team's games to date. Quenneville scratched "Jumbo Joe" in the Panthers' 4-1 home win over Western Conference top contender Colorado on Thursday.
On the back end, most fans have long been familiar with the abilities of Aaron Ekblad (2g, 2a). It took time for MacKenzie Weeger to earn widespread recognition beyond the analytics community, but his game is no longer a well-kept secret. The duo of Weeger on left defense and Ekblad on the right has become an outstanding top pairing.
Projected Panthers lineup (based on Thursday's game vs. Colorado):
23 Carter Verhaeghe - 16 Aleksander Barkov - 10 Anthony Duclair
11 Jonathan Huberdeau - 9 Sam Bennett - 74 Owen Tippett
70 Patric Hörnqvist - 15 Anton Lundell - 13 Sam Reinhart
77 Frank Vatrano - 27 Eetu Luostarinen - 17 Mason Marchment
52 MacKenzie Weegar - 5 Aaron Ekblad
2 Gus Forsling - 7 Radko Gudas
44 Kevin Connauton - 62 Brandon Montour
72 Sergei Bobrovsky
[30 Spencer Knight]
5. Players to Watch: Yandle and Bobrovsky
Pre-scout meetings are one thing, but no one on the Flyers has more firsthand knowledge of the Panthers' systems, strengths and potentially exploitable vulnerabilities than veteran defenseman Keith Yandle. The 35-year-old veteran spent five seasons with Florida, including the last two campaigns playing under Quenneville, before he joined the Flyers this offseason following a buy-out from Florida.
So far,Yandle has been very effective for the Flyers. His puck-distributing ability on the power play has been a valuable addition, as has ability to trigger breakouts by making tape-to-tape passes to the forwards. Never noted for his own-zone game, Yandle has at minimum not been a defensive liability for Philadelphia.
Former Flyers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, a two-time Vezina Trophy winner during his years with the Columbus Blue Jackets,struggled mightily in his first season with the Panthers after signing a big-ticket free agent contract. He was somewhat better last season but there was considerable speculation over whether "Bob" was just buying time for the Panthers to develop 2019 first-round pick Spencer Knight into their No. 1 goalie sooner rather than later.
So far this season, Bobrovsky has been very good through his first three starts of the season (Knight also excelled in his lone start to date). The Russian veteran's win over the Panthers on Thursday was the 300th of his NHL career.
An unhappy backup behind Ilya Bryzgalov in his second and final season with Philadelphia, Bobrovsky quietly demanded a trade in the 2012 offseason under threat of returning to the KHL if not afforded the opportunity to compete for a No. 1 job elsewhere in the NHL. Bobrovsky has a career record 15-5-1 against the Flyers with a 2.29 GAA and a .923 save percentage.
Carter Hart will get the start for Vigneault's squad. He is coming out an uneven opening night performance against Vancouver and an outstanding outing against Seattle.
Five Things: Flyers vs. Panthers - NHL.com
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