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Update (1:15 p.m. ET)
Per Charlie O'Connor's feed on Twitter/X, below were today practice combinations. Note that that two likely scratches -- Ryan Poehling and Emil Andrae -- took reps together. i am not sure why Joel Farabee was not in line rushes or indicated as an extra.
74 Owen Tippett - 48 Morgan Frost - 39 Matvei Michkov
71 Tyson Foerster - 17 Jett Luchanko - 11 Travis Konecny
21 Scott Laughton - 14 Sean Couturier - 10 Bobby Brink
44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 27 Noah Cates - 19 Garnet Hathaway
8 Cam York - 6 Travis Sanheim
77 Erik Johnson - 9 Jamie Drysdale
5 Egor Zamula - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
33 Samuel Ersson
82 Ivan Fedotov
Extras at practice: 25 Ryan Poehling, 36 Emil Andrae
Unaccounted: 86 Joel Farabee
Quick Hits: October 14, 2024
1) Mondays with Meltzer: On Monday's edition of Flyers Daily, Jason Myrtetus and I do an in-depth breakdown of the first two games of the regular season and the week ahead. What worked well? What needs improvement? Who stood out positively or negatively? How can the Flyers work around the brutal Seattle-to-Philly turnaround that's coming up? It's a brisk-moving 31-minute episode this week focused on the here and now.
2) The Flyers had a much needed complete off day on Sunday. Today, the team will hold practice to prepare for Tuesday's road clash with the defending Western Conference champion Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers have stumbled out of the gate to an 0-3-0 start to the season. That means Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and company are bound to take it out soon on other teams.
Remember: the Oilers staggered early last season, too, before righting the ship after (former Flyers assistant) Kris Knoblauch became the head coach. The Flyers hope the Oilers early struggles continue for at least one more game. Once the Flyers are safely out of town (with only one more head-to-head meeting in the season series remaining), it makes no difference to John Tortorella's club where Edmonton goes from there.
One near-lock for Tuesday: Samuel Ersson will return to the net for his second start of the season. There are currently question marks at center and defense for Tuesday's lineup. Today's practice will provide some clues.
* Morgan Frost was banged up in the second period of Tuesday's game, although he later returned to finish the game. Will Frost (shootout winning goal on Friday, power play assist on Saturday) be OK to play?
* In any scenario, it's likely that Jett Luchanko comes back in on Tuesday after being rested in Calgary. If Frost is out, the centers on Tuesday will be Sean Couturier, Noah Cates (scratched in the opener), Luchanko and Ryan Poehling. Luchanko's blazing speed alone makes him a clear choice to be in TUesday's lineup.
* If Frost is a go for Tuesday, which center sits out? I though Cates played well in Calgary. If it were my decision to make, as I indicated on Flyers Daily, I would scratch Poehling. Poehling had a so-so preseason. He was partially culpable for Vancouver's first goal on Friday. On Saturday, Poehling took a pair of preventable minor penalties and was a downgrade from Luchanko in how he played when given a promotion in the line rotation.
On the flip side, Poehling made a couple of nice plays in the opening two games. He directly created a shorthanded scoring chance. He also saved a puck in the offensive zone along the boards and helped turn the sequence into a potential scoring opportunity.
As a penalty killing mainstay, Poehling gets a share of the credit for Philly's 5-for-5 PK night in Vancouver. The 3-for-5 in Calgary directly stemmed from a 4-on-3 PPGA (tied to a Poehling tripping penalty during a 4-on-4 and a shot that Ivan Fedotov did not track and play as well as he could have) and a 5-on-3 (unrelated to Poehling).
Lastly, it should be noted that Poehling is a player that Tortorella trusts -- as witnessed by the player getting expanded ice time with the team stumbling over the final 10 games of last season and struggling mightily to score. Tortorella gives players he trusts more leeway to right the ship if they veer off course a bit. All coaches do it to some extent but Tortorella does it in practice more than average.
* I guess it's not impossible that Sean Couturier could sit for the second time in his NHL career if Frost is a go. But I don't expect it. Couturier had a rough opener in Vancouver (and was moved down in the lineup from first-line center after the first period). However, I thought he played significantly better in Calgary. Scratching the captain in Game 3 would have major repercussions in the dressing room and I just can't see Tortorella pressing that button right now. To me, Poehling is the center to come out on merit if Frost is a go.
* Will Emil Andrae enter the lineup (and PP2) in Edmonton? If so, one of Egor Zamula (rough patches in both Vancouver and Calgary) or Erik Johnson (seventh D on the depth chart) will come out on Tuesday.
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