5 THINGS: Flyers @ Lightning

John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (2-0-0) embark on a tough three-game road trip on Tuesday as they visit Jon Cooper's three-time defending Eastern Conference champion Tampa Bay Lightning ( 1-2-0). Game time at Amalie Arena is 7:00 p.m. ET.

GAME NOTES
The game will be televised nationally on ESPN. The local radio broadcast with Tim Saunders and Steve Coates on the call is on 93.3 WMMR with an online simulcast on
Flyers Radio 24/7.
This is the first of three meetings this season between the Eastern Conference teams. The Flyers and Lightning will rematch at the Wells Fargo Center on Dec. 1 before the season series concludes back in Tampa on March 7.
Here are five things to track during Tuesday's game:
1. Staying on an even keel.
Mental toughness and resilience have been two elements that Tortorella has emphasized since even before the first day of training camp. So far the Flyers have done a good job at sticking with their game plan when adversity arises.
One season ago, the Flyers were tied for the NHL's fewest wins when trailing first in a game, posting a 5-36-4 record if an opponent scored the game's first goal. While it's never desirable to play from behind, it's an encouraging sign that the Flyers have started the season with a 2-0-0 record despite briefly trailing the New Jersey Devils. 1-0, in the first period on opening night and trailing the Vancouver Canucks, 2-0, at the first intermission in Saturday's game in Philadelphia.
The Flyers' best period of the six they've played so far, actually, was the first period against Vancouver. Philly dominated the frame but, due one shot that deflected off the skate of defenseman Nick Seeler and found the net and another in which there was borderline goaltender interference that was not called, they had only a 2-0 deficit to show for it. During the 2020-21 or 2021-22 season, things very well may have gone downhill from there. This time, the Flyers simply went back to work and found a way to come back.
Part and parcel to being a resilient team is not just giving lip service to a "next-man-up" mentality when dealing with injuries but actually embodying it. The Flyers have already had their depth tested due to numerous key injuries.
On Monday, defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen (lower-body injury) joined first-line center Sean Couturier (back) on the injured reserve list. Ristolainen at least is on the road trip. Cam Atkinson (upper-body injury) was unable to make the road trip, has not been able to put in significant practice time over the last couple weeks, and had not played at all in the preseason or regular season to date. As of now, however, Atkinson remains on the active roster.
Owen Tippett suffered an upper-body injury late in the first period of the regular season opener last Thursday. He was placed on IR over the weekend. On Monday, the Flyers recalled rugged winger Zack MacEwen and defenseman Louie Belpedio from the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
2. Hart of the matter.
Over the first two games of the 2022-23 regular season, Flyers No. 1 goaltender Carter Hart has stopped 59 of 63 shots fired on his net (.940 save percentage). There was some understandable rust in the first period of Thursday's opener, but he settled in thereafter. The two goals he allowed in the opening period against the Canucks were initially rather routine save opportunities that turned into much tougher chances due to the aforementioned deflection and the play where Hart was bumped by a Vancouver player at the net.
With the Flyers playing four games (three road, one home) over a six-night span, backup Felix Sandström is likely to see starting duties in at least one if not two of the games. Tortorella said that he'll leave the playing time split this week up to goaltending coach Kim Dillabaugh. However, Tortorella himself said that's not a big believer in the current-day tendency for teams to automatically split the work in half whenever there's a back-to-back set.
3. Aggressive special teams.
The Flyers have started the season by successfully killing seven of their first eight penalties. The one goal they've given up was an off-angle goal that Hart misplayed in the first period on opening night.
Philly has done a good job so far at exhibiting the elements of a fine penalty kill: entry denials, strong-side pressure, bodies and active sticks in the passing lanes, blocking shots without screening their own goalie, and getting saves when they're needed. The Flyers also have a shorthanded goal to their credit: a breakaway tally by Scott Laughton off a bank pass from Travis Konency.
The Flyers' power play, ranked dead last in the NHL in 2021-22 has started the season with a 2-for-8 mark. Konecny and Tony DeAngelo have tallied one apiece over the two games to date.
One observation based on training camp and regular season practices so far: The Flyers second PP unit has been the better of the two in practice in terms of generating crisp puck movement when set up in the offensive zone. However, the first unit has been the better in games at gaining offensive zone entries.
4. Projected Flyers lineup.
The Flyers practiced on Monday with the same primary line combinations they featured in Saturday's 3-2 win against Vancouver. MacEwen and Belpedio were the extra skaters, mixed and matched into assorted reps.
Tortorella remains an old-school coach in not being one to voluntarily tip his hand the day before a game in regards to his line combinations or goalie selection for the next game. He'll usually say that he hasn't made up his mind yet in terms of the position player arrangement and that he "needs to speak to Dilly [Dillabaugh]" about the starting goalie.
Assuming the Flyers line up how they played on Saturday and practiced on Monday, the line combos will be as follows:
21 Scott Laughton - 13 Kevin Hayes - 11 Travis Konecny
86 Joel Farabee - 49 Noah Cates - 57 Wade Allison
25 James van Riemsdyk - 48 Morgan Frost - 58 Tanner Laczynski
44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 59 Jackson Cates -17 Zack MacEwen
9 Ivan Provorov - 77 Tony DeAngelo
6 Travis Sanheim - 61 Justin Braun
24 Nick Seeler - 54 Egor Zamula
79 Carter Hart
[32 Felix Sandström]
5. Behind Enemy Lines: Tampa Bay Lightning
Tampa Bay went 1-2-0 on their season-opening road trip to play the New York Rangers (3-1 loss), Columbus Blue Jackets (5-2 win), and Pittsburgh Penguins (6-2 loss). Steve Stamos racked up four goals and five points on the trip, however, with two goals against Columbus and one tally apiece in the other two games. Nikita Kucherov collected three assists.
Eleven different players recorded at least one point on the road trip with nine players notching two points or more. Tampa went 3-for-12 on the power play over the course of the trip but also gave up three opposing power play goals on 12 opportunities.
Faceoffs have been a struggle for the Lightning over the first week of the season. The team won only 34.4 percent of its draws during the three-game road trip; not only the lowest percentage in the NHL since opening night but only that is abnormally low.
There are several familiar faces to Flyers fans on the Tampa roster. The Lightning acquired former Flyers defenseman Phil Myers in the offseason, while fourth-line veteran Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and backup goalie Brian Elliott are back for their second season with the club.
Veteran defenseman Ian Cole has returned to the team following the NHL concluding and closing an investigation stemming from an anonymous allegation of sexual misconduct. On Monday, he practiced on a defense pairing with Haydn Fleury.
Potential Lightning starting lineup (subject to change)
38 Brandon Hagel - 21 Brayden Point - 86 Nikita Kucherov
20 Nick Paul - 91 Steven Stamkos - 17 Alex Killorn
79 Ross Colton - 90 Vladislav Namestnikov - 10 Corey Perry
45 Cole Koepke - 41 Pierre-Édouard Bellemare - 14 Patrick Maroon
77 Victor Hedman- 81 Erik Cernak
98 Mikhail Sergachev - 5 Phil Myers
28 Ian Cole - 7 Haydn Fleury
88 Andrei Vasilevskiy
1 Brian Elliott