John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (14-13-4) are in the Motor City on Wednesday to take on Derek Lalonde's Detroit Red Wings (12-14-4). Game time at Little Caesars Arena is 7:00 p.m. EST.
The game will be nationally televised on TNT/MAX. The radio broadcast is on 97.5 The Fanatic with an online simulcast on Flyers Radio 24/7.
Last Thursday (Dec. 12), the Flyers skated to a 4-1 victory over the Red Wings at Wells Fargo Center. After tonight's game in Detroit, the teams will play each other one final time this season on January 21 at Wells Fargo Center.
Here are five things to watch on Wednesday.
1. Sarge's dominance vs. Detroit
For whatever reason, players sometimes find more success against some opponents than others over the duration of their careers. Rosters change. Team fortunes surge or fall. Somehow, though,the player just seems to "own" that particular opponent on a year-in and year-out basis. The reverse can also be the case, of course.
Even before his career-best four goal game against the Red Wings last Thursday, Flyers alternate captain Scott Laughton has had more scoring success against Detroit than any other opponent in the NHL. Entering Wedesday's game at Little Caesars Arena, Laughton has played 20 career games against the Red Wings.
In that span, "Sarge" has tallied 13 goals and added a half dozen assists for 19 career points at Detroit's expense. Leaguewide, Laughton's second-highest career output has come against the Pittsburgh Penguins (7g, 9a, 16 points in 31 games) and New York Islanders (3g, 13a, 16 pints in 32 games). On the flip side, in 21 games against the Montreal Canadiens, Laughton has four points (0g, 4a).
There's no logical explanation for these wide discrepancies. It's just the nature of hockey!
2. Michkov: "The Michigan" in Michigan?
While Laughton had the biggest one-game output of his career the last time the Flyers played Detroit, rookie right wing was repeatedly robbed by Detroit goaltender Cam Talbot. On three separate occasions, Michkov came within a whisker of notching his 12th goal of the season. All three times, Michkov was denied.
Most notably, during a delayed penalty on the Red Wings in the second period, Michkov attempted a lacrosse-style "Michigan" goal. He came very close to finishing it off but was denied. Earlier, Michkov had a near stuff-in from the right post after he seemed to have outmaneuvered the goaltender. He was also robbed on a one-timer from the right circle in a near tic-tac-toe sequence from Morgan Frost to Egor Zamula to Michkov.
Specific to "the Michigan", Michkov has attempted the lacrosse-style goal four times so far this season. Last Thursday's game was the closest he's come to converting into a tally for his team.
3. Between the pipes
WIth the Flyers on the front end of a back-to-back set prior to hosting the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday, goaltending duties are likely to be split over the next two games between Samuel Ersson and Aleksei Kolosov.
On the Detroit side, Talbot is one of two former Flyers goaltenders on the roster. He almost singlehandedly gave the Red Wings a chance to win last week in Philadelphia. Laughton's third and fourth goals of the game were scored into an empty net. Talbot played brilliantly, especially in a second period dominated by the Flyers.
Since that time, Talbot has been dealing with a lower-body issue. He's been ruled out for Wednesday's game. Fellow ex-Flyer Alex Lyon has been cleared to play since being sidelined on November 27 with a lower-body issue of his own. The other option for the Red Wings is Ville Husso.
4. On the man advantage
The Flyers power play, while still not having recovered the form it showed over the first eight games of the 2024-25 season, has looked better of late after enduring a horrid stretch that lasted roughly six weeks.
Over the last two-plus weeks, however, the power play has started to show signs of life. In Minnesota this past Saturday, the power play went 0-for-3 but generated extensive attack zone time -- by both power play units. The Flyers hit the post a couple of times including an Owen Tippett shot in the first period that went off the top of goalie Marc-Andre Fleury's pads and then off the post.
For the season overall, the Flyers rank 26th in the NHL on the power play at 16.7 percent. Meanwhile, the Red Wings penalty kill has been horrid, especially over the last month. For the season, Detroit's PK enters at 67.5 percent to rank 31st leaguewide.
On the flip side, the Red Wings generate a large portion of their scoring on the power play (24.4 percent success rate, ranked 8th). The Flyers penalty kill has not had much work over the last two games, but Laughton's shorthanded goal against Detroit last Thursday proved to be the game winner. For the season, the Flyers PK ranks 14th in the league at 80.2 percent but has largely struggled since Thanksgiving.
5. Behind enemy lines: The Larkin line
Lucas Raymond, 22, leads the Red Wings in scoring this season with 31 points (12g, 19a) in 30 games played. He has three goals and four points over his last four games. Meanwhile, top-line center Dylan Larkin (12g, 12a) will try to break a nine-game goal drought on Wednesday but has four assists in his last four games. Detroit's most important offensive catalyst had an unusually quiet game against the Flyers last Thursday (no points, minus-three, one shot on goal) but the speedy and gifted veteran is always a threat to break loose.
Beating Detroit starts with staying out of the penalty box and forcing the top line to spend more five-on-five time defending rather than attacking. The Flyers succeeded in those tasks last Thursday. They will try to replicate it in Detroit.
