The game will be televised on NBC Sports Philadelphia with Jim Jackson and Brian Boucher on the call. The radio broadcast is on 97.5 The Fanatic with Tim Saunders and Todd Fedoruk on the call and an online simulcast on Flyers Radio 24/7.
The Flyers came away with a split of their first two games of the season, defeating the host Columbus Blue Jackets on opening night, 4-2, and then losing in Ottawa to the Senators by a 5-2 score. Travis Konecny (power play, 3rd) and Cam York (1st) tallied in a losing cause while Carter Hart played better than his stat line would suggest (five goals on 31 shots), but was saddled with the loss.
After a travel day on Sunday, the Flyers held an open-to-the-public practice on Monday morning at the Wells Fargo Center to prepare for Tuesday's opener.
Here are five storylines to watch in Monday's game.
1. Will Couturier be available to play?
Flyers top-line center Sean Couturier has averaged 20:20 of ice time across the season's first two games. His timing wasn't back to his pre-injury form but he nonetheless performed admirably -- assisting on Joel Farabee's goal that opened the scoring in Columbus, going plus-three, and winning 52.4 percent of his faceoffs.
Considering that Couturier missed a season-and-a-half due to two surgeries on his back and that he reported feeling healthy throughout training camp and at least through the first game of the season, it was an encouraging start.
On Monday, however, Couturier did not practice with the team. Tortorella said the center is "banged up" and that the issue is unrelated to his two back surgeries during the 2022 calendar year.
Beyond that, Tortorella revealed nothing about the severity, whether it's upper-body or lower-body (in training camp, Tortorella took to the nebulous descriptor of "body injury") and how much time, if any, that Couturier might miss.
The Flyers will not hold a morning skate on Tuesday. As such, Couturier's availability/absence/game-time decision status is unclear heading into game day.
Scott Laughton, who can play center or left wing and played a significant portion of his NHL career in the middle, played center at Monday's practice. He's the most likely Flyer to play center if Couturier is unavailable, barring some roster juggling and a recall from Lehigh Valley.
Note: the Flyers experimented with Farabee at center a couple of seasons ago, but that is unlikely to be revisited except in case of an in-game emergency.
If Couturier cannot play against the Canucks, rookie wingers Bobby Brink and Tyson Foerster would both dress for the home opener.
Elsewhere on the injury front, defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen (undisclosed injury) remains on IR heading into Tuesday. He skated on his own prior to Tuesday's practice.
2. Forechecking and transition games
The Flyers were unable to establish their forechecking game against Ottawa with any sort of regularity. Philly spent too much of the game defending. When the Flyers did move into the attack zone, they struggled to generate shots on goal (just nine through the first 40 minutes).
It was only after the Senators' lead expanded to 5-2 in the third period that the Flyers generated more attack time and scoring chances. Even then, Philly made no headway on the scoreboard.
A related issue: In the Columbus game, three of the Flyers' four goals were scored on transition plays that originated from the defensive zone. In the Ottawa game, with the Senators attacking with speed and forechecking aggressively, the Flyers had a very tough time moving up ice let alone creating turnovers until the game was out of reach.
3. Can Konecny score in the 3rd straight game?
Travis Konecny has picked up where he left off last season A 31-goal scorer despite missing 22 games due to injury, "TK" has opened the 2023-24 campaign with three goals -- an even strength tally off the rush in Columbus, a buzzer-beating empty netter in the same game, and a 5-on-3 power play marker in Ottawa -- as well as an assist for four points. In the home opener try to forge a three-game scoring streak to open the season.
Laughton has two assists to open the season, both coming on Konecny tallies in the game against the Blue Jackets. Likewise, defenseman Travis Sanheim has a pair of helpers to start the season.
Overall, Sanheim has played two strong games to open the campaign with the exception of getting stripped of the puck by Claude Giroux in the waning seconds of the second period in Ottawa. Defense partner York scored an impressive goal jumping into the play Ottawa.
4. Getting Tippett, Frost and/or Cates on the scoresheet
If the Flyers are to be a more potent scoring club than they were a year ago when the team ranked 29th in the NHL with a modest 2.68 goals per game average, they'll need their group of "young vet" forwards -- Owen Tippett, Morgan Frost, Noah Cates and Farabee -- as well as rookie forwards Tyson Foerster and Bobby Brink to be regular contributors on the scoresheet.
The four young veterans have combined for only a single point (Farabee's give-and-go tally in the Columbus game). The other have had some sporadic good offensive plays in the first two games but nothing they've sustained over multiple shifts.
Both Tippett and had trouble putting shots on the net in the first two games when they had a few looks. Cates, who now playing an expanded offensive role in his second full NHL season, has only attempted one shot through two games. Meanwhile, Farabee followed up a strong opener in Columbus (three shots on goal, five attempts) with a quiet game against the Senators.
Starting with Tuesday's game against the Canucks, the Flyers need these players to begin populating the scoresheet.
5. Behind Enemy Lines: Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks opened the season with a home-and-home set against the Edmonton Oilers (who will be in Philadelphia on Thursday). Tocchet's team recorded an 8-1 blowout victory at home last Wednesday and following up with a 4-3 win in Edmonton on Saturday.
Over the two games, the Canucks connected for four power play goals. Overall, four Vancouver players recorded at least four points in the home-and-home with the Oilers. Elias Pettersson notched a power play goal and five assists while linemate Brock Boeser collected four goals (three at even strength) and five points in all.
The Canucks practiced on Monday afternoon at the Wells Fargo Center. The game in Philly marks the start of a four-game road trip that will subsequently take the Canucks to Tampa Bay on Thursday, Sunrise on Saturday to play the Panthers, and then to Nashville next Tuesday.
