In the third game of a four-game homestand, John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (4-3-1) will take on Rod Brind'Amour's Carolina Hurricanes (5-4-0) at the Wells Fargo Center on Monday evening. Game time is 7:00 p.m. ET.
The game will be televised on NBCSP 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.
This is the first of four meetings this season between the Metro Division teams. The Flyers and Hurricanes will subsequently rematch on Nov. 15 (Raleigh), Nov. 28 (Philadelphia) and March 21 (Raleigh).
Last season, the Flyers went winless in four tries against the Hurricanes and Philly has come away with a regulation or post-regulation loss in seven straight games. However, all four of last season's head-to-head meetings were decided by a single goal and two went to overtime.
Here are five things to watch in Monday's game:
1. Finishing October the right way
The Flyers enter this game coming off a 7-4 home loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday afternoon. The Flyers, as they have in most of their eight games to date, had a decided edge in puck possession and forechecking pressure. However, lapses of execution, several bad bounces, and coming out on the wrong end of special teams combined for an unsightly outcome.
Monday's game is the final one on the Flyers' October schedule. They'd like to head into November with a winning record instead of a "hockey .500" mark.
Through eight games, Travis Konecny leads the Flyers with 11 points (8g, 3a).He's followed by Cam Atkinson (5g, 3a), Travis Sanheim (1g, 7a), Sean Couturier (2g, 5a), Joel Farabee (4g, 2a), and Bobby Brink (2g, 4a). Scott Laughton (0g, 5a) leads all Flyers forwards in assists to date.
In terms of puck possession quantity and quality at 5-on-5, the Flyers have a team 51.65 Corsi (shot attempt) share at 5-on-5 and a 54.03 percent expected goal share (ranked 8th in the NHL). The process has generally been good. The end results have been mixed.
2. Hart and Tippett
On Saturday, Tortorella and goaltending coach Kim Dillabaugh decided to get Ersson some work before the Flyers schedule starts to get very busy this week (four games in six nights) and both goalies will be needed. The decision didn't bear fruit on Saturday but it might in upcoming days.
Meanwhile, No. 1 goalie Carter Hart is expected to return to the net for Monday's game against Carolina. He's been very strong early this season with a 4-2-0 record, 2.18 GAA, .924 save-% and one shutout.
Up front, Monday's game is an important one for Flyers winger Owen Tippett. The streak-scoring winger has been getting a slew of shot attempts and shots on goal (team-high 31). Only one, a slick finish on a breakaway against Minnesota, has found the net so far. On the flip side, Tippett has generated four assists.
It seems to be only a matter of time -- preferably sooner than later -- before Tippett gets hot in the goal-scoring department. Tippett has been putting pucks on net with regularity of late. The payoff is bound to come.
3. Flyers power play vs. Carolina PK
The Flyers have scored three PPGs at 5-on-4 over the last two games. Nonetheless, getting the power play going with consistency remains a key focus after ranking last in the NHL in power play efficiency in each of the last two seasons.
On Saturday against the Ducks, the Flyers went 1-for-4 on the power play but their one power play goal (by Konecny) was canceled out by yielding a shorthanded goal (Frank Vatrano). For the season, the Flyers are 4-for-27 (14.8 percent) on the man advantage.
The Hurricanes have struggled a bit so far on the penalty kill. Brind'Amour's club has allowed 10 opposing power play goals on 35 opportunities (a 71.4 percent success rate, ranked 29th in the NHL).
However, the Canes have also scored four shorthanded goals (same as the Flyers) this month: two by defenseman Jaccob Slavin and one apiece by Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teräväinen.
4. Flyers PK vs. Carolina power play
So far this season, the Flyers have played two games -- in Ottawa and then Saturday's match against Anaheim -- in which they've yielded two or more power play goals. In the other six games (at Columbus, vs. Vancouver, vs. Edmonton, at Dallas, at Vegas and vs. Minnesota), the Flyers blanked their opponents on the power play.
The Hurricanes enter this game 9-for-39 on the power play (23.1 percent). No team has had more power play opportunities than Carolina, so it's important for the Flyers to stay disciplined and avoid needless infractions. Overall, the Flyers PK dropped to 16th in the NHL (19-for-24, 79.2 percent) following Saturday’s game.
Carolina does cough up some shorthanded chances. The Hurricanes have yielded three shorthanded goals to date. Last season, in the Flyers' 6-5 home loss to the Hurricanes on Dec. 23, Philly generated back-to-back shorthanded goals by Laughton and Konecny as the Flyers' bid to come back from a 6-2 deficit ultimately fell one goal short.
5. Behind enemy lines: Carolina Hurricanes
Widely regarded in the offseason as a serious contender to represent the Eastern Conference in the 2023-24 Stanley Cup Final, the Hurricanes are off to an uneven start as the end of October draws near.
The Hurricanes' offense, as expected, has been lighting up the scoreboard regularly. Carolina enters play with 34 goals scored; two behind Detroit for the most goals scored leaguewide.
On the flip side, Brind'Amour's team has uncharacteristically been giving up goals at alarming rate in the first month of the season. In fact, the Canes are actually in the red in goal differential with 35 goals given up to their 34 scored. Only the Wild (38 goals against) have given up more goals thus far than Carolina.
Carolina took a corrective step, in fact, in last Friday's 3-0 home shutout win over the San Jose Sharks. Antti Raanta saw just 20 shots for the game, turning each one aside. Teräväinen notched a hat trick. The Hurricanes have now won back-to-back games as they head to Philadelphia.
Through nine games, Martin Necas, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Seth Jarvis share the team scoring lead with nine points (4g, 5a) apiece. Teräväinen has seven goals among his eight overall points. Svechnikov, who missed the start of the season due to injury, returned to the Carolina lineup on last Friday against San Jose. The Russian star did not record a point but collected four shots on goal.
