1. Same forwards, one blueline switch
With the Flyers having played such a strong all-around game against Vancouver, he's going with the same forward lineup as last game. That means Scott Laughton will stay at center and both Bobby Brink and Tyson Foerster remain in the lineup. Morgan Frost is a healthy scratch for the second straight game.
There is one one change on the blueline. Emil Andrae will dress for his second career NHL game. He made his debut in Ottawa. Egor Zamula will exit the lineup for this game.
2. Tippett and Cates getting close to breakouts
Coming off a career-best 27 goals last season, Owen Tippett staggered a bit out of the gates against Columbus and Ottawa.
First and foremost, Tippett had issues with missing the net or getting blocked on shot attempts from favorable spots. In Columbus, Tippett got blocked three times and missed the net twice apart from one shot on goal. In Ottawa, Tippett had one shot on goal, five that got blocked and three that missed the net.
It wasn't all bad over the first two games. Tippett made several good initial plays and beat a couple of defenders with his speed and strength before the next play would go awry. Most notably, Tippett's lone shot on goal in the Columbus game came on a sequence where he grabbed a puck that went laterally on a defensive zone faceoff and turned on the jets to carry it all the way to the net at the other side.
In the home opener against Vancouver, Tippett looked much more like the player the Flyers saw last season. He had three good scoring chances, including a pair of Grade A opportunities, but was robbed by goalie Thatcher Demko. In all, Tippett put four shots on four unblocked opportunities (two were blocked).
The payoff wasn't there on Tuesday but the game nevertheless was a corrective step and potential jump-off point for Tippett start collecting his first points of 2023-24.
With Sean Couturier back in the Flyers' lineup, Noah Cates has been placed in a more offensive-minded role than he played as a rookie last year. This includes regular power play time and starting the season with 2022-23 leading scorer Travis Konecny on his line at 5-on-5.
Through the season's first two games, Cates had only a single shot attempt. He was also uncharacteristically out on the ice for three Ottawa goals (one at even strength and two with the Senators on the power play). There was some frustration on the normally even-keeled player's face.
Against Vancouver, however, the more familiar version of Cates was back. He won most of his puck battles, checked very well and got involved offensively, too. As with Tippett, Cates is still looking for his first points of the 2023-24 season but he doesn't seem far off from it after the last game.
Last season, Cates contributed a pair of outstanding defensive performances when matched head-to-head with the hockey world's single most dangerous offensive player: Edmonton's Connor McDavid. Cates outright shut down McDavid in the game in Philadelphia and held him at bay for a period-plus in the rematch in Edmonton. McDavid finally broke through because he can only be contained for so long, but it had nothing to do with any lapses by Cates.
3. Playing fast is vital.
The Flyers appeared to be skating in cement in the game in Ottawa. They were unable to establish any sort of forecheck in the first and second periods. Philly was also unable to handle the aggressive forecheck that the Senators threw at them. It was a night-and-day difference from how the Flyers repeatedly burned the Blue Jackets on fast-paced transitional plays in the opener.
The Flyers did another 180 in the home opener against the Canucks. Vancouver is a fast team but the Flyers played much faster, especially in the lopsided second period. Philly dictated the play and imposed their will for nearly the entire 20 minutes of the second stanza.
Leaguewide, there may not be a faster team than the Oilers, and it's not just McDavid and Leion Draisaitl who can burn opponents at a breakneck pace. The Flyers will have to be hypervigilant about keeping Edmonton out of their lethal transition game.
Doing that requires forcing the Oilers to defend much more than they attack, and getting them into the kind of shifts where all they can do is dump the puck and get a much-needed line change. It's easier said than done but the Flyers need to do it. Under pressure, the Oilers as a team are prone to turnovers and forced plays in the defensive and neutral zones.
4. Stay out of the penalty box
Edmonton's power play remains lethal. The Flyers had penalty killing success against Columbus and Vancouver, but they got picked apart by the potent Ottawa power play. The Oilers' squad is even more deadly on the power play.
The best way to prevent the Oilers from shredding you on the power play is to stay out of the penalty box as much as possible. When the Flyers beat the Oilers at the Wells Fargo Center last year, the biggest key was that Philly avoided taking a single penalty in that game. Conversely, when the scene shifted to Edmonton, the Oilers overcame a strong start by the Flyers largely through their large-scale edge on the power play.
If a game is decided mostly on 5-on-5 play, Edmonton is beatable. When a game swings on special teams, Edmonton's power play usually puts them over the top.
5. Behind enemy lines: Edmonton Oilers
The Oilers started the 2023-24 season in disappointing fashion, getting swept by the Canucks in a home-and-home set. This is the nature of hockey: the same Canucks team that got shut out by the Flyers this Tuesday, skated to an 8-1 blowout victory over the Oilers in Vancouver last Wednesday. Three nights later in Edmonton, the Canucks prevailed by a 4-3 score.
On Tuesday night of this week, a fired-up Oilers team started their current two-game road trip with a 6-1 win over the Nashville Predators. Edmonton went 2-for-3 on the power play and were the more opportunistic team despite a 44-30 disadvantage in shots on goal.
Draisaitl racked a four-point game (two power play tallies, two assists). Zach Hyman notched a goal and three assists. McDavid had a goal and an assist, while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins posted a goal and two assists. Warren Foegele rounded out the scoring with his first tally of the season. In goal, Jack Campbell turned aside 43 of 44 shots to earn the victory.
