Rick Tocchet’s Philadelphia Flyers will look to rebound from a season-opening loss as they visit the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday. The game, scheduled for 7:00 p.m. EDT at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, will be broadcast on NBC Sports Philadelphia.
The Flyers began their season with a 2-1 defeat against the Florida Panthers, who are the defending Stanley Cup champions. Goaltender Dan Vladar made 32 saves on 34 shots in the loss, while Noah Cates scored Philadelphia’s only goal.
Carolina enters the matchup after a strong start to their campaign, having defeated the New Jersey Devils 6-3. Defenseman K’Andre Miller and forward Seth Jarvis each recorded two goals for the Hurricanes, and Shayne Gostisbehere contributed two assists.
This contest marks the first of four meetings between Philadelphia and Carolina this season. The teams will play a home-and-home series in December and conclude their regular-season matchups in April.
Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet has emphasized improving puck possession as a key focus for his team. “Tocchet wants the Flyers to become a better puck possession team: winning battles and keeping the puck for longer stretches of time.” The Flyers struggled with turnovers in their opener, recording 22 giveaways but showed improvement later in the game by generating more offensive pressure.
The line centered by Noah Cates, alongside Tyson Foerster and Bobby Brink, stood out for Philadelphia last season and continued to perform well during opening night. “Even apart from the Cates goal, the line was the one Flyers unit that generated forechecking pressure on a sustained basis.” Tocchet may adjust other forward lines but is expected to keep this trio together.
On defense, Jamie Drysdale logged over 22 minutes of ice time in his debut alongside Adam Ginning. While he played conservatively, Drysdale was effective defensively when on the ice. “Jamie Drysdale played fine overall in his 22:54 of ice time on opening night.” The coaching staff is looking for him to take on a larger offensive role moving forward.
Special teams remain an area for improvement after Philadelphia went scoreless on two power-play opportunities against Florida. The Flyers also took five minor penalties compared to Florida’s two. “The Flyers were officially 0-for-2 on the power play in the regular season opener…the fact that the Flyers took five minor penalties in the opener and Florida had two was notable.”
The Flyers aim to build off positive moments from their previous game as they seek their first win of the season against an opponent known for strong puck possession.
