5 things: Flyers vs. Lightning

Heading to the Sunshine State for the second stop of a three-game road trip, John Tortorella’s Philadelphia Flyers (4-8-1) will take on Jon Cooper’s Tampa Bay Lightning (7-6-0) on Thursday night. Game time at Amalie Arena is 7:30pm EST.

The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and Hulu. The radio broadcast is on 97.5 Fanatikeren with an online simulcast on Flyers Radio 24/7.

Thursday’s game is the first of three meetings this season between the Flyers and the Lightning. The teams rematch on March 13 at the Wells Fargo Center and March 17 in Tampa.

The Flyers enter this game coming off a 6-4 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh on Tuesday. Despite a sharp disadvantage in territorial play, the Flyers played a resilient game, falling 31 seconds short of reaching overtime. In a losing effort, Travis Konecny ​​had a four-point game (5-on-3 power play goals, 5-on-5 goals, two assists).

Here are five things to watch in Thursday’s tilt.

1. Option for Richard

With center Ryan Poehling on Injured Reserve, the Flyers recalled 27-year-old winger Anthony Richard on Wednesday. In Poehling’s absence, Noah Cates has moved from left wing to center.

Signed to a two-year, two-way contract on July 2, Richard was one of the final roster cuts during training camp after a solid showing in practices, scrimmages and preseason games. An offensive standout in the American Hockey League in recent seasons, Richard opened the 2024-25 AHL season with nine points (4g, 5a) through his first seven games.

Richard is undersized (listed at 5-foot-10, 185 pounds), but is a quick and smooth skater with good puck skills. He has averaged north of a point per game. game in the American Hockey League (126 games, 131 points) since the start of the 2022-23 campaign.

The player has been a part of four NHL organizations – Nashville, Montreal, Boston and now Philly – while appearing in a combined 24 National Hockey League games (4g, 4a) with the Predators, Canadiens and Bruins before signing with the Flyers .

Richard has a solid work ethic to go along with his speed and skill. He is average without the puck, but has worked hard to stick. Point production has been a challenge at the NHL level for the former fourth-round pick (2015), but he has twice scored 25 to 30 goals at the AHL level. As an offensive-minded player, Richard needs the production to hold down an NHL lineup slot.

2. Tipping point

Owen Tippett had a rough start to the regular season, but appeared close to a true breakout as he collected five points (1g, 4a) over a three-game stretch against Washington, Minnesota and Montreal.

Tippett’s lone tally through the first 12 games was a Washington sighting shot that found the net through a heavy screen by Sean Couturier. However, the four assists showed that Tippett found other ways to get involved in positive plays.

With almost the entire Flyers team struggling to score but playing much better from a defensive standpoint, Tippett didn’t record a point in the home-and-home set with Boston (2-0 road win, 3-0 home loss) sandwiched around. a 2-1 home win on Halloween against St. Louis Blues.

Tippett played into some tough luck in the latter game against Boston. Goalie Joonas Korpisalo made perhaps his two best saves of the game on a seemingly ticketed Tippett player from the deep slot and a sharp Morgan Frost chance set up by Tippett. Both plays came in the second period.

Tuesday in Raleigh, there was no arrest for Tippett. He turned in his best performance of the entire season to date: a top-shelf goal off a perfect shot, a powerplay assist, six shots on goal (Philly generated just 16 as a team), and great chemistry with Konecny ​​and Sean Couturier .

As a whole, Tippett’s seven points over the last seven games (2g, 5a) and level of involvement in missed opportunities bode well for a team that badly needs positives to build off of offensively.

3. The puck possession game

This topic was the No. 1 concern heading into the Carolina game. After giving up 87 shot attempts while generating a modest 36 against the Hurricanes (the NHL’s top-ranked puck possession club for consecutive years), the need to attack more and defend less remains a crucial area of ​​concern.

Statistics can be deceiving, but in this case the raw numbers match the eye test: The Flyers enter Tampa ranked 29th in shot attempt share (Corsi) at 5-on-5 as well as the quality of scoring chances (expected 43.87 percent) part of goal).

Last season, even with the club’s swoon over the final 11 games, the Flyers ranked seventh in Corsi and eighth in expected goal percentage at five-on-five. This is important: If you want to compare last season’s progress to the regression shown by the Flyers, start with the underlying process.

The Flyers MUST get back to at least the middle of the pack in puck possession and chance-creating team metrics if the team is to pull out of the early-season struggle to win. Shot blocking and D-zone structure only go so far when the team is so often tied up in its own end.

4. Power play building blocks

The Flyers’ power play was a bright spot through the first eight games of the regular season, then went cold in the next four games.

In Carolina, the Flyers cashed in on a 5-on-3 first period, but were unable to muster another goal in the remaining 5-on-4 time. A third-period 5-on-4 lasted just 17 seconds before being washed out by an Emil Andrae holding penalty.

For the season, the Flyers’ power play ranks 14th in the league at 20 percent efficiency. If that is sustained over the course of the season, it would be a huge improvement over recent seasons.

If the Flyers are to knock off Tampa on their home ice, special teams may have to carry the day. The Lightning rank in the bottom third of the NHL in avoiding penalties (shorthanded 42 times) and have allowed 11 opposing power play games, tied for fourth most in the league so far.

On the other side of special teams, the Flyers themselves have had trouble staying out of the penalty box (shorthanded 45 times, tied for the 5th most penalized team in that area). However, the penalty kill itself is still very strong again so far this season (88.9 percent, ranked third in the league).

The Lightning power play (18.6 percent) is still adjusting to the departure of franchise icon Steven Stamkos after last season. For many years, Stamkos was Tampa’s No. 1 scoring threat on power plays. However, there is still a range of firepower available. Fyers would be wise not to tempt fate with a high number of penalties to kill.

5. Behind enemy lines; Tampa Bay Lightning

The Lightning may no longer be the NHL’s gold standard club, winning back-to-back Stanley Cup championships amid three straight Eastern Conference championships. That mantle now belongs to the Florida Panthers.

Nevertheless, the Bolts remain very dangerous with familiar superstars Nikita Kucherov (10g, 12a, 22 points through 13 games), Brayden Point (8g, 5a) and blueline leader Victor Hedman (3g, 10a). Former Penguins star Jake Guentzel (5g, 8a) has 13 points to start the season with his new club.

How deep is the Tama list? So much so that 26-year-old wing Brandon Hagel (7g, 7a), two-way center Anthony Cirelli (2g, 11a) and Nick Paul (4g, 7a) are supporting offensive sources and not the lead dogs of the Tampa offense.

Despite all the offensive talent and the presence of former Vezina Trophy goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (6-5-0, 2.59 GAA, .903 SV%, one shutout), the Lightning have started November with three straight regulation losses and have dropped four of their last six games.

Why? The answer is that Tampa has at times been over-relied on outscoring lapses caused by turnovers that lead to counterattacks and some costly coverage breakdowns. Five of the Lightning’s six defeats this season have come in games where the club has conceded at least four goals, including four games with five or more goals.

Backup goaltender Jonas Johansson (4.51 GAA, .866 SV%) has made two starts and one relief appearance to date. After Thursday’s game, the Lightning have a week-long program break until they host the Winnipeg Jets on Nov. 14.