The Philadelphia Flyers are still looking for that super important first win of the 2026-27 season and they are going to have to be sharp tonight as they go on the road to take on the dangerous Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Flyers are coming into this Monday night showdown with a record of 0-1-2. This is the first time since the 2014-15 season that they have been winless through their first 3 games of the season. The Flyers will look to give goalie Dan Vladar a bit more help than they gave in his first appearance, and the offense will need to be humming to beat a very game Lightning team. Game time is at 7 PM.
How to Watch
Time: 7 PMLocation: Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, FL
TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Projected Flyers Lines vs Penguins
Forwards
11 Travis Konecny – 22 Christian Dvorak – 39 Matvei Michkov
91 Carl Grundstrom – 46 Trevor Zegras – 74 Owen Tippett
71 Tyson Foerster – 27 Noah Cates – 94 Porter Martone
86 Denver Barkey – 14 Sean Couturier – 52 Noel Acciari
Defense
6 Travis Sanheim – 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
8 Cam York – 9 Jamie Drysdale
24 Nick Seeler – 5 David Jiricek
Goalies
80 Dan Vladar
52 Joseph Woll
Injuries & Roster Updates
Roster Updates: Denver Barkey will be activated off of IR today and will be making his regular season debut tonight. While Nikita Grebenkin will be moving to IR to create space for BarkeyStarting Goalie: Dan Vladar will be getting the start in net tonight for the Flyers. He is looking for a bounce back after his only start of the season in a 7-0 loss against the Pittsburgh Penguins.Injuries: Rasmus Ristolainen left the game on Saturday night against the Carolina Hurricanes and did not return to the game. And is a game time decision for tonight’s game.
Projected Opponents Lines: The Tampa Bay Lightning
Forwards
93 Gage Goncalves – 21 Brayden Point – 86 Nikita Kucherov
38 Brandon Hagel – 71 Anthony Cirelli – 59 Jake Guentzel
95 Ilya Mikheyev – 28 Zemgus Girgensons – 29 Pointus Holmberg
25 Jeffrey Viel – 14 Conor Geekie
Defense
90 J.J Moser – 74 John Carlson
77 Victor Hedman – 78 Emil Lilleberg
27 Ryan McDonagh – 81 Erik Cernak
Goalies
Keys to the Game
Help Out Your Goalie: In the Flyers 3 regular season games up until this point their opponent has averaged 41 shots per game while the Flyers have only averaged 22. It is a similar formula that the Flyers used last year with a very defensive system. It is not sustainable though, especially with a goalie in Dan Vladar who got shelled on opening night, got injured in the preseason, and has not had many reps this year it is apparent for the Flyers to be strong in front of him and to try and keep the puck in their offensive zone.
The Power Play: The most obvious thing holding this Flyers team now and for the past few years is the power play. The Flyers are 0-8 on the man up this season and have failed to convert in key situations late in games and even in overtime. Until this team can figure out the power play situation they are not going to be able to make the leap forward they are looking to make this year. Tampa ranks 19th in the NHL in the penalty kill so this could be a good opportunity to get things on the right track.
Dan Vladar Looking Good: This key falls in line with my first one but Dan Vladar has to be better than what we saw on opening night. He let in 7 goals on 38 shots faced and yes the guys in front were not great but he needs to have a better showing. If Vladar can figure it out between the pipes tonight it gives him and the team a bode of confidence moving forward.
By the Numbers
The Flyers last season were 0-3-0 when playing the Tampa Bay Lightning, not even recording a single point against them. Their smallest margin of defeat was by three goals in a 3-0 shutout.
Sean Couturier leads Flyers players in points against the Tampa Bay Lightning with 16 career points (5 G, 11 A) in 37 career games played against them.
Nikita Kucherov dominates when he plays the Flyers. When playing the Flyers Kucherov has 43 points (14 G, 29 A) in 31 games played against the Flyers.
Quotable
“It could be selective, but a lot of times there’s too many guys not attacking the inside. Everybody’s kinda playing on the outside, and it’s really easy to defend. You have to be able to be creative but you also have to take the puck inside, that makes a team play defense.” Rick Tocchet on how to generate chances.
X-Factors
Matvei Michkov: Michkov recorded his first goal of the year in the team’s last outing against the Hurricanes and is looking to build off of that to get his third season off to a good start. Going up against one of the best Russians in the league right now Nikita Kucherov will give Michkov some extra motivation to be a standout tonight.
Nikita Kucherov: I do not think there will be a game in which Nikita Kucherov will not be the X-Factor for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Last year’s Hart Trophy winner will look to continue his dominance against the Flyers tonight and look to take over the game to give the Lightning the upper hand.
Alex Berardis is a Flyers insider for 97.3 ESPN Follow him on social media @PhillyLix
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Gallery Credit: Josh Hennig/Townsquare Media