After demolishing Cutter Gauthier and their new favorite rivals to play, the Philadelphia Flyers are hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs, a team that suffered a disastrous first half of the season but is slowly inching back into the playoff conversation.
Puck drop: 7:00 p.m.
How to watch/listen:
: NBCSP
: 97.5 The Fanatic
Pregame reading
- After Tuesday’s game, Cam York spoke out on the Cutter Gauthier situation and how it felt to get that win over the Ducks. [BSH]
- Everything that Trevor Zegras is saying, is making it really seem like he wants to sign long-term with the Flyers. [BSH]
- Now that we’re halfway through the season, let’s look at three surprises and three disappointments. [BSH]
- Bobby Brink and Jamie Drysdale are out with some injuries, so Maddie took a look at some potential AHL replacements for them. [BSH]
Pregame watching
By the numbers
Philadelphia Flyers – 22-12-7 (3rd in Metro)
Goals: Trevor Zegras (17)
Assists: Trevor Zegras/Travis Konecny (24)
Points: Trevor Zegras (41)
Toronto Maple Leafs – 21-18-3 (3rd in Pacific)
Goals: Auston Matthews (21)
Assists: William Nylander (27)
Points: William Nylander (41)
Projected lineups
Philadelphia Flyers
Trevor Zegras — Christian Dvorak — Travis Konecny
Denver Barkey — Sean Couturier — Owen Tippett
Matvei Michkov — Noah Cates — Carl Grundstrom
Nikita Grebenkin– Rodrigo Abols — Garnet Hathaway
Cam York — Travis Sanheim
Nick Seeler — Rasmus Ristolainen
Emil Andrae — Noah Juulsen
Dan Vladar
(Sam Ersson)
Toronto Maple Leafs
Bobby McMann — Auston Matthews — Max Domi
Matias Maccelli — John Tavares — Matthew Knies
Easton Cowan — Nicolas Roy — Nick Robertson
Steven Lorentz — Scott Laughton — Calle Jarnkrok
Morgan Rielly — Brandon Carlo
Oliver Ekman-Larsson — Troy Stecher
Simon Benoit — Philippe Myers
Joseph Woll
(Dennis Hildeby)
Storylines to watch
Auston Matthews is looking like himself, oh no
The Leafs were having a disastrous start to their season and at the forefront was star captain Auston Matthews looking more like he wanted to be a mediocre version of Ryan O’Reilly instead of the Rocket Richard-winning center he’s been for the majority of his career. Well, he turned a corner and scored five goals in six games last week, which also led him to breaking Mats Sundin’s all-time goal scoring record for that franchise.
Well, now he has scored six goals in his last three games and really appears to be the dominant world-class center once again. Oh, perfect. Just in time for the Flyers to get their good vibes potentially crushed. Matthews will need to be addressed heavily by one of Sean Couturier or Noah Cates, while the other deals with the John Tavares-Matthew Knies partnership. It might just be the depth that can carry Philadelphia to a win.
No Brink or Drysdale, but no call-ups yet
Speaking of depth, it will be tested. After suffering two dirty and nasty hits against the Ducks that knocked them out of Tuesday’s game, both winger Bobby Brink and defenseman Jamie Drysdale will be absent. There was no update from head coach Rick Tocchet, other than they will be missing Thursday’s game against Toronto.
But due to the Flyers hanging around at home, there is no need to recall anyone from the AHL quite yet and will just have their regular extra skaters dress instead. The decision will need to be made eventually, if those two are out for an extended period of time, but for now they’ll just get their backups in.
Thanks to this, the Flyers’ depth will really be tested offensively. Matvei Michkov is thankfully back, but now Carl Grundstrom is up on the third line and Garnet Hathaway is once more playing a regular role alongside Rodrigo Abols and former Leafs prospect Nikita Grebenkin.
Dan Vladar starting again and roles could be cemented
Dan Vladar is getting the start once again and now Sam Ersson hasn’t appeared in a game since the Dec. 31 drubbing in Calgary where he let in five goals on 26 shots in a brutal 5-1 loss. This all forces us to ask the question: Has Vladar truly cemented his role as a starter even moreso?
Of course, we have already thought this earlier, but Ersson getting at least some regular appearances — had five since Dec. 13 — and now Vladar will be in the crease for three consecutive games. The dynamic seems to have at least been softly cemented.
Source
The Flyers have made it to the weekend, and they’re set to kick off the first of two games against the Lighting on home ice tonight. Their lineup is looking a little thin, with some key absences at the top of it, but they’ll be looking to rally back and find a way to respond after a tough loss in overtime to the Leafs, last time out.
Puck drop: 7:00 p.m.
How to watch/listen:
Pregame reading
- The Flyers, missing a couple of key pieces in their lineup, have changed up the lines and finally brought Trevor Zegras and Matvei Michkov together. [BSH]
- Speaking of absences, the Flyers are going to be without Jamie Drysdale tonight, and that’s certainly making the whole “trying to get the power play on track” thing even harder. [BSH]
- Hey look! Porter Martone’s back at MSU and doing Porter Martone things! [BSH]
Pregame watching
By the numbers
Philadelphia Flyers – 22-12-8 (3rd in Metro)
Goals: Trevor Zegras (17)
Assists: Trevor Zegras/Travis Konecny (24)
Points: Trevor Zegras (41)
Tampa Bay Lightning – 26-13-3 (3rd in Atlantic)
Goals: Nikita Kucherov (20)
Assists: Nikita Kucherov (41)
Points: Nikita Kucherov (61)
Projected lineups
Philadelphia Flyers
Matvei Michkov — Christian Dvorak — Trevor Zegras
Denver Barkey — Sean Couturier — Owen Tippett
Nikita Grebenkin — Noah Cates — Carl Grundstrom
Nic Deslauriers — Rodrigo Abols — Garnet Hathaway
Cam York — Travis Sanheim
Nick Seeler — Rasmus Ristolainen
Emil Andrae — Noah Juulsen
Dan Vladar
(Sam Ersson)
Tampa Bay Lightning
Gage Goncalves — Brayden Point — Nikita Kucherov
Brandon Hagel — Anthony Cirelli — Jake Guentzel
Zemgus Girgensons — Yanni Gourde — Pontus Holmberg
Nick Paul — Dominic James — Oliver Bjorkstrand
JJ Moser — Darren Raddysh
Charle-Edouard D’Astous — Erik Cernak
Declan Carlile — Maxwell Crozier
Jonas Johansson
(Andrei Vasilevskiy)
Storylines to watch
Next man up
The Flyers will be heading into this game, right off the bat, at a disadvantage. Having lost all of Bobby Brink, Jamie Drysdale, and Travis Konecny to injuries this week, their mix of skill is looking a bit thin at the moment, and while it’s good news that Brink and Drysdale are at least well enough to have taken the pregame skate (though dressed in non-contact jerseys), the Flyers will still have to find a way to keep things rolling without them tonight. It is, all in all, a test of that much-emphasized next man up mentality that the Flyers have been working to remain locked into. They’ll be top-loading their offense on the first couple of lines and hoping that this can help them wake up a bit of scoring, but it will be on everyone in a game like this to rise to the occasion and bring their very best, as the margin for error grows thinner.
Power play frustration mounting
Coming out of Thursday’s loss to the Leafs, there was a real feeling that missed opportunities were the thing that sunk the Flyers’ run at a regulation win that was well within reach. And the biggest missed opportunity within that collection, of course, is their continued failure to convert on the power play — the Flyers had three opportunities, including more than a minute with the two-man advantage, but came out on the other side with nothing to show for it. As it stands, they’re within spitting distance of the bottom of the league standings in power play efficiency (they’re tied for second to last with the Capitals). They’re looking around for answers, but between the pieces missing in the lineup and the third best in the league penalty kill staring them down on the other side, the push to get themselves back on track is going to be an even greater lift here.
Who knows, maybe they find some magic here, but this is an imbalance in front of them which has the potential to get ugly.
This is just the beginning
We’re heading into this one, too, with the knowledge that through an interesting quirk in the schedule, this is the first of two matchups between the Flyers and Lightning here in Philly between now and Monday. This means that there’s a chance that some momentum can be forged and carried over from one game into the next, which is the greatest hope in this tough matchup, but it’s also worth watching this one for a bit of a temperature check. This is a setting in which, if things get extra spirited physically (and there’s certainly a chance that they will with both Hathaway and Deslauriers in the lineup) could lead to an even nastier tone in the rematch. We’ll see if it breaks that way.
Source
In the first game of a two game set against Tampa, the Flyers allowed the most goals in a game this season so far, losing in blowout fashion 7-2.
The Basics
First period: 1:49 – Nikita Kucherov (Brayden Point), 4:15 – Garnet Hathaway (Noah Juulsen, Rodrigo Abols), 6:05 – Kucherov (Point, Charle-Edouard D’Astous)
Second period: 13:37 – Nick Paul (D’Astous, Anthony Cirelli)
Third period: 2:03 – Gage Goncalves (Kucherov, Darren Raddysh), 3:37 – Brandon Hagel (Jake Guentzel, Cirelli), 4:45 – Owen Tippett (Christian Dvorak) (PPG), 9:00 – Yanni Gourde (Zemgus Girgensons), 11:00 – Goncalves (Kucherov, Point)
SOG: 23 (TBL) – 20 (PHI)
Some Takeaways
Kucherov beats Sam Ersson twice in first, and Ersson is bad the rest of the way
Right away in this game, we were quickly reminded just how good Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point are at this sport. Point forced an early turnover right at the blueline, and spotted Kucherov in front for a pretty unstoppable goal. No fault to Sam Ersson at all there.
The second one, though, is one Sam Ersson would love to have back. Kucherov absolutely sniped Ersson, but anytime a goal goes in unscreened from above the circle, the goalie should probably have stopped it. Ersson probably deserves a little bit of slack considering one of the best players in the sport did it to him, but it’s yet another goal that an NHL goalie typically stops.
That’s before mentioning what happened after that. As we watch more and more Ersson games, it’s becoming increasingly evident that he just never makes the big save. The chances that the Lightning scored on tonight were all pretty high-danger chances, but man we’re watching a goaltender that is just being obliterated out there right now. Entering the third period, it looked like we were getting just a typically middling Ersson performance where he allowed 3-4 goals and made just enough saves to keep the Flyers in the game.
Then, the third period just completely unraveled on them. Multiple breakaway goals, multiple goals Ersson should have had, and just a mess defensively for the Flyers. Even with a pretty leaky defensive structure tonight, you’ve got to get more saves from your goalie. There’s no question about it, and even if the Flyers were stout defensively tonight, they weren’t ever winning this game the way Ersson was playing. Full tire-fire disaster level goaltending tonight. By HockeyViz’s metrics, Tampa had only 2.7 expected goals tonight, to put Ersson’s performance into perspective.
Rick Tocchet also just let Ersson wear it. Maybe it’s a symptom of the Flyers condensed schedule, or the fact that the Flyers didn’t want to give the Lightning a look at Dan Vladar in advance of Monday’s game. Sometimes these nights happen, but you have to wonder if the Flyers would look at improving the backup goalie situation in the coming months. Whether that’s bringing up Aleksei Kolosov, or finding a cheap goalie at the deadline, you’d have to think the front office knows that rostering a goalie with Ersson’s statline is untenable. For the condensed schedule coming up, particularly after the Olympics break, the points that are being left off the table in Ersson starts might come back to haunt the Flyers. Feels like we’re at or near an inflection point here.
Hathaway did it!
After Kucherov’s first goal of the game, the Flyers immediately responded, courtesy of a deflection goal by Garnet Hathaway. This was so good to see from Hathaway, who broke his goalless and pointless streak to start the season, a streak that reached 36 games.
Maybe it’s a sign that Hathaway is coming out of what was easily the worst stretch of his NHL career. After nearly half a season of very bad hockey from Hathaway, it’s been quite easy to think that the 34-year-old winger was just cooked. Rick Tocchet even took the veteran out of the lineup for multiple games in favor of guys like Carl Grundstrom, and he really only got back in because of injuries to other wingers. Having said that, Hathaway has been returning to form since his return to the Flyers lineup. He’s in and around actual offense now, not making awful decisions on every shift, and he’s being quite the annoying pest for oppositions to deal with. We’re getting Hathaway fights with regularity (like tonight’s versus Declan Carlile), and he’s throwing around massive hits that actually disrupt the play again. It’s been very good to see for the Flyers veteran.
NOW HATHAWAY DROPS EM WITH CARLISLE AND THE CROWD IS ROCKING#LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/1iaIDzNI6Y
— Flyers Clips (@Flyers_Clips) January 11, 2026
Grebenkin-Zegras-Michkov appears
After starting out the game with Christian Dvorak centering Trevor Zegras and Matvei Michkov, Rick Tocchet replaced Dvorak with Nikita Grebenkin on the line midway through the first period, and shifted Zegras to the middle. Once that happened, the line began to really generate chances, earning many more looks for the Orange and Black as the game progressed. The line spent six minutes together tonight, and they were well above water in terms of expected goals and shot attempts.
Stylistically, the players seemed to really work off each other well. Grebenkin and Michkov are two of the Flyers best players along the boards, and all three players seem to be really excellent in making plays with little time and space. Zegras and Michkov match each other in terms of pure skill and awareness, while Grebenkin’s motor can just give those two ample opportunities with the puck. Out of anything that came out of this game, the use of this line combination is one of two real positives (along with Hathaway) to build from.
Ristolainen gets caught puck watching
Way back to the Lightning’s third goal of the game, Rasmus Ristolainen had one of the rougher defensive plays of the night. Being pressured along the boards by a Tampa player, he just kinda aimlessly threw the puck up the boards to another Lightning forward. He then got caught puck watching, and didn’t recover to gain positioning in front of the net. After some suspect defensive plays the other night against Toronto, it’s now been two off nights in a row for Ristolainen. In fairness, tonight was an off night for the entire team, minus a few forwards. So, let’s hope this is just a minor blip in the radar for a guy that’s been pretty consistent in his time with the Flyers.
Owen Tippett throws a changeup
Another small positive from tonight came courtesy of a third period goal from Owen Tippett. On the power play, Tippett flubbed a shot from the high slot, and it was just enough to fool Vasilevsky. Lucky but good, and the 14th goal of the season for Tippett and a minor breakthrough for the power play.
A really dangerous stretch for the Flyers
This stretch of games has the potential to make-or-break the Flyers season, especially considering how tight the Eastern Conference playoff race is. Considering how injured the Flyers are right now, and the state of the backup goalie situation, it’s fair to be nervous about how this next few weeks is going to go. Ahead, they’ve got a rematch with Tampa, games in Buffalo and Pittsburgh, the Rangers, and then a Western road trip that includes Vegas, Utah, and Colorado. Lots of tough teams that will be pretty unforgiving on the Flyers.
Source
On the second game of a two game set with the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Flyers were again throttled by the Lightning, losing 5-1 on Monday night. The Lightning won their tenth in a row and outscored the Flyers 12-3 in the last two games, while the Flyers lost their third in a row in the middle of a tough stretch in the schedule.
The Basics
First period: 1:10 – Pontus Holmberg (Zemgus Girgensons, Yanni Gourde)
Second period: 0:33 – Jake Guentzel (Erik Cernak, Brandon Hagel), 4:27 – Brayden Point (Oliver Bjorkstrand, Guentzel) (PPG), 5:38 – Christian Dvorak, 19:29 – Hagel (Darren Raddysh, Nikita Kucherov)
Third period: 16:37 – Kucherov (Raddysh, Anthony Cirelli) (ENG)
SOG: 26 (TBL) – 21 (PHI)
Some Takeaways
Bad start
After the blowout loss two nights ago, the Flyers desperately needed to come out strong against Tampa tonight. And, well, that certainly did not happen. Just over a minute into the game, Pontus Holmberg found a puck in front of the net, and squeezed one past Vladar short side. It was a strange play where the Flyers just couldn’t find a loose puck, and a really tough start to the game.
The rest of the first period was a bit of a mixed bag for the Flyers. They lulled the Lightning into pretty low-event hockey, with the shot counter being only 6-5 Tampa after the opening frame. In addition, the Flyers missed on quite a few of their shot attempts as well, including a Sean Couturier post towards the end of the period.
To make matters worse, the start to the second period was no better. Just 33 seconds in, a point shot deflected off Guentzel in front and in. Then, just four minutes later, a power play goal from Brayden Point effectively put the game away for the Lightning. Even with the Flyers propensity for coming back this season, it just felt like they were never in this game at all and had no chance to come back. Truly, they’ve just been completely outclassed by the Lightning these last two games, and it’s a real gut check on where this team currently stands.
Dvorak scores
With the Flyers down 3-0 in the second period, Christian Dvorak made a nice play to give the Flyers some hope in this one. On a 4-on-4, Dvorak retrieved the puck in the defensive zone and skated through all three zones on an odd man rush. Looking off Nick Seeler, Dvorak perfectly placed his shot top corner, giving him his 10th of the year. A real nice play for the Flyers newly-extended center.
A tale of two special teams
It’s becoming a nightly theme, but you can really see how awful the Flyers power play is when you also get to watch the Tampa power play in action. The difference in the two units is so staggeringly large. Tonight, Tampa’s power play went 2 for 4 while the Flyers went 0 for 2. There’s just so much movement and crisp passing on the Lightning power play, while the Flyers are just disjointed and a mess. Nothing we haven’t said before about the inept Flyers power play, but it’s just so obvious on a night like tonight. If they had a semi-functioning unit, perhaps this game against one of the best teams in the East would be a bit closer.
Two fights at once!
In what was a very choppy and undisciplined third period, the Flyers and the Lightning traded penalties and had lots of offsetting calls. The refs just did not have control of this game, from Travis Konecny being thrown out of the game with 9 minutes to go, to the two fights happening at once. Rodrigo Abols and Nikita Grebenkin both tried to manufacture energy for the Flyers in the third period, each fighting a Lightning player at the same time.
Really, the Grebenkin fight stole the show. Against Max Crozier, the two traded punches for a while before Grebenkin eventually took Crozier down. We’re seeing Grebenkin evolve into quite the fourth-liner, one who can both flash offense and bring the physical element that coaches love. He’s been pretty consistent on a shift-to-shift basis lately, and hopefully we start to see the fighting and physical side of Grebenkin flourish even more.
ABOLS CRUSHES A LIGHTNING PLAYER AND WE HAVE 2 FIGHTS AT ONCE!! ABOLS VS PAUL AND GREBENKIN VS CROZIER. GREBENKIN PUMPS UP THE CROWD.
— Flyers Clips (@Flyers_Clips) January 13, 2026
Vladar spends third period flexing his leg
After making a sprawling save midway through the third, Dan Vladar had some clear discomfort for the next few minutes in the game. He was repeatedly shown flexing his leg, moving it a bit in the crease, and testing it out to see if something was wrong. We’ll find out later if something is actually bothering him, but he did finish the game for the Orange and Black.
Obviously, a Vladar injury would spell disaster for the Flyers. Without Vladar, the Flyers goaltending would be in shambles, having to rely on the shaky Sam Ersson for the majority of starts and whoever is up next in Lehigh Valley. The Flyers would probably have a Ersson-Kolosov tandem for a Round 2 repeat of last season, and we all know how that went. Kolosov has been much better with the Phantoms this year, but it could get really ugly.
Considering how condensed the schedule is, even a minor injury to Vladar could severely dampen the Flyers playoff chances. They are already trending in the negative direction following three straight losses, and with a really tough schedule coming up, they can’t afford to lose Vladar. Something to monitor in the next few days.
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off the rebound! 
