By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 
It is finally here. The Flyers open the 2019-20 regular season from Prague, Czech Republic as they take on the Chicago Blackhawks.
It has been a long offseason for the Flyers and many new faces are around, none bigger than the man behind the bench in Alain Vigneault. With new players like Kevin Hayes, Matt Niskanen and Justin Braun all debuting with the Flyers and rookies Carsen Twarynski and Connor Bunnaman about make their NHL debut as well, it certainly is a new beginning for the Orange and Black.
Game time is at 2 p.m.
Team Leaders (2018-19 Statistics)
| Philadelphia Flyers | GP | G | A | P | Chicago Blackhawks | GP | G | A | P |
| Claude Giroux | 82 | 22 | 63 | 85 | Patrick Kane | 81 | 44 | 66 | 110 |
| Sean Couturier | 80 | 33 | 43 | 76 | Jonathan Toews | 82 | 35 | 46 | 81 |
| Jake Voracek | 78 | 20 | 46 | 66 | Alex DeBrincat | 82 | 41 | 35 | 76 |
| Travis Konecny | 82 | 24 | 25 | 49 | Erik Gustafsson | 79 | 17 | 43 | 60 |
| James van Riemsdyk | 66 | 27 | 21 | 48 | Dylan Strome | 58 | 17 | 34 | 51 |
| Player to Watch | |
| 13 Kevin Hayes | 88 Patrick Kane |
| 2018-19 Stats: 19 G, 36 A, 55 P | 2018-19 Stats: 44 G, 66 A, 110 P |
| Goalie Matchup (2018-19 Stats) | |
| 79 Carter Hart | 50 Corey Crawford |
| 31 GP, 16-13-1, 2.83 GAA, .917 SV% | 39 GP, 14-18-5, 2.93 GAA, .908 SV% |
Carter Hart looks to start his second NHL season off strong by getting the start in the season opener. Hart appeared in three preseason games and the exhibition in Switzerland. Before Monday's exhibition, Hart had stopped 56 of 57 shots faced.
Corey Crawford gets the first start for the Blackhawks this season after making 39 starts last season. Crawford has a 2-6-0 record against the Flyers in his career with a 2.79 GAA.
Flyers Projected Lineup
Injuries: Nolan Patrick, Andy Welinski
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
| 28 Claude Giroux | 13 Kevin Hayes | 93 Jake Voracek |
| 23 Oskar Lindblom | 14 Sean Couturier | 11 Travis Konecny |
| 25 James van Riemsdyk | 21 Scott Laughton | 81 Carsen Twarynski |
| 12 Michael Raffl | 82 Connor Bunnaman | 18 Tyler Pitlick |
| Defense | ||
| 9 Ivan Provorov | 61 Justin Braun | |
| 6 Travis Sanheim | 15 Matt Niskanen | |
| 8 Robert Hagg | 53 Shayne Gostisbehere | |
| Goalie | ||
| 79 Carter Hart | 37 Brian Elliott |
Lineup Notes
Plenty of new faces in the Flyers lineup with Kevin Hayes centering the "top" line with Claude Giroux and Jake Voracek. Carsen Twarynski will debut on the third line, Connor Bunnaman will center the fourth line and Tyler Pitlick will make his Flyers debut on the fourth line as well. Defensively, Justin Braun lines up with Ivan Provorov and Matt Niskanen with Travis Sanheim for their Flyers debuts.
Blackhawks Projected Lineup
Injuries: Connor Murphy, John Quenneville
Scratches: Calvin de Haan
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
| 92 Alex Nylander | 19 Jonathan Toews | 88 Patrick Kane |
| 12 Alex DeBrincat | 17 Dylan Strome | 65 Andrew Shaw |
| 20 Brandon Saad | 64 David Kampf | 8 Dominik Kubalik |
| 15 Zack Smith | 22 Ryan Carpenter | 91 Drake Caggiula |
| Defense | ||
| 2 Duncan Keith | 56 Erik Gustafsson | |
| 6 Olli Maatta | 7 Brent Seabrook | |
| 68 Slater Koekkoek | 39 Dennis Gilbert | |
| Goalie | ||
| 50 Corey Crawford | 40 Robin Lehner |
Game Notes
- Power Play: Flyers (23rd), Blackhawks (15th)
- Penalty Kill: Flyers (26th), Blackhawks (31st)
- Recent History vs. Blackhawks
- Nov. 10, 2018 – Flyers 4, Blackhawks 0 (at PHI)
- March 21, 2019 – Flyers 3, Blackhawks 1 (at CHI)
- Flyers Leaders vs. Blackhawks
- Claude Giroux – 16 GP, 5 G, 18 A, 23 P
- Sean Couturier – 12 GP, 5 G, 6 A, 11 P
- Jake Voracek – 30 GP, 6 G, 17 A, 23 P
- Carter Hart – 1 GP, 1-0-0, 1.00 GAA, .976 SV%
Where to Watch
TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic/97.3 ESPN
