By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor
Just two games remain for the Flyers in the preseason, which means it's crunch time for players still left on the Flyers roster fighting for a spot.
A lot of the bubble players will get a look in Thursday's preseason game against the New York Rangers, the final one on home ice in the preseason.
Game time from Wells Fargo Center is set for 7 p.m.
The Flyers held an optional morning skate on Thursday morning that featured players not taking part in the game. Players working their way back from injury like Sean Couturier and Wayne Simmonds were on the ice as part of the morning skate. So were the healthy scratches for Thursday's game — Claude Giroux, Travis Konecny, Robert Hagg, Mark Friedman and Tyrell Goulbourne.
Brian Elliott and Anthony Stolarz also took the ice as the goalies, indicating that one will serve as backup in Thursday's game. Carter Hart is expected to be the starter.
With all three top-line members out of the lineup, the top line in Thursday's game will be James van Riemsdyk, Nolan Patrick and Jake Voracek. The absence of Giroux and Konecny also means Carsen Twarynski, Corban Knight and Mikhail Vorobyev all get another game. With final cuts looming, this could be a big night for all three.
Defensively, with Hagg and Friedman being the scratches, it means Travis Sanheim will return to game action as well.
The projected lines are based on combinations that were run at Wednesday's practice:
Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
25 James van Riemsdyk | 19 Nolan Patrick | 93 Jake Voracek |
54 Oskar Lindblom | 46 Mikhail Vorobyev | 81 Carsen Twarynski |
12 Michael Raffl | 21 Scott Laughton | 38 Corban Knight |
20 Taylor Leier | 40 Jordan Weal | 22 Dale Weise |
Defense | ||
9 Ivan Provorov | 53 Shayne Gostisbehere | |
47 Andrew MacDonald | 3 Radko Gudas | |
6 Travis Sanheim | 26 Christian Folin | |
Goalie | ||
79 Carter Hart | 41 Anthony Stolarz |
The Rangers will send veterans Kevin Hayes, Jesper Fast, Vladislav Namestnikov and Kevin Shattenkirk to Philadelphia for Thursday's game. Prospects Lias Andersson, Brett Howden and Ryan Lindgren also make the trip.
Former Phantoms goalie Dustin Tokarski is expected to start in goal. Alexander Georgiev will be the backup.
The Rangers roster for Thursday's game are as follows:
Forwards: Cody McLeod, Kevin Hayes, Jesper Fast, Jimmy Vesey, Cole Schneider, Michael Lindqvist, Steven Fogarty, Brett Howden, Lias Andersson, Ville Meskanen, Vladislav Namestnikov, Vinni Lettieri
Defensemen: Kevin Shattenkirk, Brendan Smith, Libor Hajek, Rob O'Gara, Adam McQuaid, Ryan Lindgren
Goalies: Dustin Tokarski, Alexander Georgiev
Where to Watch
TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia+
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic