Wayne Simmonds
The opponent in this final game of the homestand is the Tampa Bay Lightning, the team atop the Eastern Conference standings and they bring a wealth of scoring into Philadelphia. Game time is at 1 p.m.
It’s a game where the scoreboard doesn’t tell the whole story. The Flyers 3-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night was much closer than the final score. That said, it was also a game that could be summed up in three words: That’s. So. Flyers.
It was that kind of night for the Flyers, who hit the post five times and had a goal disallowed in a 3-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night at Wells Fargo Center.
The Flyers next meeting on home ice comes against the New Jersey Devils, a team that has fallen in the standings after a hot start. The Devils sit in last place in the Metropolitan Division, but are just four points behind the Flyers.
With James van Riemsdyk expected to return to the lineup Thursday night against the New Jersey Devils, the team looks forward to his scoring abilities and what he can bring to a struggling power play.
For the Flyers, it’s a game that should serve as a lesson. They did not play well in the second period, certainly not well enough to put any pressure on the opposing goalie through 40 minutes. The 20-minute push in the third was great, but it was too little, too late on this night.
For the first time in over two weeks, the Flyers face a team from the Eastern Conference, welcoming the Florida Panthers back to Wells Fargo Center for the second time this season.
The Flyers have won four of their last five games with Thursday’s heroics, and they will carry that into Saturday’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks. Game time is at 1 p.m.
The Flyers trailed 4-2 entering the third, but rallied back to force overtime, where Shayne Gostisbehere scored the game-winning goal to give the Flyers a 5-4 win over the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night.
The first game of a five-game homestand comes against the same team the Flyers faced to close out the road trip on Monday. The Arizona Coyotes had their five-game winning streak snapped by the Flyers, and come to Philadelphia for the back end of a home-and-home.