The Flyers (4-2-1) will have a different combination of defenders for a third consecutive game when they face the Devils (3-2-1) again on Thursday.
Let’s get into that and more essential things for the game:
- When: 7:00 pm Eastern time, with The Warm Up at 6:00 pm Eastern time and Flyers Pregame live at 6:15 pm Eastern time
- Where: Prudential Center
- To transmit: NBC Sports Philadelphia
- Live broadcast: NBCSportsPhiladelphia.com and the NBC Sports MyTeams app
• The sky started to fall on Flyers fans for the 11th time this season (sarcasm) when Michael Russo of Atlético reported that 34-year-old Nate Prosser would be on the schedule tonight.
Perhaps this is one of the first moments of sending messages to some of the defenders of the Flyers. Head coach Alain Vigneault made the off-season acquisition Erik Gustafsson a healthy scrape on Tuesday night and challenged Mark Friedman to give him more since the roughly 25-year-old training stage.
When healthy, Flyers will have a competitive image on the blue line in a reduced regular season of 56 games. If you don’t introduce yourself, Vigneault’s guide may not be long for some. He will make adjustments. He was never ashamed to challenge his players.
Friedman and Robert Hagg will be healthy scratches tonight, with Prosser and Gustafsson joining the team.
Thursday will be Prosser’s first NHL game since January 17, 2019. He trained with the main group on Wednesday and was called up from the taxi squad on Thursday.
“I liked Prosser from the start of the training camp,” said Vigneault on Thursday in his pre-match media availability. “He is an experienced player, a veteran player, he has some NHL games and 25 playoff games. So he brings experience, he knows the game and now I believe he deserves an opportunity to play.”
Hagg, 25, has played in all seven Flyers games this season. He was stable and effective throughout the 2019-20 season. In the last five games, Hagg had the team’s lowest rating, minus-4, as the Flyers allowed 3.80 goals per game.
“I think Haggs has been average in the last few games,” said Vigneault. “In my opinion, and I talked to Haggs yesterday about his game, I believe he can be a much more effective defender in deadly plays and in his 1 on 1 battles, winning more. And making the right decision with the puck, I talked to him about that, making the highest percentage plays. He’s a good player, he’s a good defender for us. At the moment, his game isn’t where it should be and it’s up to him and me to work together to put his game where he can be in the lineup and help this team to win some games. “
The Flyers faced 11 newcomers last season and built a solid youth movement. The debut of the Prosser Flyers shows that the current scenario on the back end is not ideal. It is also not the end of the world if a veteran serves as the sixth defender in game 8 of the season, especially with Philippe Myers out due to a rib fracture.
• Carter Hart is back on the net for the Flyers after a difficult two-game spell in Boston.
The 22-year-old goalkeeper has not been sharp. He had a similar start last season.
Hart has faced many shots so far, but is also 2-1-0, averaging 1.98 goals against and 0.922 percentage defenses in his career against New Jersey.
• James van Riemsdyk is tied with John Tavares at the head of the NHL in power play goals with four.
He had two male lead goals in redirects in the Flyers’ 5-3 victory on Tuesday over the Devils.
“Riemer is one of the best strikers in the league,” said Ivan Provorov, who scored both goals, on Wednesday. “Even in training, if you watch training, he turns almost every disc you throw.”
Projected lineup
Foward
James van Riemsdyk-Kevin Hayes-Jakub Voracek
Claude Giroux-Nolan Patrick-Travis Konecny
Oskar Lindblom-Scott Laughton-Joel Farabee
Michael Raffl-Connor Bunnaman-Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Defenders
Ivan Provorov-Shayne Gostisbehere
Travis Sanheim-Justin Braun
Erik Gustafsson-Nate Prosser
Goalkeepers
Carter Hart
Brian Elliott
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