In less than two weeks, the NHL trade deadline arrives and the Flyers are certainly expected to have a role in deadline activity. If the last two games against Seattle were any indication, the team’s margin to the playoffs is reaching the insurmountable point and the move will be to sell.
Six games remain to that point, and the Flyers first opponent is another team that has already been in selling mode. The Vancouver Canucks made noise leading into the All-Star break with a trade of their captain Bo Horvat to the New York Islanders. The two teams meet on Saturday night as the Flyers head into Western Canada for the next three games.
Game time is 10 p.m.
Noah Cates had a pair of assists in the loss to Seattle on Thursday. Scoring has been hard to come by for the Flyers, and they are searching for contributions from anywhere. Getting Cates involved in the offense was an important part to their recent run of success.
Elias Pettersson has been held out of the goal column for the last two games, but had six over his previous four games prior. Add in a pair of assists against the Rangers in his last game, and Pettersson is now up to 10 points in the last seven games.
Carter Hart gets the start for the Flyers. Hart was pulled in his last start on Thursday, allowing four goals on 19 shots. Hart made 28 saves on 30 shots in a win over Vancouver on Oct. 15.
Arturs Silovs is expected to start for Vancouver. Silovs made his NHL debut on Wednesday, allowing five goals on 27 shots to the Rangers. The 21-year-old Latvian was Vancouver’s sixth-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft.
Flyers Scratches: Sean Couturier (injury), Tanner Laczynski (injury), Zack MacEwen (injury), Felix Sandstrom (healthy), Olle Lycksell (healthy), Kieffer Bellows (healthy)
Canucks Scratches: Oliver Ekman-Larsson (injury), Curtis Lazar (injury), Thatcher Demko (injury), Travis Dermott (injury), Ilya Mikheyev (injury), Tanner Pearson (injury), Tucker Poolman (injury)
