Rick Tocchet’s Philadelphia Flyers (0-1-1) aim for their first win of the season on Monday night. The team has its home opener; the first of a stretch of nine home games in the next 10 matches. The opponent: Paul Maurice’s Florida Panthers.
Last Thursday, the Flyers sustained a 2-1 loss to the Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise. Noah Cates notched Philly’s lone goal. Veteran agitator Brad Marchand scored the winner on a screened shot in the third period. Dan Vladar suffered a hard-luck loss in goal.
Here are the RAV4 Things to watch in Monday’s game.
1. Number 1 forever
The Flyers will pay tribute on Monday to the iconic Bernie Parent. Flyers players will debut a memorial patch on their uniforms; Bernie’s famed No. 1 has been painted behind the two nets.
As Bernie himself may have said, “Win or lose, it’s a beautiful thing.” There’d be no better way to celebrate the Hall of Fame goaltender, than a win in his honor against the back-to-back defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers.
2. Andrae returns to Philly
With Cam York not quite ready to return to the Flyers’ lineup, Andrae earned a quick return trip to Philadelphia after not making the season opening roster. The Flyers will look for Andrae to raise his play.
The puck-moving Swedish defenseman enjoyed an excellent opening night game on Friday with the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms. That’s the version of himself that Andrae has shown in spells at the NHL level. Monday night is a big game for him.
3. Tipp-ing point.
Owen Tippett has tended to be a streaky scorer so far in his NHL career. When he gets cranking, he scores in bunches for spans of five to 10 games.The Flyers hope the winger can build off his power play goal in Saturday’s game against Carolina.
As a former Panthers player, there’s always a little bit of extra incentive for Tippett when the Flyers play against Florida.
4. Staying out of the box.
The Flyers took five minor penalties against Florida on opening night last week. They took four more — three in the first period — on Saturday against the Hurricanes.
That’s too much. Even when killed successfully (the Flyers are 8-for-9 so far), excessive penalties tax the PK personnel and get other players who do not kill penalties out of the flow of play. The Flyers need to play a more disciplined game on Monday.
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