Ersson could make NHL debut as Flyers visit Hurricanes

Following a road loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs yesterday, the Philadelphia Flyers visit another tough opponent, the Carolina Hurricanes, who lead the Metropolitan Division, in the second half of a back-to-back.

Dominated by the Maple Leafs, the Flyers nearly mounted a comeback in the third period. It wasn’t meant to be, and the schedule doesn’t get easier.

Carolina Hurricanes (21-6-6)

Both teams meet four times in 2022-2023, where tonight represents the second. On October 29th, 2022, the Hurricanes won 4-3 in overtime.

Aiming to make franchise history with a fourteen-game point streak, the Hurricanes are on a five-game winning streak. They began their back-to-back with an overtime victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins last night. In addition to leading the Metropolitan Division, the Hurricanes are the second-best team in the NHL, tied with the Maple Leafs in the standings.

Antti Raanta started last night in Pittsburgh. Pyotr Kochetkov (10-1-4, 1.94GAA, 92.8%SV) is the likely starter. Frederik Andersen remains out with a lower-body injury.

Martin Necas (14G, 17A) leads the team in scoring. He tied the game before notching the secondary assist on the overtime game-winner by Brent Burns in the first matchup versus the Flyers. He leads the U25 movement in Carolina as one of the more exciting young players in the NHL.

Here’s the tentative lineup for the Hurricanes:

Svechnikov-Stastny-Necas
Teravainen-Kotkaniemi-Jarvis
Martinook-Staal-Fast
Noesen-Drury-Stepan

Slavin-Burns
Chatfield-Pesce
De Haan-Coghlan

Kochetkov
(Raanta)

Philadelphia Flyers (11-16-7)

A lack of sustainable offense and possession killed the Flyers in Toronto. Through the first two periods, the Flyers had seven shots on goal, finishing with nineteen in total.

Morgan Frost (7G, 6A) extended his goal-scoring streak yesterday to three games. Frost mentioned that he’s playing his best hockey, but John Tortorella called his game mostly “brutal” in the loss.

Carter Hart occupied the crease to begin the back-to-back. Felix Sandstrom is ill and didn’t travel with the team. According to the usual change of goaltenders during a back-to-back, Samuel Ersson could make his 2022-2023 debut. In the AHL with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, Ersson is 9-8-1 with a 2.72GAA and 91%SV.

Kevin Hayes (9G, 21A) recorded an assist yesterday. It was his first point since he was a healthy scratch versus the New York Rangers. Hayes saw an uptick in his time on the ice, also. Yesterday, he played more than four minutes more than his total ice time against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Here’s the tentative lineup for the Flyers:

van Riemsdyk-Frost-Tippett
Farabee-Cates, N-Konecny
Hayes-Laughton-Allison
Deslauriers-Brown-MacEwen

Provorov-Ristolainen
Sanheim-DeAngelo
York-Braun

Ersson
(Hart)