Three Thoughts About the Flyers’ Return To Ice After COVID-19 Protocol
As the Flyers return after their 10-day hiatus due to COVID-19 protocol, they’re not out of the woods quite yet. Though seeing the Flyers get back on the ice is a welcome sight, it will be an uphill battle as they’ll be without some key players for at least a little while.
With no new additions since this past Sunday, the Flyers’ COVID-19 protocol list currently consists of Travis Konecny, Oskar Lindblom, Scott Laughton, Morgan Frost, Jakub Voracek, Claude Giroux, and Justin Braun. It definitely looks like a daunting task for the Flyers to stay competitive with some good teams like the Rangers and Bruins on tap this week.
Let’s look at what storylines are surrounding the Flyers as they resume their 2021 season.
No Giroux or Voracek in the lineup
The Flyers will be without their two best forwards on Thursday night and possibly for a bit longer, marking the first time since 2009, that neither will be in the Flyers’ lineup.
As far as I can tell, tomorrow’s game will be the first since March 1, 2009 (3-0 at NJ) that features neither Claude Giroux nor Jakub Voracek in the Flyers’ lineup. Voracek arrived for the 2011-12 season and Giroux played every game in 2009-10 and 2011-12. pic.twitter.com/xntikkdsc5
— Bill Meltzer (@billmeltzer) February 17, 2021
It’s extremely overlooked just how durable Giroux and Voracek have been throughout their Flyers’ careers. For Giroux, this will end his 329-game ironman streak, playing in every game since April 10, 2016, where he was a healthy scratch in the last game of the season against Carolina. As for Voracek, this will the first game he’s missed since the 2018-19 season and just the 17th game he’s missed since joining the Flyers in 2011.
Opportunities for David Kase and Maxim Sushko
And with so many players out of the lineup, there will be a number of openings for the guys off the taxi squad, including a pair of young players in David Kase and Maxim Sushko.
Lines and pairings same as yesterday at today’s morning skate:
JvR-Couturier-Farabee
Raffl-Hayes-NAK
Bunnaman-Patrick-Kase
Morin-Andreoff-SushkoProvorov-Myers
Sanheim-Gostisbehere
Hagg-Gustafsson— Charlie O’Connor (@charlieo_conn) February 18, 2021
Between the two, only Kase, a 2015 fifth-round pick has NHL experience after playing six games last season with the Flyers where he netted a goal in December 2019 against Anaheim.
A 2017 fourth-round pick from Belarus, Sushko will be making his NHL debut Thursday against the Rangers after spending the last two years with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and the Minsk Dynamo of the KHL.
The Flyers will need to rely on their defense
This probably isn’t what anyone wants to hear as the Flyers have been a bit of a nightmare defensively throughout the season. But with so many key forwards out, it’s likely they’ll be a bit out of sync offensively.
Besides Justin Braun, the Flyers’ defense is still intact after Travis Sanheim came off the COVID list last weekend, so it will be up to them to step up as the team hopes to get healthy in the near future.
With two great offensive teams who have a lot of firepower in the Rangers and Bruins, the level of defense the Flyers have played so far just won’t cut it if they hope to compete while shorthanded.
FEATURED IMAGE: DAVID ZALUBOWKSI/AP
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Categorized:Flyers