Flyers and their mothers travel to Boston to try and get a win

Yikes! Not exactly the way a team should conduct negotiations with its young franchise goaltender. Luckily for the Bruins, they eventually got Swayman to a contract: $8.25 million AAV through 2032 (and like a goaltender's financial hug, Ullmark signed a contract with the Senators at an identical AAV through 2029). Everything was good.

…Or is it? Let's take a look at Swayman – who missed the entire preseason and one regular season game – and see how he fares: a 3-3-1 record, a .900 save percentage, a 2 GAA, 97 and a quality start rate of 0.429. Not the start you want from a guy who is supposed to be your franchise goaltender but has only ever played as part of a tandem and hasn't carried the workload of a true starter. Things get even worse when you consider that the Bruins' backup player is Joonas Korpisalo.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg: Brad Marchand scored his first goal of the season in a 4-3 overtime win against the Maple Leafs, David Pastrnak has just six goals and eight points – which now leads the Bruins in the points standings, however previously that it was bottom-placed Cole Koepke. Everything is not Well, in Boston after all.

That doesn't mean the Flyers are doing much better (although they do get Korpisalo tonight, which gives them a chance). The team had no consistency in the ranks, no consistency in production, and there's such a clear disparity between players that after a completed pass you can say, “Hey, they actually made a pass this time.” The injury by Cam York doesn't help the matter, although Travis Sanheim shouldered the load with confidence on Sunday evening and Rasmus Ristolainen coped well in the role of a top pair. How long this will last is anyone's guess, but for now it seems to be stable.

Players to keep an eye on

Emil Andrä

Emil Andrae finally got to play a game in the NHL this season – and it looks like he'll be back tonight. A one-game sample size doesn't mean much statistically, but against Montreal in 14:52 of 5-on-5 ice time, Andrae finished with a CF percentage of 65 and an expected goals percentage of 53.51 – not all that very shabby for a guy thrown into the lineup in the second half of back-to-back games for a tired team. With any luck, Andrae will keep his spot on the second power play unit and we'll get a chance to see how his offense translates to the next level.

Rasmus Ristolainen

So do we need to have a conversation about Risto?

As a Good Conversation? Admittedly, he has only been in a true first pair role for two games so far, but Ristolainen has started the season brilliantly. Since John Tortorella and Brad Shaw joined the coaching staff, his career trajectory has completely turned around (don't forget that he gets a five-year contract extension midway through the 2021-22 season). Having Ristolainen in the team is no longer harmful, but beneficial – who would have thought this day would ever come? Still, he won't be part of this team when it competes again, so his improved play should make an eventual move much easier. Put him on the second power play to score some points and increase that value even further, I say (emotional blog)!

David Pastrnak

Pasta loves playing against the Flyers. In 31 games he scored 26 goals and scored 43 points – more in both respects than against any other team. If you're into sports betting, Pastrnak Any Time Goal is probably the safest bet on a night of hockey games. However, it's worth noting that Pastrnak hasn't been his usual dominant self, so there are probably two options tonight: He stays mediocre, or if he plays the Flyers, he awakens the Rocket Richard candidate in him and he disappears.

…It's probably the latter, isn't it?

Planned lineups

Philadelphia Flyers

Travis Konecny ​​– Sean Couturier – Matvei Michkov
Owen Tippett – Morgan Frost – Tyson Foerster
Joel Farabee – Scott Laughton – Bobby Brink
Noah Cates – Ryan Poehling – Garnet Hathaway

Travis Sanheim – Rasmus Ristolainen
Nick Seeler – Jamie Drysdale
Emil Andrae – Erik Johnson

Sam Ersson
(Ivan Fedotov)

That seems…right? Finally?? What a breathtaking moment for this team: lines that make sense! The only notable thing is that Emil Andrae gets a second game while Yegor Zamula remains in the press box.

Boston Bruins

Pavel Zacha – Elias Lindholm – David Pastrnak
Brad Marchand-Charlie Coyle-Justin Brazeau
Trent Frederic – Matthew Poitras – Morgan Geekie
John Beecher – Mark Kastelic – Cole Koepke

Mason Lohrei – Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm – Brandon Carlo
Nikita Zadorov – Andrew Peeke

Joonas Korpisalo
(Jeremy Swayman)

Game day tunes

The Flyers head north to Boston and Clairo comes to Philly this weekend. There is no better softcore music for an autumnal Tuesday.

Statistics courtesy of Hockey Reference