97.5 The Fanatic Flyers Roundup: 3 Upcoming Devils Matchups
The bunched Eastern Conference Conference Wild Card standing won’t provide much of an indicator, but the Philadelphia Flyers collected seven of eight possible points in a week’s span.
After the euphoria of The Cutter Gauthier Game settled, the Flyers went back to work. They stunned the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, rallying from an early 2-0 deficit to win 4-3. Their most emotional win and their most impressive win of the season came in consecutive games.
- Saturday 1/11 at the Wells Fargo Center: Flyers 6, Anaheim Ducks 0
- Monday 1/13 at the Wells Fargo Center: Flyers 4, Florida Panthers 3
- Tuesday 1/14 at Nationwide Arena: Columbus Blue Jackets 3, Flyers 2 (SO)
- Thursday 1/16 at UBS Arena: Flyers 5, New York Islanders 3
Flyers To Face Devils in 3 January Matchups
The upcoming break from February 9-21 for the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off has consolidated the league’s schedule. The Flyers will take on the three New York metro area teams in bunches through the end of January.
The New Jersey Devils have surged back toward the top of the Metropolitan Division standings after a disappointing 2023-24 season. They’ll face the Orange & Black at Prudential Center in Newark on Saturday and twice more as part of a home-and-home set on January 27 and 29.
Kristy Flannery of The Hockey News spoke about New Jersey’s turnaround this season. She touched on development of top draft picks like Jack Hughes, Luke Hughes, and Nico Hischier as a driving force behind the organization’s long-term rebuild back into Stanley Cup contention.
However, Flannery emphasized the addition of goaltender Jacob Markstrom and other supplementary pieces as comparably important moves that have helped the Devils rebound under new head coach Sheldon Keefe.
The Flyers and Devils haven’t been the same type of powerhouse franchises since they joined the Metropolitan Division in 2013. However, if the Flyers make strides during their own rebuild, one of the NHL’s best rivalries could reignite.
The two franchises owned the old Atlantic Division during the prime seasons of Eric Lindros, John LeClair, Scott Stevens, and Martin Brodeur.
After the New York Rangers won the first-ever Atlantic Division crown in 1993-94 and the ensuing Stanley Cup, the Flyers and Devils accounted for 15 of the next 16 regular-season division titles through 2010-11. They finished in the top two spots in nine of 11 seasons from 1994-95 through 2005-06.
Since the Devils defeated the Flyers in a playoff series on their way to an appearance in the Stanley Cup Final in 2012, the two franchises have one playoff series win apiece in 12 seasons.
Can Jamie Drysdale Play “Rover” Position?
The appeal of “The Cutter Gauthier Game” shifted attention to Jamie Drysdale as a key character in the narrative that brought out the best passion Flyers fans have shown in years.
The 22-year-old defenseman met the scrutiny of the moment with a goal and an assist against the Ducks. Where is his development at the NHL level? It depends who you ask.
The Athletic praised the puck-moving defenseman for his advanced metrics. Drysdale ranks toward the top of the team in expected goals per 60 and expected goal share, a mark of an offensive-minded catalyst from the back end.
However, his goal prevention hasn’t been good enough. The play-driving stats indicate a good share of scoring chances in Philadelphia’s favor while he’s on the ice, but they don’t correlate with his -33 rating in 58 games with the Flyers.
John Tortorella has shown patience with Drysdale’s development since the trade in January 2024. However, he still sees the need for improvement.
“The thing that we continue to monitor and look to see him get better at is seeing the ice. It’s a hard thing for us to coach. It’s a very hard thing to coach. If he’s going to be the rover that I’d like to see him be, that’s the key part of his game I think he needs to improve.” -John Tortorella
The veteran head coach consistently emphasizes the difficult track for defensemen to develop at the NHL level and his confidence in assistant coach Brad Shaw to help his blueliners make long-term progress.
Tortorella sees Drysdale’s talent, especially as a skater, as the perfect fit for the head coach’s signature “rover” position he designates to defensemen who can jump into the offensive play regularly given reasonable defensive responsibility at the other end.
“I wish he spent more time in the minors. I think that always helps that position, the defenseman position. Hasn’t. Didn’t. We’re going to deal with it, but there’s still some work to be done as far as we keep on progressing with him… He’s improved. We’re going to ask more. I don’t know if he’s been coached this way, but we’re going to keep on pushing him. We’ll see where it goes.” -John Tortorella
Upcoming Schedule
- Saturday 1/18 @ New Jersey Devils, 12:30pm on 97.5 The Fanatic
- Tuesday 1/21 vs. Detroit Red Wings, 7pm on 97.5 The Fanatic
- Thursday 1/23 @ New York Rangers, 7pm on 97.5 The Fanatic
- Friday 1/24 @ New York Islanders, 7:30pm on 93.3 WMMR
