When: Thursday, Oct. 31 at 6 p.m. CT
Where: Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia
Watch: FanDuel Sports Network
Listen: 101 ESPN, Blues App
QUICK HITS
BLUES The St. Louis Blues (5-5-0) hope to close out their four-game road trip with a treat when they face off against the Philadelphia Flyers for a spooktacular Halloween match-up on Thursday.
Following Tuesday night’s loss to the Ottawa Senators, Head Coach Drew Bannister acknowledged the outcome while focusing his attention on the upcoming game and the opportunity to finish the road trip 2-2.
“Early on I thought it was self-inflicted,” Bannister said. “But overall, as a group, coaches included, that wasn’t a good enough effort. So, internally, we’re going to have to figure out what the issues are, and we’ll talk about that and move forward. And we have an opportunity to go on the road here in Philly and still come off the road .500. So, we’ve got to figure out right now what our issues are, and we’ll move forward.”
In this past week alone, the Blues have faced multiple injury setbacks. On Oct. 23 the team announced that Robert Thomas would miss at least six weeks with a fractured ankle. During Saturday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens, Mathieu Joseph sustained a lower-body injury and has returned to St. Louis. Most recently, Kasperi Kapanen left Tuesday’s game early with an upper-body injury and is considered day-to-day.
This is the Blues’ final game of the road trip before heading home for a five-game homestand starting Saturday.
FLYERS The Philadelphia Flyers (3-6-1) are coming into Thursday night’s Halloween match-up off a 2-0 victory against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday.
The Flyers’ Tyson Foerster scored midway through the second period to gain the 1-0 lead. Late in the third, the Bruins pulled their goalie for an extra skater in hopes of tying the game, however Joel Farabee intercepted a pass in the neutral zone and scored on the empty net to seal the victory. Samuel Ersson earned the shutout with a 25-save performance in net.
While the Flyers have had an up-and-down season so far, a bright spot has been 2023 first-round draft pick Matvei Michkov making his debut. In the 10 games he has played in this season, the 19-year-old from Perm, Russia has already made an impact and is second on the team in points with nine (four goals, five assists).
During the 2023-24 season, the Flyers finished in 11th place in the Eastern Conference, causing them to miss the playoffs for the fourth season in a row.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
BLUES Alexandre Texier had an assist on Tuesday night’s lone goal against the Senators. The forward missed five games earlier this season dealing with an upper-body injury before returning on Oct. 22. Texier has three points on the season (one goal, two assists).
FLYERS Travis Konecny currently leads the Flyers in points with 10 (five goals, five assists). The 27-year-old has led the team in points for the past three seasons. In his tenure as a Flyer, he has earned 410 points overall (179 goals, 231 assists) in 574 games.
BLUE NOTES
- Dylan Holloway is set to appear in his 100th NHL game on Thursday. Holloway currently shares first on the team in goals (four) and has five points on the season.
- With his next victory, Jordan Binnington will match Jake Allen for second on the Blues’ all-time franchise list with 148 wins.
- Philip Broberg has recorded a point in eight of his 10 games as a Blue (two goals, six assists). In 10 games he has already matched his career-high (one goal, seven assists in 46 games played in 2022-23 with Edmonton).
