Philadelphia Flyers: Three players that will need to step up in Lake Tahoe showdown
These three players will have to step up for the Philadelphia Flyers at Lake Tahoe on Sunday.
We’re in for one hell of a treat this weekend with the NHL heading to Lake Tahoe for two Honda NHL Outdoors games, with the Vegas Golden Knights taking on the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday (3:00 p.m. ET) and the Boston Bruins going up against the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday (2:00 p.m. ET).
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However, while both games should be absolute spectacles with a breathtaking backdrop, the Philadelphia Flyers have been dealt a huge blow with six key players not making the trip to Lake Tahoe for Sunday’s East Division showdown with the Bruins.
Defenseman Justin Braun and forwards Claude Giroux, Travis Konecny, Scott Laughton, Oskar Lindblom and Jakub Voracek have all been ruled out this weekend due to all being on the NHL’s COVID-19 Protocol list.
That is a lot of star and man power for the Flyers to be missing against a Bruins team that is 10-3-2 on the year and are 7-2-1 in their last 10 outings. As a result, Philadelphia will need other players to step up and fill the void left by those absentees, and we’ve looked at three players in particular who will need to step up to help their team enjoy a memorable weekend at Lake Tahoe
Three Philadelphia Flyers who will need to raise their game at Lake Tahoe
3. Carter Hart
It has already been confirmed that Carter Hart will get the start for the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday, and the phenom goalie will have his work cut out for him given what he’s going to be going up against in a loaded and potent Boston Bruins lineup.
The B’s may rank 20th in the NHL in Goals For Per Game (2.80), but they still boast one of the best lines in all of hockey in the perfection line, and Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak can absolutely run riot if they are allowed to.
Boston have also been pretty damn good on the power play this season too, converting on the man advantage at a 29.8 percent clip, so the Flyers will need their franchise goaltender to adapt to the elements and stand on his head on Sunday.
Hart has been okay this season, posting a 5-2-3 record with a 3.31 Goals Against Average and a .902 Save Percentage, but there is no doubt that those numbers will need to improve if the Flyers are to battle for the top seed in what is an incredibly loaded and competitive East Division this year.
And, the Philadelphia Flyers will probably need an elite performance between the pipes given that they will be playing shorthanded due to the players out, so this is a golden opportunity for Carter Hart to produce arguably his best performance of the season and backstop his team to what would be a marquee win against the Boston Bruins at Lake Tahoe.