St. Louis Blues vs. Philadelphia Flyers Pick & Prediction OCTOBER 31st 2024
Preview and Prediction
In any case, the Flyers and St. Louis Blues are gearing up for their Thursday matchup in Philadelphia with varying levels of recent success.
The Flyers are coming off a clean 2-0 victory over the Boston Bruins on the road, marking their first regulation win in Boston in over 13 years. On the other hand, the Blues were dealt a crushing 8-1 defeat by the Ottawa Senators in their last game.
Philadelphia is no stranger to tough losses, having dropped six consecutive games before their current 2-1-0 run, which includes impressive wins over the Minnesota Wild and Bruins.
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Samuel Ersson made 23 saves to secure the Flyers' win over Boston, while Tyson Foerster scored the game-winning goal for Philadelphia.
"We're just trying to get back to that mentality," Foerster stated. "That gives us some confidence that we can compete in these games, and we were able to come out with a win tonight, which is a big boost for us."
Ersson is expected to be in goal again on Thursday, as the Flyers have struggled to find consistent goaltending from backups Ivan Fedotov and Aleksei Kolosov.
"He battles, and the team feeds off of that," said Philadelphia coach John Tortorella of Ersson. "The goaltender plays such a unique role in a team's psyche, and Sam has been a steady presence for us. ... He made some crucial saves to keep us in the game."
Despite their recent improvement, the Flyers are still trailing most teams in the Eastern Conference standings. They have a tough schedule ahead, with games against the Bruins, Hurricanes, Lightning, and defending champions Panthers following their matchup with St. Louis.
"We have a long way to go, but it's a good start," said forward Scott Laughton.
The Blues, on the other hand, are not feeling as optimistic after their 8-1 loss to Ottawa.
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"Early on, I thought it was our own doing, but overall, as a team, including the coaches, it was a poor effort," said Blues coach Drew Bannister. "Internally, we need to figure out what's going on."
St. Louis captain Brayden Schenn believes that their issues may stem from a lack of toughness.
"I think it's pretty clear in our minds," said Schenn, a former Flyer. "We were soft in battles and all over the ice. Our competitive level wasn't there, and we were turning over pucks. Before we knew it, we were down on the scoreboard. This has been two games in a row now, and we've given up 13 goals because we're not playing the right way."
The Blues, who had 23 giveaways against the Senators, are 1-2-0 on their current four-game road trip. They started off strong with a 5-1 win in Toronto, but have since suffered lopsided defeats against Montreal and Ottawa.
"We know that this is not acceptable," stated defenseman Justin Faulk. "Our effort, or lack thereof, was not up to par for this level of play. We need to take responsibility, learn from our mistakes, and move on."
Jordan Binnington is expected to start in goal for the Blues after Joel Hofer allowed five goals on 21 shots against Ottawa.
St. Louis Blues vs. Philadelphia Flyers
Brayden Schenn, Vladimir Tarasenko and David Perron each scored one goal to lift the visiting St. Louis Blues past the Philadelphia Flyers 3-0 on Monday.
Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington was terrific in his first career start in the National Hockey League as he stopped all 25 shots. Binnington was recently recalled from the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL.
Ryan O'Reilly had two assists for St. Louis, which had dropped three of four heading into this game.
The reeling Flyers have lost a season-worst seven straight games. They dropped their final four games of a five-game road trip and came home to lose to the Nashville Predators and Calgary Flames before this latest defeat.
Rookie goaltender Carter Hart kept the Flyers close with 34 saves.
After a scoreless first period in which the Blues outshot Philadelphia 13-11, St. Louis struck first in the second. Schenn, a former member of the Flyers, scored just 41 seconds into the period for a 1-0 advantage. It was Schenn's ninth goal of the season, giving him six points in his past five road games.
Philadelphia's Wayne Simmonds had a solid scoring chance with 2:59 left in the second but fired the shot wide of Binnington. Simmonds needs just one goal to reach 200 for his career. The Flyers managed only six total shots in the second period.
Carl Gunnarsson, who assisted on Schenn's goal, nearly scored less than three minutes into the third. He ripped a shot from point blank range, but was denied by a pad save from Hart.
Hart made another strong save with 15:27 remaining as Robert Thomas skated in and took a wrist shot.
Two minutes later, Binnington kept the Blues ahead by one goal with a solid save against Sean Couturier.
Tarasenko recorded his 12th goal of the season at 11:00 to give the Blues a 2-0 lead. It was Tarasenko's first career goal against the Flyers.
Hart was pulled for an extra skater with 3:01 left and the Blues capitalized with a late empty net goal by Perron.