Making their annual trip to Missouri, John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (11-10-3) will take on Jim Montgomery's St. Louis Blues (11-12-1) on Saturday evening. Game time at Enterprise Center is 7:00 EST.
The game will be televised on NBCSP. The radio broadcast is on 93.3 WMMR with an online simulcast on Flyers Radio 24/7.
This is the second and final meeting of the season series between the two teams. On Halloween, the Flyers skated to a 2-1 win on home ice. Bobby Brink scored the game-winning goal with 3:01 remaining in regulation. Garnet Hathaway tallied in the first period before Nathan Walker temporarily tied the game in the third period. Samuel Ersson stopped 20 of 21 shots, while Jordan Binnington made 19 saves on 21 shots.
On November 24, with the Blues off to a 9-12-1 start, the Blues relieved head coach Drew Bannister of his duties and replaced him with former Boston Bruins bench boss Montgomery. The Blues went on to beat the New York Rangers (5-2) and New Jersey Devils (3-0) in Montgomery's first two games at the helm. Meanwhile, the Flyers have gone 7-4-2 in November after posting a 4-6-1 record in October.
Here are five things to watch in Saturday's game.
1. Beating the fatigue factor
The Flyers are playing their fourth game in six nights, while the Blues were idle on three of the last four nights including Friday. Philly has also switched time zones repeatedly this week between their two home games (Monday's 5-4 shootout loss to Vegas, Friday afternoon's 3-1 win over the Rangers) and two road games (Wednesday's 3-2 overtime win in Nashville, tonight's game in St. Louis).
When a team is working against a fatigue factor disadvantage, it's important for the players to manage their energy as efficiently as possible: keep shifts short when possible, minimize failed clears and turnovers, maintain puck support in all three zones and, hopefully, avoid having to chase the game. A hopeful sign from Friday's game: The Flyers were able to spread the ice time across the lineup with 58 of the game's 60 minutes played at 5-on-5. No one played less than 12:07, and none of the forwards were asked to play 20 minutes or more.
2. TK could set recent historical mark
Flyers All-Star winger Travis Konecny scored two of the team's goals in Friday's 3-1 win against the Rangers. He has posted at least one point in 11 of his last 12 games. Entering the final game of November, Konecny has posted 19 points for the month. Dating back to the 2001-02 season, no Flyers player has topped 21 points in a calendar month.
Nineteen points in a month has been accomplished five times by Flyers players going back to 2001-02, according to the NHL. "Deuces Wild" linemates Peter Forsberg and Simon Gagne both had 20 points in November 2005 after Forsberg posted 19 points the previous month. Three players racked up 21-point months: Jeff Carter in Dec. 2008, Jakub Voracek in February 2013 and, most recently, Claude Giroux in March 2014.
3. Brink coming off his best game of the season
Owen Tippett and Brink are tied for fifth on the team with 11 points apiece (four goals and seven assists). Brink was praised by Tortorella after Friday's game for playing arguably his best all-around game of the 2024-25 season to date. He racked up four shots on goal in the first period and was in the thick of several Flyers' scoring chances apart from his goal that opened the scoring for his team.
Over his previous six games, Brink had a combined four shots on goal and two points (0g, 2a). The game against the Rangers, hopefully, was a stepping stone to follow up Friday's performance with a similar offensive impact in the final game of November.
Conversely, Tippett had a bit of a frustrating afternoon on Friday. He had a couple of pucks hop on him on promising-looking plays. He uncharacteristically fell down several times and skated a team-low 12:07 across 16 shifts. However, Tippett seemed to have plenty of jump in his skates and could off that aspect against the Blues.
4. Kolosov vs. Binnington
With the Flyers playing the latter game of a back-to-back set, rookie goaltender Aleksei Kolosov is the anticipated starter for Saturday's game. He's coming off a 25-save performance in Wednesday's win in Nashville. Overall, Kolosov has made five starts and one relief appearance this season. He's posted a 2-4-0 record, 3.11 goals against average and .885 save percentage.
Binnington is coming off a 32-save shutout of the Devils in his last outing. Overall this season, the 31-year-old netminder has made 17 starts and one relief appearance. Binnington has posted a 7-9-1 record, 2.86 goals against average and .898 save percentage. Backup goalie Joel Hofer has started seven games, posting a 4-3-0 record, 3.23 goals against average, and .899 save percentage.
5. Special teams outlook
The Flyers accomplished little with their lone power play in Friday's game against the Rangers. Their lone shot on net was an unscreened point shot from Emil Andrae. The Flyers power play has dropped to 16.4 percent this season (ranked 25th in the NHL), and 11.8 percent (4-for-34) in November. Philly did not have shorthanded situations on Friday and will enter Saturday's tilt at 82.8 percent (ranked 12th) on the season.
The Blues' power play (14.3 percent in November, 14.8 percent overall) ranks 30th leaguewide. They are 20th on the PK at 78.1 percent (82.4 percent success in November).
