John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (14-12-4) are in St. Paul on Saturday afternoon to take on John Hynes' Minnesota Wild (19-6-4). Game time at Excel Energy Center is 2:00 p.m. EST.
The game will be televised on NBCSP. The radio broadcast is on 97.5 The Fanatic with an online simulcast on Flyers Radio 24/7.
This is the second and final meeting of the 2024-25 season between the Flyers and Wild. At Wells Fargo Center on October 26, Flyers captain Sean Couturier's career-best five point game (hat trick, two assists) powered the Flyers to a 7-5 victory.
Here are five things to watch in Saturday's match:
1. Laughton's followup performance
Speaking of career-best performances, Scott Laughton enters Saturday's game coming off a four-goal night in Philadelphia's 4-1 home victory over the Detroit Red Wings. Laughton's magical night represented all four goals the Flyers tallied on Thursday night.
It was the first -- and only - match in Flyers history in which a single Philadelphia player provided all four goals that his team generated in that game. In all of the other games in which a Flyers player scored four times, at least one other Philadelphia player also scored a goal.
Thursday's win over Detroit represented two milestones for Laughton. He tallied his 100th career NHL regular season goal as well as his second career hat trick. His first game with at least three goals came on February 7, 2021, against the Washington Capitals.
Six of Laughton's seven goals during the 2024-25 season to date have come in two games: a two-goal night in a 6-4 road loss to the Seattle Kraken (Oct. 17) and his four-goal performance against Detroit.
Laughton became the 10th Flyers player in team history to have at least one four-goal game in his career with the team. There have been a total of 17 games in which a Flyer scored four-plus goals in a regular season match.
2. Captain Coots
Three of Couturier's six goals and five of his 15 points for the 2024-25 season to date came against Minnesota in the previous meeting this season between the Flyers and Wild.
Minnesota is one point behind the Winnipeg Jets (with two games in hand) for first place in the Central Division. The Flyers will likely need another step up performance from Couturier and linemate Travis Konecny (team-leading 15 goals and 36 points, points in 17 of his last 19 games).
On Friday at the FTC in Voorhees, Tortorella stressed the vital importance of the Couturier line while also talking about the desirability of spreading ice time around as evenly as possible if the game circumstances allow it. He noted that Couturier needs a little more consistency from an offensive standpoint as the pivot on the club's top five-on-five line and the first power play unit.
Entering Saturday's matinee, Couturier has 15 points (6g, 9a) in 29 games played. The team captain has one point (0g, 1a) over the last six games after rattling off a four-game point streak (3g, 2a) during the previous four games.
The Flyers, who are 6-2-2 over the last 10 games, have had a variety of players contributing offensively during the stretch. Minnesota is the type of opponent against whom the Flyers may need several lines -- starting with Couturier's line with Konecy and Joel Farabee along with Morgan Frost's line with Owen Tippett and Matvei Michkov -- to chip in one or more points to the cause.
That is a tall order. Minnesota is typically a stingy team defensively, ranking in a tie for second leaguewide for the fewest total goals (74) allowed this season. The Wild, Toronto Maple Leafs, LA Kings and Minnesota Wild are tied for the top spot in the league with a team 2.55 goals against average
3. Checking in on Cates
Goals and points have been hard to come by this season for Noah Cates (2g, 5a in 26 games played) but the 25-year-old two-way forward has been playing some of his best hockey of the season in recent weeks. Recently, the Stillwater, Minnesota, native has been centering the Flyers' third line with Tyson Foerster and fellow Minnesotan Bobby Brink on his flanks.
On Friday, Tortorella praised the checking work the Cates line -- including Brink, who was often in the head coach's crosshairs last season for checking deficiencies -- has turned in over recent rinks. Frequently during his tenure as Flyers head coach, Tortorella has stated that he believes Cates has the potential to produce semi-regular offense as the player did under former interim head coach Mike Yeo after turning pro late in the 2021-22 season (16 games, five goals, nine points).
Cates has shuttled between left wing and center during Tortorella's coaching tenure but the head coach prefers the now 25-year-old forward at center despite Cates' prowess as the F1 (first forechecker into the offensive zone) when playing wing. Offensively, Cates brings points in back-to-back games (1g, 1a) into Saturday's tilt in St. Paul.
Brink, who has recently been seeing regular ice time on the team's first power play unit in addition to his third-line right wing duties at five-on-five, has four goals and nine assists on the season while dressing in 27 of the 30 games the team has played to date. He has three points (1g, 2a) over his last seven games.
Foerster got off to a rough start in his second full NHL season, but has recently started to find his form both offensively and in terms of winning forechecking battles (one of his key strengths as a rookie last season). Overall, he has 10 points (6g, 4a) in 29 games played, including four points (2g, 2a) over the last seven games.
4. Michkov Magic
Flyers rookie right wing Matvei Michkov was held off the scoresheet on Thursday against Detroit, primarily because goaltender Cam Talbot robbed Michkov three times in the game.
Michkov very nearly scored a goal by outflanking the goaltender and attempting to jam the puck inside the near post. He had a one-timer from the right circle on a potential tic-tac-toe sequence (Frost to defenseman Egor Zamula to shooter Michkov). The now 20-year-old rookie also came within a whisker of converting a "Michigan" lacrosse-style attempt during a delayed penalty on Detroit.
Overall, Michkov still leads all NHL rookies this season with 11 goals and 27 points in 27 games. San Jose's Macklin Celebrini, the first overall pick of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, has 10 goals and 19 points in 20 games played.
For a look at how Michkov's rookie season to date has stacked up to some notable Flyers rookies of the past at the same juncture of their first season, click here.
Note: The franchise's most iconic player, Bobby Clarke, had 13 points in 25 games (6g, 7a) through Dec. 13 of his rookie campaign in 1969-70. For context, it should be added that a 20-year-old Clarke was used more for checking duties that top of the lineup role by coach Vic Stasiuk over the first six weeks of the player's first NHL season. His offensive responsibilities grew from mid-November onward.
5. Between the Pipes: Ersson vs. Gustavsson
Swedish countrymen Samuel Ersson and Filip Gustavsson shared the Tre Kronor net at the 2024 IIHF World Championships. Gustavsson has gone on to earn a selection for Team Sweden at the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off tournament.
Ersson, who has dealt with lower-bodies injuries this season, was bypassed for Team Sweden's 4 Nations roster. He was beaten out by Jacob Markström (New Jersey Devils), Linus Ullmark (Ottawa Senators) and Gustavsson.
Gustavsson has had an excellent 2024-25 season to date (14-5-3, 2.24 GAA, .922 save percentage, two shutouts). However, he is coming off a tough night in Thursday's 7-1 shellacking at the hands of the defending Western Conference champion Edmonton Oilers.
On Thursday, Gustavsson was replaced by veteran Marc-Andre Fleury at the start of the third period after yielding five goals on 26 shots. Gustavsson is expected to be back in net against the Flyers on Saturday. The Swedish goaltender will be looking for revenge, as Philly was the only other team that truly roughed up Gustavsson across his 22 starts this season.
Ersson is expected to make his third start since coming off Injured Reserve with a recurrent lower-body injury. Rookie Aleksei Kolosov is the expected backup goalie, with Ivan Fedotov scratched as the third netminder.
