NHL Game of the Week: Los Angeles Kings vs. Philadelphia Flyers

The 2023 playoffs didn’t go the way the Los Angeles Kings were hoping, but the 2023-2024 campaign can serve as a chance to rebound from a disappointing end to last season.

Philadelphia will be playing in the second half of a back-to-back after a Friday night contest with the Sabres. The Flyers will be traveling back from Buffalo while Los Angeles will be on a two-days-rest after not playing since Thursday.

Philadelphia started the season hot but has since slowed to a 4-5-1 record after dropping five of the last six games and entering their game Friday night on a three-game losing streak. Amid a rebuilding season, Philadelphia has fallen to sixth in the Metropolitan Division.

Los Angeles, however, sits at a 6-2-2 record in the Pacific Division and appears to be planning a return to the postseason in 2024. Coming into Saturday night, The Kings score the third-most goals per game in the NHL and are one of only three teams that score north of four per contest.

Led by veteran star Anze Kopitar, the Kings have an electric offense that effectively creates scoring opportunities with a 12.7% shooting percentage as a team, which is good for third-best in the NHL.

For Philadelphia, the issue is converting shots into points. The Flyers rank No.4 in the NHL in total shots but only create 3.20 goals per game, good for only 15th best in the league.

Travis Konecny has become one of the most efficient scorers for Philadelphia. Konecny has buried eight goals in 10 games this season alongside defenseman Travis Sanheim who has tallied nine assists, good for most on the team.

Where Philadelphia wavers is in their ability to create effective power plays. The Flyers are fifth-worst in the league at converting power play opportunities into scores. However, they do have a productive penalty kill unit and are tied for the most short-handed goals in the league.

Flyers’ goalie Carter Hart will be missing from Saturday’s contest due to an abdominal injury he suffered against Buffalo Wednesday Night. In Hart’s absence, long-time Kings goaltender Calvin Peterson will be given the starting position in net. Peterson made his NHL debut in 2018 and went on to play five seasons as a backup for Los Angeles. Peterson will be making his first appearance in 2023 for the Flyers on Saturday night.

The Flyers may also be without veteran center Sean Couturier who has been dealing with a lower body injury he suffered Wednesday against the Sabres. Couturier is listed as day-to-day and is questionable for Saturday.

For the Kings’, Cam Talbot will be in net, marking his ninth start of the year. Talbot has a 5-2-1 record in games he started in 2023. Talbot’s 2.41 goals-against per game is good for 14th best in the NHL.

The Kings will head into Philadelphia on Saturday night as heavy favorites looking for their third-straight win.

Sketch Morton is a fourth-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email Sam7539@psu.edu.