Flyers Notes: Will Michal Neuvirth start vs. Blackhawks? It makes most sense

Share

CHICAGO — If you had to guess which Flyers goalie will get the net Tuesday night against the Blackhawks, the obvious choice would be Michal Neuvirth.
 
Neuvirth was very sharp during the Flyers’ season-opening 4-2 victory against the Kings in Los Angeles on Friday night.
 
On the other glove hand, Steve Mason, who wasn’t happy at not starting the season, looked rather uncomfortable during a 4-3 overtime loss in Arizona.
 
Mason, who was outstanding in preseason, seemed out of sync against the Coyotes, misplayed pucks and buried himself in the net to appear small.
 
Those are three things Mason didn’t do during exhibition play. Just based on that, Neuvirth should get the start.
 
“He was good,” Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol said Monday. “He was good against L.A. He had a good training camp. Both our goaltenders had good camps.
 
“No question, Neuvy was good against L.A. dealing with a lot of rubber and coming at the net and traffic coming at the net. He did a good job.”
 
Mason had more of a track meet to handle against the speedy desert dogs but again, didn’t look comfortable or have a commanding presence like he had in preseason.
 
Who goes out?  
Brayden Schenn’s three-game suspension ends with the Blackhawks. He will be available for the home opener on Thursday against Anaheim.
 
Schenn will go back to the first line with Claude Giroux and Wayne Simmonds. Hakstol said Schenn was “best suited” at wing.
 
That means Michael Raffl moves to another line — downward — and someone has to come out of the lineup.
 
Since Hakstol appears to be making a lineup change for Tuesday (see story), it might make sense he plays Nick Cousins and Roman Lyubimov before making a decision as to who sits when Schenn returns from his suspension.
 
“All the way along, there’s been some subtle competition in camp,” Hakstol said of the internal competition for jobs and ice time.
 
“That’s still there. We have players who are versatile and can move to different spots in the lineup. Just by nature, there’s some competition there.”

Contact Us