Updated: 5:29 p.m.
VOORHEES, N.J. — The Flyers' preseason games are becoming more and more important.
The next one is Saturday night as the Flyers welcome the Rangers for their fourth exhibition contest out of seven.
Let's get into the essentials:
• When: 7 p.m. ET
• Where: Wells Fargo Center
• Broadcast: NBC Sports Philadelphia+
• Live stream: NBCSportsPhiladelphia.com and the NBC Sports MyTeams app
• It will be fun to see Travis Konecny and his usual energy back out there. He will make his preseason debut after missing the first three days of training camp.
The 22-year-old has shaken off some rust and feels caught up following plenty of work from Tuesday to now.
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"I'll be ready," Konecny said Tuesday about the Oct. 4 regular season opener (see story). "I didn't miss too much time, I did a lot of work on my own when I wasn't here."
• Saturday night is a big game for roster hopefuls Joel Farabee, Morgan Frost, Chris Stewart and Carsen Twarynski (see story). The Flyers want to shape their roster as soon as they can in preparation for the opener (see story). The teams flies out to Switzerland on Sept. 27 before its final preseason contest on Sept. 30.
• Keep an eye on Matt Niskanen if he's paired with Ivan Provorov. The 32-year-old blueliner will be crucial to the Flyers' defense this season and he wasn't happy with his first preseason performance, despite scoring the team's lone goal.
"We didn't do too good. Or I didn't at least," Niskanen said Thursday. "But it's part of the process. Get our feet wet together for the first game. I have to get my timing back. But it's good to get in there and you can see his skill. He is a fun guy to play with and we will be better next time."
What didn't Niskanen like about his own game?
"Just too much time in our zone," he said. "I couldn't execute well enough to get on the attack enough."
• Carter Hart is expected to play the first two periods before giving way to Jean-Francois Berube. In Hart's final preseason outing, the 21-year-old will go the distance.
Quotable
I know as media and a fan standpoint, you see three losses and you're like, 'Oh my God, this isn't what we thought it was going to be.' I don't think that's a big deal, but it is a whole new system for a lot of guys in this room — pretty much every guy in the room besides myself basically. In order to get to the best part of your system, you need to get the regular guys who the coaches think are going to be there every night.
- Kevin Hayes on the Flyers' preseason and roster
Projected lineup
Forwards
James van Riemsdyk-Claude Giroux-Travis Konecny
Oskar Lindblom-Kevin Hayes-Jakub Voracek
Michael Raffl-Morgan Frost-Joel Farabee
Carsen Twarynski-Scott Laughton-Chris Stewart
Defensemen
Ivan Provorov-Travis Sanheim
Robert Hagg-Matt Niskanen
Samuel Morin-Mark Friedman
Goalies
Carter Hart
Jean-Francois Berube
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