5 THINGS: Flyers vs. Canucks

At long last, the curtain will rise on the 2021-22 regular season when Alain Vigneault's Philadelphia Flyers host Travis Green's Vancouver Canucks at the Wells Fargo Center. Game time is 7 p.m. ET (NBCSP, 97.5 The Fanatic).

The last time the Flyers opened the regular season at home against the Canucks was 21 years ago. On the night of Oct. 5, 2000, twin brothers Daniel and Henrik Sedin made their much-anticipated NHL debuts, but it was 19-year-old Flyers rookie Justin Willams (one goal, two assists) who stole the show in a 6-3 Flyers victory.
Tonight, the Flyers will look to make a statement as they try to turn the page from a highly disappointing 2020-21 season and get back to playing winning hockey.
Here are five things to watch on opening night.
1. Quest to Reestablish Home Ice Advantage
The last time -- pre-pandemic "pause" in March 2020 -- that the Flyers were able to play in front of fans in a normal capacity Wells Fargo Center, the team had one of the best home seasons in recent franchise history. The 2019-20 Flyers had the NHL's best home record (25-6-4). Last season, the team slipped to 12-12-4 at home (13-11-4 away).
After practice on Thursday, Flyers captain Claude Giroux discussed (among other topics) the importance of restoring a home-ice edge and keeping the crowd energized. The Flyers open the season with a four-game homestand.
"Opening night is always special, but it's a little more special when it's also the season opener," said Giroux.

2. A test of Will, man.
With a host of forwards absent from the lineup -- Kevin Hayes, Wade Allison and Tanner Laczynski due to injuries, newcomer Patrick Brown due to being in COVID-19 protocol and fellow newcomer Zack MacEwen due to awaiting a U.S. work visa -- the Flyers' depth is being tested right off the bat.
Injuries for some mean opportunities for others, however. On opening night, 26-year-old Max Willman will make his NHL debut. He'll skate on the Flyers' fourth-line left wing alongside Nate Thompson (playing his 812th NHL game) and Nicolas Aube-Kubel.
Willman's journey to the NHL is quite the Cinderella story.
He nearly attended Quinnipiac University as a "regular" student (in other words, he would not have played hockey) before ultimately going to Brown University as a student-athlete. He was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in the 5th round, 121st overall, of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft but was never offered an entry-level contract.

Nine games into his senior season at the Ivy League college, Willman tore his ACL. The NCAA granted him a rare fifth year of college hockey eligibility, which the Barnstable, Mass., native spent at Boston University.
Willman had no NHL or AHL offers when he graduated. In 2019-20, he signed an ECHL contract with the Flyers-affiliated Reading Royals but sat out initially as a healthy scratch. before getting in the lineup and dominating at that level. When the Phantoms were riddled with injuries, Willman got an AHL tryout deal. He made the most of it, and received an AHL contract.
As a member of the Phantoms, Willman proved himself to be a high-energy, versatile all-around player who could put the puck in the net, forecheck well, skate well and defend well. The Flyers signed him to an NHL contract, which kicked in for the 2021-22 season. Now he's in an NHL lineup on opening night.
3. The deal on Seeler.
In the Flyers' preseason finale in Washington last Friday, the Flyers had both new top-pairing defenseman Ryan Ellis (lower-body) and second-pairing defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen (upper-body) sustain injuries that put both on day-to-day status.
The good news: Ellis practiced in full on Thursday with the team at the Flyers Training Center in Voorhees. He will make his Flyers debut in the opener against the Capitals, playing right defense alongside Ivan Provorov.
The bad news: Ristolainen, who has skated in sessions with Flyers skills coach Angelo Ricci in recent days, did not practice with the team on Thursday. He has been ruled out of the opener. His status for Monday's game against Seattle will be determined over the weekend.
With Ristolainen out for at least one game, the Flyers recalled veteran defenseman Nick Seeler from the Phantoms. Seeler beat out fellow veteran Adam Clendening in training camp for the Flyers' season-opening 7th defenseman role. Seeler brings some physicality and shot-blocking prowess.
On opening night, Seeler will be paired with Keith Yandle (who will play in his 923rd consecutive NHL regular season game). It remains to be seen which one will play the left side and which defenseman will be on the right. The two rotated sides during practice on Thursday. Vigneault indicated that he and assistant coach Mike Yeo would make that determination on game day.
Projected Flyers starting lineup:
28 Claude Giroux - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny
86 Joel Farabee - 19 Derick Brassard - 89 Cam Atkinson
23 Oskar Lindblom - 21 Scott Laughton - 25 James van Riemsdyk
71 Max Willman - 42 Nate Thompson -62 Nicolas Aube-Kubel
9 Ivan Provorov - 94 Ryan Ellis
6 Travis Sanheim - 61 Justin Braun
3 Keith Yandle - 24 Nick Seeler
79 Carter Hart
[35 Martin Jones]
4. Behind Enemy Lines: Vancouver
The Canucks come to Philadelphia with an 0-0-1 record, having dropped a 3-2 decision via shootout in Edmonton on Wednesday. Trailing 2-0 entering the third period, Vancouver rallied for goals by Oliver Ekman-Larsson (power play) and, with 2:49 left on the clock, by Quinn Hughes to force overtime. Thatcher Demko stopped 32 of 34 shots over the 65 minutes of play.
The shootout went five rounds, before Edmonton prevailed (2-1), Bo Horvat, in round four, had the only successful attempt for the Canucks. His tally prolonged the skills competition, before the Oilers' Kyle Turris scored in the top of round five and Tanner Pearson wristed a shot wide of the net.

The Canucks are a speedy team that can burn an opponent in transition if the other team does not take care of the puck. Brock Boeser missed the opener against Edmonton but is expected to get into the lineup during their season-opening road trip. The trip continues on Saturday in Detroit, Tuesday in Buffalo. next Thursday in Chicago and finally wraps up in Seattle on Oct. 23.
Canucks projected lineup:
Pearson-Horvat-Garland
Highmore-Dickinson-Höglander
Miller-Pettersson-Podkolzin
Dowling-Lammikko-Chiasson
OEL-Myers
Hughes-Poolman
Rathbone-Burroughs
Demko
[Halak]
5. Players to Watch: Hart and Pettersson
For the Flyers to succeed this season, they need goalie Carter Hart to have a bounceback campaign. In 2019-20, he set a new franchise single-season record for home save percentage (eclipsing a mark formerly held by the legendary Bernie Parent) and posted a home goals against average and home save percentage among the top 3 statistical season in team history. Last season, as is well know, was as disappointing individually for Hart as it was for the Flyers team as whole. Hart had a strong training camp performance this September into October.
It's no secret that the Canucks biggest offensive threat is 22-year-old center Elias Pettersson. The sensational Swede was limited to playing just 26 games last season (10g, 11a), which was a significant part of the reason why the Canucks slipped in 2020-21 after a seeming breakthrough campaign the prior year. A restricted free agent over the summer, he now has a new three-year contract ($7.35 million AAV) in hand.