John Tortorella’s Philadelphia Flyers (14-13-4) are in the Motor City on Wednesday to take on Derek Lalonde’s Detroit Red Wings (12-14-4). Game time at Little Caesars Arena is 7:00 p.m. EST.

The game will be broadcast nationally on TNT/MAX. The radio broadcast will be on 97.5 The Fanatic with a 24-hour online simulcast on Flyers Radio.

Last Thursday (December 12), the Flyers earned a 4-1 victory over the Red Wings at the Wells Fargo Center. After today’s game in Detroit, the teams will face each other one last time this season on January 21st at the Wells Fargo Center.

Here are five things to watch on Wednesday.

1. Sarge’s dominance against Detroit

For some reason, players sometimes have more success against some opponents than others throughout their careers. Roster schedules change. Team fortunes rise or fall. Somehow, however, the player seems to “own” this particular opponent year after year. The reverse can of course also be the case.

Even before his career-best four-goal game last Thursday against the Red Wings, Flyers alternate captain Scott Laughton had more goals against Detroit than any other opponent in the NHL. Entering Wednesday’s game at Little Caesars Arena, Laughton has played 20 career games against the Red Wings.

During that span, “Sarge” scored 13 goals and contributed a half-dozen assists for 19 career points at Detroit’s expense. League-wide, Laughton posted his second-highest career performance against the Pittsburgh Penguins (7g, 9a, 16 points in 31 games) and the New York Islanders (3g, 13a, 16 pints in 32 games). On the other hand, Laughton has four points (0g, 4a) in 21 games against the Montreal Canadiens.

There is no logical explanation for these large discrepancies. It’s the nature of hockey!

2. Michkov: “The Michigan” in Michigan?

While Laughton posted the greatest one-game performance of his career in the Flyers’ final game against Detroit, the rookie right winger was repeatedly robbed by Detroit goaltender Cam Talbot. On three separate occasions, Michkov came within a whisker of scoring his 12th goal of the season. Michkov was rejected all three times.

Most notably, during a delayed penalty against the Red Wings in the second period, Michkov attempted a lacrosse-style “Michigan” goal. He was close to finishing it but was turned away. Earlier, Michkov almost took a throw-in from the right post after appearing to outmaneuver the goalkeeper. He was also robbed in a one-timer from the right circle in an almost tic-tac-toe sequence from Morgan Frost to Egor Zamula to Michkov.

Specifically for “The Michigan,” Michkov has attempted to score the lacrosse-style goal four times so far this season. Last Thursday’s game was the closest he’s ever been able to translate into a score for his team.

3. Between the pipes

With the Flyers on top in back-to-back games before hosting the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday, goaltending duties will likely be split between Samuel Ersson and Aleksei Kolosov in the next two games.

On the Detroit side, Talbot is one of two former Flyers goaltenders on the roster. He almost single-handedly gave the Red Wings a chance to win last week in Philadelphia. Laughton’s third and fourth goals of the game came into an empty net. Talbot played brilliantly, especially in the second period, which was dominated by the Flyers.

Since then, Talbot has been dealing with a lower body issue. He was ruled out for Wednesday’s game. Former Flyer colleague Alex Lyon is out of action after being sidelined with a lower-body injury on November 27th. The other option for the Red Wings is Ville Husso.

4. About the man advantage

While the Flyers’ power play still hasn’t regained the form it showed through the first eight games of the 2024-25 season, it has been looking better of late after enduring a terrible stretch that lasted about six weeks.

However, in the last two-plus weeks, the power play has started to show signs of life. In Minnesota, the power play went 0-3 last Saturday, but provided a lot of attacking playing time – on both power play units. The Flyers hit the post a few times, including a shot from Owen Tippett in the first period that bounced off the top of goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury’s pads and then off the post.

For the season as a whole, the Flyers rank 26th in the NHL on the power play at 16.7 percent. Meanwhile, the Red Wings’ penalty kill has been terrible, especially over the last month. For the season, Detroit’s PK ranks 31st in the league at a rate of 67.5 percent.

On the other hand, the Red Wings generate a large portion of their points through the power play (24.4 percent success rate, 8th place). The Flyers’ penalty kill hasn’t had much work over the last two games, but Laughton’s shorthanded goal against Detroit last Thursday proved to be game-winning. This season, the Flyers PK is 14th in the league at 80.2 percent, but have struggled greatly since Thanksgiving.

5. Behind Enemy Lines: The Larkin Line

22-year-old Lucas Raymond leads the Red Wings this season with 31 points (12g, 19a) in 30 games played. He scored three goals and four points in his last four games. Meanwhile, top center Dylan Larkin (12g, 12a) will look to break a nine-game scoring drought on Wednesday, but has recorded four assists in his last four games. Detroit’s main offensive catalyst had an unusually quiet game against the Flyers last Thursday (no points, minus-three, one shot on goal), but the quick and gifted veteran is always a threat to break through.

To beat Detroit, you must first stay outside the penalty area and force the top team to spend more time defending than attacking in five-on-five play. The Flyers successfully mastered these tasks last Thursday. They will try to repeat it in Detroit.