Kolosov plays at WFC for first time, Flyers win preseason finale

The Flyers wrapped up the preseason with a 5-4 win Thursday night over the Devils at the Wells Fargo Center.

Olle Lycksell, J.R. Avon, Emil Andrae, Anthony Richard and Noah Cates scored goals for the Flyers. Andrae (one goal, two assists), Richard (one goal, two assists) and Oliver Bonk (two assists) had multi-point games.

The goals from Avon, Richard and Cates came on the power play. Cates' was the game-winner.

Alexei Kolosov played in Philadelphia for the first time when he took over in net midway through the game.

The preseason finale didn't serve as a dress rehearsal for the Flyers. New Jersey's big club is already in Prague, Czechia for the 2024 NHL Global Series, so the Flyers deployed more of an inexperienced, Phantoms-heavy lineup.

Assistant coaches Darryl Williams, Brad Shaw and Rocky Thompson and skills coach Angelo Ricci led the Flyers' bench.

The Flyers went 4-3-0 in the exhibition slate.

• In his final tune-up, Ivan Fedotov played half of the game and turned away seven of eight shots.

"I thought he did a good job, he stayed involved in the game," Williams said. "He played good right up until he exited the game."

The Flyers' backup made 55 saves on 63 shots in four preseason appearances.

Kolosov came on in relief for the second time through the exhibition slate and converted 10 saves. The second of his three goals allowed was a power play snipe.

He finished his abbreviated preseason with 17 stops on 21 shots.

A saga stemming back to May resulted in Kolosov not attending rookie camp and missing a week-plus of main camp. The 22-year-old prospect is projected to open the season with AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley.

• Andrae delivered what the Flyers wanted to see in the preseason from their young blueliners. The 22-year-old recorded a goal, four assists and a plus-3 mark in four games.

"He's a guy that right from the beginning of camp, he came in with a purpose," Williams said. "Each game he has gotten better and gained more confidence. And you could see it tonight."

The 2020 second-rounder is the favorite to be the Flyers' first call-up on the back end when the club needs one.

"He's really undersized but I don't think that deters him from getting to areas that are hard to play in," Erik Johnson said. "He played with a lot of confidence, he put up a lot of points in the minors and he's kind of knocking on the door for an NHL spot, which is great. I think he has earned everything he has gotten. ... Nice guy and bright future, for sure."

Lycksell continued his strong preseason with the game-opening goal in the first period. Bonk, the Flyers' second first-rounder from 2023, made a nice play along the blue line to set it up.

As a bubble forward, Lycksell had two goals, two assists, 13 shots and a plus-1 rating in five exhibition games. Interestingly, though, he didn't practice with the big club group Thursday morning. More on that and the roster outlook here.

• Sawyer Boulton and Hunter McDonald both had fights for the Flyers. Boulton ended up dropping the gloves twice with Devils forward Samuel Laberge.

• In some non-game health matters, Nick Seeler missed practice Thursday. Williams said the defenseman was still dealing with some numbness and effects from taking a puck to his leg Tuesday night.

"It was like a harmless play, but it hit that peroneal nerve," Seeler said after practicing Wednesday. "It just went numb, so I couldn't feel the foot or the leg. ... I got up and I'm like, 'What the heck just happened? I can't feel my leg.'"

Tyson Foerster returned to practice Thursday after missing Wednesday's session because of swelling from a blocked shot Tuesday night.

• The Flyers are scheduled to practice Friday at 11 a.m. ET. They have to submit their season-opening roster by Monday at 5 p.m. ET. They open the regular season next Friday against the Canucks in Vancouver, British Columbia (10 p.m. ET/NBCSP).

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