From veterans to rookies, the Flyers look forward to a ‘great atmosphere’ at home opener

The rookie laps are done and the NHL debuts are over. But there may be some nerves for Jett Luchanko when he laces his skates up and hits the ice for warmups for his first regular-season game at the Wells Fargo Center.

However, the 18-year-old can look to the stands to find a few familiar faces to calm him. Luchanko was uncertain if his parents would make the trip from Canada for the game — they were at his first game in Vancouver — but there should still be a sizable chunk of family from Kennett Square donning the colors orange and black, and probably a few Luchanko jerseys.

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“It’s a logo I’ve seen my whole life, so to wear it, it’s definitely special,” Luchanko told The Inquirer Thursday in Seattle. “And especially the great players who have come through, it’s definitely just cool to see it around everywhere.”

Luchanko grew up in London, Ontario, and had never stepped foot in the Wells Fargo Center before his preseason tilt against the New York Islanders. But he knew all about the Flyers, thanks to his cousins.

By now you may have seen the pictures of a fresh-face Luchanko decked out in Flyers gear. As a youngster, he was a Flyers fan “for a good amount of time because my family is here and they gave me all the jerseys,” although he did become a Maple Leafs fan living in the Toronto area.

He had both Claude Giroux and a Mitch Marner shirts, and now Luchanko could get a chance to skate the same ice as the former Flyers captain who played 1,000 games in Orange.

“[It] would be a really cool game to play, for sure,“ Luchanko said. “We know the fans in Philly are great, so I think that would be just a great atmosphere to kind of see.”

Luchanko and the Flyers return home to the faithful after a 1-2-1 road trip through North America. They face the Vancouver Canucks, a team the Flyers beat 3-2 in a shootout to open the season (7 p.m., NBCSP), on Saturday night.

“We’re really excited. I‘m sure [the fans are] just as eager as we are to get back home and play a regular-season game,” said winger Travis Konecny. “[I’m] looking forward to it and I know I’m excited, so I’m sure they are, too.”

Konecny, 27, knows about playing in front of an eager home crowd. He is entering his ninth season as a Flyer — he signed an eight-year extension this summer that doesn‘t even begin until next season — and says as a group, “we feed off the energy” of the hometown fans. Konecny could have been speaking about himself, too. Going into Saturday’s game, he had posted points in each of the last five home openers (four goals, three assists).

The Flyers have earned a point in five straight lid lifters at Wells Fargo, with the lone loss coming in a shootout three years ago to the Canucks. Since their first home opener — 57 years to the day — they have won 32 times.

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“I’ve always said that Philly fans are always so passionate, and when things are going well, they’re going to be there to support us,” winger Owen Tippett said. “So, obviously, we’re getting excited to get home, and [the] home opener should be fun.”

The excitement and buzz should be high this year in what is expected to be a packed building. Winger Scott Laughton knows all about playing in that kind of atmosphere and said that the Flyers’ play the last few years has helped bring the fans back. He also credits some of the young guys.

One of those young guys has created such a buzz that it has spread beyond the borders of the Philly area.

Just four games into his NHL career, Matvei Michov has four points, all on the power play and highlighted by a pair of goals. Saturday, he will make his home debut. If the crowd is anything like his preseason games — where the fans roared every time his name was announced — the Wells Fargo Center will be rocking.

“I think any time you can get that [packed building], I think Philly’s pretty hard place to play, regardless,” Laughton said. “You have to make it hard on teams coming into your building. But yeah, I think it’ll be exciting. It’s always fun.”

One thing Laughton does want is a better home record. Last season, home wasn‘t a house of horrors for the Flyers but it was still spooky. They had a winning record (20-17-4) but could only muster 2.68 goals per game compared to 3.00 against. And the power play? It was slightly better than their 82-game percentage (but was still the worst in the league). On the plus side, the home penalty kill was third-best in the league.

For comparison, on the road, they scored a little more (2.95) but gave up a lot more (3.29), had a paltry 9.3% man advantage, and were 12th on the penalty kill.

Time will tell how things go this year but it always has to start with the first one. It may not hurt that the Flyers are 4-0-1 in their last five home openers against the Canucks and 44-21-1-1 at home vs. Vancouver since both entered the league.

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“It’s great coaching in Philly,” said John Tortorella. “It’s such a great fan base through all the sports. We’re just trying to be the best we can be. As I’ve said, I hope we can get it to back in the day. As a visiting coach, I think you recognize the crowd more than the home coach when you go into the building.

“I’ve been to a few ball games this summer, and I look at the crowds there, I want our players to play in front of people like that. I want them to feel that juice. I’m not counting season tickets or seeing what’s going on there. But if we take care of our business and we do it the right way and get away from gimmicks and talk about this and just continue to build and build this the right way, we’ll get there.”

Sam Ersson is expected to start Saturday. He is 2-0-0 against the Canucks in his career, including the 3-2 shootout win to open the season, and has a 1.67 goals-against average, and .933 save percentage. ... Bobby Brink has a career-high four-game point streak (goal, three assists).