Gameday Preview: 2/10/10 – Flyers vs Devils Pt. 2, snow edition?

To say that the Flyers have all the momentum heading into tonight’s home-and-home rematch against the Devils is an understatement. The Flyers stormed back from a 2-0 deficit on Monday night to beat the struggling Devils in a crucial Atlantic Division match-up. The Devils have now won just three of their last ten games. They’re struggling, and the Flyers need the points. Badly. The Flyers currently hold the eighth and final playoff spot, tied with the 9th place Bruins, and just one point behind the Montreal Canadiens, with 61 points.

The Flyers did a good job Monday night of keeping the threat of  Ilya Kovalchuk to a minimum. He’s been fairly average against the Flyers throughout his career. He didn’t show many signs of life until the later parts of the third period on the power play. Even then, he was rocketing shots high and wide constantly. He was, for the most part, a non-factor. I don’t expect that to be the case tonight. Kovalchuk got his first practice with the Devils yesterday since being traded to the club. He’s now had time to start understanding his line mates and Lemaire’s system.

The lines will remain the same as they were on Monday night. Michael Leighton will remain the starter while Emery sits out with his hip injury. Newcomer Ville Leino is still not being added into the line-up, and it appears that Peter Laviolette wants to tell the media that he has no use for him in the system, but he doesn’t know how.

On a site related note, content’s been low this week. I’ve been smashed with school work. Our podcast wasn’t recorded because my headset decided to break at the last minute, so recording it would have been impossible. Stay tuned for updates, though.

Gameday Preview: 2/8/10 – Flyers vs Devils

In two games, the Flyers have scored one goal. They’re in an offensive slumber. Again. If they want to stand a chance against the New Jersey Devils tonight, who are 4-5-1 in their last ten games, they’re going to need to put more than one puck into the net. It’s coming down to the wire, and these divisional games are crucial. The Flyers need points, and they need ‘em now.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last week, you probably know that the Devils acquired Ilya Kovalchuk, Atlanta’s prized sniper, who is undoubtedly one of the best goal scorers in the league. With the return of Patrick Elias to the line-up, Kovalchuk is an even bigger threat. Not to mention his abilities on the power play. I have little doubt that the Flyers won’t shut down the Devils offense, because the defense has been awesome the last three games. I’m just worried about being able to come back from a 1-goal defecit. How miserable is that?

It’s unknown who is going to start in goal tonight. The Flyers didn’t have practice yesterday due to inclimate weather conditions. It’s also unknown whether or not newly acquired Ville Leino will play tonight, and if he does, where he’ll play. Bill Meltzer is reporting that there have been “indications that Leino will replace Darroll Powe on the left-wing on the Jeff Carter line,” but nobody is certain.

The Devils are too good when they’re playing with the lead, so it’s absolutely crucial for the Flyers to hop on them early and keep the goals coming. Falling behind in the first period will be unacceptable, and we’ll be talking about another loss in tonight’s recap.

Recap will be a little later than usual tonight; I’ll be at the Wachovia Center taking this one in.

Gameday Preview: 2/6/10 – Flyers vs Wild

The Flyers are hoping to bounce back from Wednesday night’s loss to the league’s worst Oilers with a win tonight against the Minnesota Wild. Tonight’s game will conclude another Flyers road trip with, hopefully, a 2-1 record. The Flyers have won 6-of-9 games against the Wild all-time.

Tonight’s big story lies in-between the Minnesota pipes. Both Niklas Bäckström and Josh Harding are out of the line-up tonight. Bäckström has the flu, and Harding is still nursing an injured hip. The 23-year-old rookie, Anton Khudobin will make his NHL debut tonight for the Wild.

Ray Emery is expected to be back in net tonight for the Flyers. He was a scratch from Wednesday’s game with rumored groin soreness, and/or disciplinary issues. I’m willing to go with groin soreness. Emery seems to have cleaned up his act. I hope. He’s been playing well recently, and I think giving him the night off on Wednesday was a good idea.

Three Keys to Victory:

• Break the trend – The Flyers have been getting stonewalled by back-up goalies all season. That needs to end tonight.
• Generate offense – I know this kind of ties in with beating a back-up goalie, but the Flyers weren’t the best at capitalizing on their offensive opportunities on Wednesday against the Oilers. This offense is just too inconsistent.
• Continue the defensive play – The last two games for the Flyers have been awesome defensively. Team defense has been a key as of late, and the team is really buying into that. It’s shown. Keep it up, and the goals will start to come. I hope.

It is still unknown whether or not Ville Leino will play for the Flyers tonight. Paul Holmgren has asked him to join the team, however. If you weren’t aware, the Flyers acquired Leino from the Red Wings this morning in exchange of Ole-Kristian Tollefsen and a 5th round draft pick in the 2011 Entry Draft.

Update 1:17PM - Ray Emery will miss tonight’s game with tightness in his left hip. Michael Leighton will get the start again, per Paul Holmgren.

Flyers set to face off against struggling Edmonton Oilers

The Edmonton Oilers are the league’s worst team and the Flyers played like the team we know on Monday night. What does this mean? Well, it means the Flyers should run all over the Oilers tonight. Don’t let the records fool you, though. At this time of the year, these are the teams that are the most dangerous. The Oilers are desperate for points and while they may be out of a playoff race, it’s hard for a team to just sit back and call it a year so early on.

Edmonton will be trying to win their second game in a row tonight – they’ve won one of their last ten – while the Flyers will be looking for their third. The Flyers have won back to back games, five of their last seven, and are 13-5-1 since December 23rd.

Peter Laviolette has not yet announced the starting goalie for tonight’s match-up, but after the strong game that Emery put in on Monday, I’d expect to see him between the pipes tonight. Michael Leighton against Minnesota, maybe?

The big story tonight is the return of Chris Pronger to the city which he requested to be traded from back in 2006. How will the Edmontonians react to Pronger stepping on the ice tonight at the Rexall Place?

Watch for Lukas Krajicek tonight. Can he continue his stellar defensive play, or was his game the other night product of “first game momentum”?

The game can be seen at 9:30 on The Comcast Network (where available).

Flyers embark on another trip to the West, kick off with new-look Flames

Last season, Olli Jokinen played his first game as a Flame against the Flyers. This season, he may be playing his last. It’s rumored that Jokinen may be headed to New York City to play for the Rangers in exchange for Ales Kotalik and Chris Higgins. TSN’s Bob Mackenzie is reporting that Jokinen will in fact dress for the Flames tonight, because there has been some stalling in the trade talks.

Yesterday, the Flames acquired Niklas Hagman, Matt Stajan, Ian White and Jamal Mayers from the Toronto Maple Leafs and sent tenured defenseman Dion Phaneuf, Fredrik Sjostrom, and a prospect the other way. Surely, the new faces have already played with each other all season, but will they be able to click immediately with the rest of the Flames? If Jokinen’s success in his first game with the Flames last year is any indication, the Flyers may have a situation on their hands tonight.

Speaking of the Flyers, they’re coming off a semi-successful home stand. They’ve won four of their last six, and although the majority of those games were played with sloppy fashion, the points earned from them will prove to be crucial down the stretch. The Flyers are 6-4-0 in their last ten meetings with the Flames, and tonight’s game is their only match-up this season.

The Flames have been struggling as of late, and with the addition of several new players, it may just look like a pee wee hockey team is up against us tonight. Was Olli Jokinen kept on the roster because the Flames need some offensive firepower before they continue making moves, or did the trade talks really fall through? I guess we’ll find out.

The lines for tonight’s game are projected to stay the same as Saturday’s lines, and Ray Emery is likely to get the start in net again tonight for the orange and black. Look for some defensive changes though, because Lukas Krajecek is expected to play his first game tonight.

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We’re playing the Thrashers again. Can we beat ‘em this time, please?

In recent years, the Flyers have absolutely demolished the Thrashers on the scoreboard and in the standings. Earlier this season, November 28th, to be exact, the Flyers fell to the Thrashers, 1-0. It was their fifth loss in six games, and just so happened to be one game prior to the removal of then coach, John Stevens. Shortly after the meeting against Atlanta, the Flyers fell into their losing skid. As of late, the Flyers are playing better hockey, as are the Thrashers. The Flyers offense was inexistent the last time these two teams met. They were also shut out by the Vancouver Canucks the following game.

Atlanta comes into tonight’s match-up 5-3-2 in their last ten games. Along with that, they’re dealing with trade rumors swirling around their star player, Ilya Kovalchuk. Kovalchuk comes into tonight’s game being one of the NHL’s leading scorers. He’s sporting 30 goals – 10 of them being power play marks. Expect to see Chris Pronger and Kimmo Timonen matched up against Kovalchuk for the majority of tonight’s game.

Ray Emery will once again be the starting goalie tonight for the Flyers. It’s safe to say that he’s returned to the spot of “number one”.

Three Keys to Victory:

• Special Teams: Peter Laviolette worked the Flyers special teams this week more than I have ever seen any coach do so. He worked them to a point where guys were skating around with half stick blades. Will we see the return of our once lethal power play and penalty kill tonight, or will our special teams struggles continue?
• Ray Emery is still a key: Is he really back, or have the last few games just been fluky? Emery will need to prove himself tonight against a weaker team to be considered “back” and “consistent” in my book.
• Wake up, offense: The offense took some time off against the Penguins, but taking the night off tonight isn’t acceptable. Neither is losing to the Thrashers twice in one season.

Let’s Go Flyers!

Gameday Preview: Hurricanes at Flyers

Andy isn’t around to cover this game preview, so I get to give this a shot. In an afternoon matchup at the Wachovia Center, the Carolina Hurricanes (15-27-7) take on the Flyers, fresh off their victory over the Rangers. The Flyers have defeated the Hurricanes in the three previous matchups between the two clubs this season, shutting out the ‘Canes in the first game of their season. The Flyers blew out the Hurricanes 6-1 on Halloween, a game Michael Leighton started for Carolina. Their next meeting was a 4-3 shootout win, where Leighton, in goal for the Flyers after being claimed off of waivers, stoned both Carolina shooters in the shootout to secure the victory. It will be interesting to see if Peter Laviolette goes with Emery fresh off of a shutout, or with Leighton against his former club.

The Hurricanes have been abysmal this season, stacking their roster with veterans off of a run to the Eastern Conference Finals. That has landed them in the basement of the Eastern Conference, with many Hurricanes fans already set on drafting Taylor Hall first overall. While their play of late has been better, the team is looking to move a number of their veterans with no-trade clauses, and has somewhat started the rebuild by anointing Eric Staal captain of the team. Veteran Rod Brind’ Amour, a Philadelphia fan favorite in the 1990’s, has been among the worst in terms of plus/minus in the NHL for the past two seasons, and may be playing one of his last games in front of the Philly faithful.

The Flyers come in off of a hard-fought win over the Rangers on Thursday night. The physical play was on another level, as a number of scrums and fights broke out, and the Flyers returned to their effective intimidation style of old. However, with a number of players riding hot streaks into this game, most notably, Jeff Carter, James Van Riemsdyk, Mike Richards, and Chris Pronger, the Flyers should be look to continue those streaks and exploit the weak Carolina defense. Through their previous two matchups, almost all of the goals have been scored at even strength, which should make this game an interesting one. The Flyers have managed to pounce on teams early lately, scoring the first goal a number of times. Hopefully the team comes out with some energy, and doesn’t perform like they did in a 4-0 loss to Toronto earlier this month. Also adding distraction are news reports about Calgary Flames GM Darryl Sutter was in attendance Thursday night to discuss a trade with the Flyers, which has started the spectulation of numerous rumors, with the most amusing being Dion Phaneuf for Jeff Carter (which would make me sick, personally).

Other Notes:

• Cam Ward is starting his 18th straight game for the Hurricanes.
• Mike Richards has 14 points in his last 14GP.
• Jeff Carter has 7 goals and 15 points in his last 13GP.
• Daniel Briere has 13 points in his last 13GP.
• Chris Pronger has 10 points in his last 8GP.
• Aaron Asham has 8 points in his last 9GP.
• James van Riemsdyk 10 points in his last 9GP.

Injury Report:

Hurricanes: Erik Cole (upper body), Tuomo Ruutu (upper body), Scott Walker (shoulder), Joe Corvo (leg)

Flyers: Danny Syvret (shoulder), Ryan Parent (back)

Broad Street vs Broadway: Round 3 – Flyers vs Rangers :: 1.21.10 Gameday Preview

Again, I’ll be at the game tonight, so the recap won’t come until later. Anyway, here we go.

In a sense, tonight’s game is a must win for the Flyers, who trail the visiting Rangers by four points. Winning tonight and cutting that deficit to two points would be crucial for the Flyers and their chase in the Atlantic division, and playoff race.

The last time these two teams met, it was at Madison Square Garden and the Flyers absolutely humiliated the Rangers, 6-0.

The Rangers are on an offensive explosion, though. In their last two games against Tampa Bay and Montreal, they have scored fourteen goals.

The Flyers haven’t exactly been slouching on offense, either. They’ve failed to score less than four goals only once in their last eight games. This is largely possible because of the scoring depth that this team is starting to generate. We’re not having to rely on the first and second lines for goals anymore; everyone is scoring.

Tonight’s line combinations are expected to stay the same as Tuesday night – that means Claude Giroux stays at center (I’m excited) – and Ray Emery will get another nod in goal.

Three Keys to Victory:

• Scoring depth - When all four lines are playing well, the Flyers scoring power is nearly unmatched. With Arron Asham and Dan Carcillo putting goals on the board Tuesday night against the Blue Jackets, my point is proven. The Rangers won’t be able to shut down everyone.
• Get the lead early and run with it - The Flyers have scored the game’s first goal in twelve of their last thirteen meetings. Don’t let the simplicity of this stat fool you, it’s easier to run with a lead than it is to play catch up in the NHL. Get on the Rangers early and keep attacking.
• Get traffic in front of the net and take lots of shots – Henrik Lundqvist is playing fantastic hockey right now. Since being pulled against the Flyers, Lundqvist is 6-1-2 with a 1.42 GAA. It’s going to be hard to beat a guy playing so well with shots that aren’t screened or deflected.

Flyers start a six game homestand and Ken Hitchcock returns to Philly

First off, I’ll be at the game tonight, so don’t expect a recap right away. Unless one of our other lazy writers would like to take charge and do it themselves. :p

I shouldn’t need to be saying this again, but if there were ever a time for the Flyers to get back on track, tonight would be the night to do it.

Ken Hitchcock is returning to his former coaching grounds with the struggling Columbus Blue Jackets. The Blue Jackets (19-23-9) nearly put Hitchcock out of a job a few weeks back, but have begun to turn the ship around. It’s still not pretty, but they’re not nearly as bad as they were. The Blue Jackets’ fourth highest leader in points also returns to his former home. Former Philadelphia fan favorite RJ Umberger will come into tonight’s game with 33 points (15g,18a).

Convinced that his team will provide his services with a better effort, Peter Laviolette has decided to put Ray Emery back in between the pipes for tonight’s match-up. I think we may have seen the end of the Leighton-story when he lost against the Leafs, and I don’t agree with that. I don’t want to go off on a tangent, though.

The Flyers currently sit in the 11th seed in the Eastern Conference just one point (49pts) behind the Montreal Canadiens (50pts) who don’t play until Wednesday. A win won’t make too big a difference in the standings tonight, but it will surely help their cause. Frankly, it’s too late in the season to be losing games in the Eastern Conference. Pretty soon, we’re going to start calling every game a must win. I don’t know how to feel about that.

Three Keys to Victory:

• Keep the off-ice drama off the ice – The whole Mike Richards vs the Philadelphia media is starting to get tremendously boring, and I’m not sure that it’s good for the demeanor of this team. The Flyers need to keep that stuff off of their minds.
• Sustained attack – A good effort against Washington, but the shots weren’t enough to beat them. With the Blue Jackets struggling as much as they have been lately, they’re a good team to get your offense back into a groove. Set up the powerplays, take smart shots, and don’t force plays when you don’t have to.
• Defense, defense, defense – Ray Emery’s already proved that he needs to regain his senses for rebounds. If such is the case tonight, the paint needs to be clear at all times. Allowing the opposition one or two additional whacks at the puck when you have the size of Chris Pronger, Matt Carle, Braydon Coburn, and Oskars Bārtulis is completely unacceptable. Just don’t let them do it.

Down in DC. Gameday preview: Flyers visit Capitals

Wanna know where the Flyers really stand as a team right now? Sit down and grab yourselves a nice cold beer tomorrow afternoon and turn your TV sets to the game at 3PM.

It’s been quite some time since the Flyers have faced an opponent of worth and even though they were manhandled by the Maple Leafs on Thursday night, the Flyers 8-2-1 stretch after an abysmal early winter has shown signs of both the negative and positive. The Flyers have played sloppy against bad teams, but managed to find the back of the net enough to bury them into their graves. Thursday was subject for concern, though. The Flyers looked sloppy again, but this time they couldn’t find the back of the net against the lowly Leafs.

The last time these two teams met, the Flyers were pounded by the Caps 8-2 in front of the Philadelphia crowd. I can’t see the Flyers coming out flat for this game. They just can’t. The Capitals won’t roll over for us, though. They’ve won 6 of their last 10, and two in a row. Alex Ovechkin scored a remarkable five points against the Maple Leafs – continuing to show why many believe he’s the greatest player in the world. The Flyers usually do a good job shutting him down.

Personally, I expect/hope to see Michael Leighton in the net for the Flyers, but Peter Laviolette has yet to announce the Flyers starter. He has mentioned that it will be a game time decision.

Three Keys To Victory:

• Score First – The Flyers record when scoring first shows why they’re a lethal team when scoring the game’s first tally. If the Flyers can get on the board against the Caps early and create momentum in their favor, it could be the turning point of the game. Needs to be early.
• Avoid odd-man rushes – The Maple Leafs tore the Flyers apart on odd-man rushes during Thursday nights game. The Flyers need to limit their turnovers and be sure to play their points in the offensive zone with some sense of intelligence. This means Chris Pronger cannot pinch to the goal line while the entire team watches.
• Agressive forchecking and hard skating – It’s no secret that the Capitals are a fast team. The only way to beat them is to stick with them and out work them. Physical play will wear the Caps down, and we’re plenty capable of playing recklessly. Get on their bodies early and don’t stop the feet movement. Make them work harder than you, Flyers.

One last note: Scott Hartnell and Darroll Powe are both expected to suit up for Sunday’s game.

Update 1:50PM – Ray Emery will get the start in net today for the Flyers.

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