WRAPUP
To the extent you can tell anything from the first preseason game, the Flyers came out and accomplished their objectives. They skated well, got goaltending and, by first game of the the preseason standards, took care of the puck.
The Flyers got strong games tonight from youngsters Jon Kalinski and Andreas Nodl. Claude Giroux was not at his best, however.
Quotes:
John Stevens: "We had some simple goals tonight. We wanted to come in and get our competitive level high, win puck battles and avoid turnovers. We can get better in all of those areas but we accomplished our objectives for the most part."
Stevens on Vaananen and Eminger: “I think they are two different players but the common denominator there was their aggressiveness. They love to close on people quickly and they like to get involved physically and they have the big size to do so.
"You have a lefty and a righty but Ossi gets to people really quickly and takes away time and space. Steve Eminger he is a little bit similar but I think he is going to do more with the puck so he looks like to me a guy that can develop into a player that can contribute at both ends of the rink.”
Stevens on Nodl and Kalinski: "They are two guys I didn’t know a whole lot about and I got an opportunity to see them in rookie camp and a couple days in our camp and that is the best I have seen them play. It is impressive to se young guys come in that situation and play with composure and confidence and have such defensive awareness. I am really impressed with both of them and I felt very comfortable putting them out there in all situations.”
Jeff Carter: "I'd say it's a pretty typical first preseason game. We were kind of feeling our way a little bit and the ice wasn't very good, but I thought we did some good things out there."
Ossi Vaananen: "We've only had two days of practice, and we're going to have some meetings about the system in the next few days. We didn't work on the penalty kill at all yet.
"In terms of working with the goaltenders, I can't say how many days it'll take to start getting used to each other, but it's very important that we get on the same page. Every goalie is different and it's very important to know how much he likes to play the puck and those sorts of things. Otherwise you get killed out there!"
Martin Biron: "“Everything was pretty smooth. The transition, or getting the puck out of the zone was really smooth. I thought for the two periods I was there the communication was good. And penalty killing, I think they did a great job. You don’t see that we didn’t work on it at all. We talked a little bit about it, but I think that the couple five on threes right away set the tone for us and got me to work a little closer with my defenseman which was good.”
Luca Sbisa: "It was great to work with a veteran like Ossi out there tonight. He did a lot of talking. ... I was a little nervous today. I was more nervous in the afternoon and the morning than I was in the dressing room. As soon as I stepped out on the ice I lost the nerves. It’s a little bit different than Juniors, but it was just a great experience.”
THIRD PERIOD SYNOPSIS
Scottie Upshall hits the empty net at 18:40, assisted by Carter to make it 4-1. Final shots are 29-23 NJ.
Ouellet makes a stop on Brian Gionta at 14:45. On the rush, Coburn got just enough of Gionta from behind to prevent an unimpeded shot.
Devils get on the board. A Claude Giroux turnover led to the goal by Petr Vrana at 9:26. Giroux by the way, had wisdom teeth removed the other day (not that it has anything to do with him turning the puck over, of course, but he hasn't had as much practice time as hoped).
Steve Downie scores his second of the game at 3:44. Braydon Coburn with the helper, but
Kalinski started the sequence with a nice hit on the boards.
Maxime Ouellet, as expected, comes in to start the third period in goal for the Flyers.
*****
SECOND PERIOD SYNOPSIS
Scott Hartnell makes a nice move around Colin White, goes behind the net, and feeds Andreas Nodl coming off the bench high in the zone. Weekes makes the save.
Clackson and LeTorneau-LeBlond have and epic fight at 9:10. Devils change goalies from Weekes to Clemmensen as the combatants go to the box.
Kalinski is showing lots of jump tonight. He's had several strong shifts.
Martin Biron makes stops in close on Patrik Elias and Brian Rolston at 17:30 to keep the Devils off the board.
Shots were 12-8 for NJ, 20-17 NJ through two periods.
****
FIRST PERIOD SYNOPSIS
The Flyers go off leading 2-0 after the opening 20 minutes. Philly killed off the game's first three penalties, including a pair of extended 5-on-3 disadvantages.
At 17:12, Scott Hartnell go the Flyers on the board, steering an Andreas Nodl shot from up high in the zone past Kevin Weekes. (NOTE: The scoring on the goal was changed after the period -- Richards is now credited with the goal from Nodl and Hartnell).
At 18:48, Steve Downie claimed a puck bouncing around the slot after a failed clear and beat Weekes to make it 2-0. Sean Curry and Jon Kalinski drew the helpers.
On the center ice faceoff immediately following the Downie goal, Riley Cote and P.L. LeTourneau-LeBlond (he needs to shorten that name!) dropped the gloves in a real good bout. Give Cote the decision.
Martin Biron's best save was a point-blanker off the stick of Patrik Elias earlier in the period.
Jeff Carter showed a lot of early jump, generating a scoring chance on his first shift, and also leading Scottie Upshall on a 2-on-1 that narrowly missed being the game's first goal.
Ugliest moment in the opening period: Steve Downie skates directly in front of his own net and promptly coughs up the puck in the slot to a Devil.
Shots in the first period were 9-8 in the Flyers' favor.
****
6:30 P.M. Warmup time
Starting tonight: Biron, Coburn, Upshall, Carter, Richards, Hartnell, Vaananen, Eminger, Downie, Giroux, Cote, Asham, Parent, Sbisa, Ouellet (backup goalie), Powe, Curry, Nodl, Kalinski, and Clackson.
****
5:45 PM An update from today's earlier blog: Flyers goalie prospect Jocke Ericsson missed the first two games of the Swedish junior season due to a bout with tonsillitis. He says he now feels 100% and plans to start again on Wednesday against Modo's J20 team.
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PHANTOMS 3 - LOWELL 2 (OT)
The Phantoms won their preseason opener with a 3-2 win over the Lowell Devils. Rookie winger Patrick Maroon scored 25 seconds into overtime to seal the win. Maroon, Jonathan Matusmoto and Michael Ratchuk each posted a two-point game for Philadelphia.
Recent draftee Jacob DeSerres started and played the first 30 minutes of the game, stopping 14 of the 15 shots he faced. Michael-Lee Teslak played the second half of the game and turned aside six of the seven shots fired his way.
On the game-winner, Maroon took a pass from Chris Zarb in the slot and beat Jeff Frazee high to the stick side. Matsumoto got the secondary assist.
The two teams will meet again tomorrow afternoon at 4:00 at the New Jersey Devils practice facility in Newark. Philadelphia’s next home exhibition game is on Saturday, September 27.
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The Flyers open the preseason tonight at the Wachovia Center after just two days of full camp. NHL rules require the Flyers to dress at least eight NHL veterans, but you can be sure they will give as many vets as possible some extra time to get ready for game action.
Apart from Simoin Gagne (who will definitely not play), the team did not want to say reveal yesterday which players will and won't play tonight.
For preseason roster purposes, a veteran is classified as any player who is not eligible for the Calder Trophy (played more than 25 NHL games in any single preceding season or in six or more games in each of any two preceding seasons).
I'll post updates later, and a postgame synopsis and quotes.
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Flyers goaltending prospect Jocke "Sunshine" Ericsson was in goal today for the Brynäs J20 team in their 3-2 overtime loss to Björklöven. Ericsson stopped 10 of 13 shots.
Ericsson did not dress from either of the team's first two regular season games, even as the backup goalie. I'm checking up on why.
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Former Flyers assistant coach Wayne Fleming has been
hired as the head coach of KHL team Avangard Omsk.
Fleming, who has extensive international coaching experience, was most recently an assistant coach with the Calgary Flames.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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