PREVIEW
My Flyers preview and Steve Hindle's Caps preview are available at
Versus.com. Excerpt follows:
Everything was looking up for the Philadelphia Flyers when they defeated the Washington Capitals in an overtime thriller in the third game of the regular season. Despite some defensive sloppiness in the second period and a steady parade to the penalty box, the Flyers put together a strong effort against the Caps to get the season off to a 3-0-0 start.
Since then, Philadelphia has been an inconsistent club in virtually every facet of the game, as the team’s 2-3-1 record since the Washington game would attest. In most games this season, the Flyers have played strong first periods. However, 60-minute efforts have been lacking in many games.
The Flyers often seem to be a schizophrenic team from period to period. There are stretches they’ve looked like a well-oiled machine offensively and defensively and other times where they look completely disorganized. There are stretches where the Flyers pay the price to make plays, backcheck diligently and creates a lot of turnovers with their forechecking. There are also equally long stretches where they get noticeably outworked and get away from doing the things that make them successful. One chronic problem is puck possession, because Philadelphia routinely loses more faceoffs than it wins.
The Flyers’ special teams have generally been solid this season, but have been a bit sporadic in the three games since Philadelphia ended a stretch of just one game in 11 days. Having also been a good power play and penalty killing club last year, those areas should round back into shape soon – and will be of crucial importance against the high-powered Capitals.
Coming off a 4-1 loss to San Jose in which they were significantly outplayed over the final two periods, they are still a club searching to find its identity. Flyers head coach John Stevens has been juggling the lines often of late, trying to find some consistent combinations.
POTENTIAL STARTING LINEUP (Subject to change)
JVR - Carter - Briere
Hartnell - Richards - Pyorala
Carcillo - Giroux - Asham
Cote - Powe - Laperriere
Carle - Pronger
Coburn - Timonen
Tollefsen - Syvret
Emery
[Boucher]
Scratches: Gagne (groin), Betts (shoulder), Parent (groin), Bartulis (healthy)
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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