Update (12:15 PM)

The Flyers starting lineup for tonight will be:

Carcillo -Richards - Laliberte
Hartnell - Briere - Leino
JVR - Giroux - Asham
Powe - Betts - Laperriere

Carle - Pronger
Timonen - Coburn
Parent - Krajicek

Boucher
[Backlund]


Mini-Preview (7:30 AM)

The Flyers will look to close out their first-round series tonight when they travel to Newark to take on the Atlantic Division champion New Jersey Devils. The task became more difficult with the news that the club has lost both Jeff Carter and Simon Gagne for the remainder of the series (and, in Carter's case, quite possibly for the rest of the playoffs).

However, the key injuries should not radically alter the Flyers' game plan for the rest of this series. Philly needs to continue playing the same strong two-way hockey it has for the majority of the series and grit out enough offense to win. The Flyers have earned a little breathing room in this series but they need to strike while the Devils are vulnerable.

Ville Leino will be inserted into the lineup in place of Gagne. I would like to see him plugged into Gagne's spot -- both for his potential offense and to avoid breaking up the fourth line, which has been highly effective throughout the series.

Peter Laviolette would not name which young forward will start in the other open spot in the lineup, but he won't see much ice time anyway. I'd just as soon see the club dress seven D and spot Oskars Bartulis as a forward on a few shifts. With the way D-men tend to drop in the playoffs, it's better to play a forward short and have an extra D dressed as insurance. The way I see it, Carter's minutes are going to have to be replaced by players already in the lineup, such as Claude Giroux, so the Flyers might as well have an extra healthy defenseman available in case of trouble on the blueline.

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Today's Daily Drop at Versus.com looks at the impact of various Game 4s around the league, with the main focus on Boston's double-OT win last night.

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