UPDATE 11 AM ET

* If Peter Laviolette does indeed plan to start tonight's game with Nikolay Zherdev demoted to the fourth line in favor of Andreas Nodl, the timing is very strange. Zherdev is coming off his best game as a Flyer on Tuesday night. Apart from scoring a goal, Zherdev was actually involved in the play. I suspect that, even if a switch has been made to start the game, Zherdev will soon be back on the Mike Richards line.

* It looks like the goaltending matchup tonight will be a rematch of the opening night: Sergei Bobrovsky vs. Marc-Andre Fleury.

* The Flyers are continuing their father-son weekend tradition this season, and many of the players' fathers are along for the trip to Pittsburgh. That's something that I know means a lot to the players and their families, and is example of why most players who have play for the Flyers and for other NHL organizations usually compare their Flyers experience favorably to the others.

* The Flyers and Penguins farm teams will also play each other tonight, as the undefeated WBS Penguins pay a visit to Glens Falls to take on the struggling Phantoms.



PREVIEW 7:45 AM ET

The Flyers (4-4-1) have struggled for consistency in the early going of the 2010-11 season. Tonight, they will try to build off the good things they've established in two of the last three games, as they take on the archrival Pittsburgh Penguins (5-4-1) for the third time this month. The clubs split the first two meetings, with the road club winning both games.

The Flyers have relied heavily on Danny Briere’s line this season, and the trio has largely carried the offense on a game-in and game out basis. Briere alone has earned points in four of his past five games, including a two-point effort against Buffalo. In addition, Claude Giroux is off to a strong start and the club hopes that the spark shown by Jeff Carter and Nikolay Zherdev in the Sabres game is carried over to tonight's game. The defense still has yet to contribute a goal, as does James van Riemsdyk.

In contrast, The Penguins' defensemen have been a significant part of the Pittsburgh attack so far this season. Alex Goligoski, Kris Letang and Paul Martin have combined for 6 goals, 17 assists and 23 points. Meanwhile, the Flyers have rarely had much success in containing Evgeni Malkin in Pittsburgh or Sidney Crosby in any building. Crosby had two goals and an assist the last time the clubs met. Malkin had an assist in that game.

When the clubs last met in Philadelphia, the Flyers' powerplay was mired in a horrendous early season slump that actually started in the exhibition season. Of late, however, the PP has been showing signs of getting in gear and has actually narrowly surpassed Pittsburgh's (15.0% to 14.8%) on the season.

Rookie Sergei Bobrovsky has gotten both starts for Philly against the Penguins so far this season. He looked strong in his NHL debut but got picked apart as the game progressed in the second meeting with Pittsburgh. For the Pens, Marc-Andre Fleury has struggled this season and has given way of late to Brent Johnson. The latter defeated the Flyers in Philadelphia on Oct. 16.


Potential starting lineups (subject to change)

FLYERS

JVR - Richards - Zherdev/Nodl
Hartnell - Briere - Leino
Powe - Giroux - Carter
Shelley - Betts - Nodl/Zherdev

Pronger - Carle
Coburn - Timonen
Meszaros - O'Donnell

Bobrovsky/ Boucher


PENGUINS

Kunitz - Crosby - Dupuis
Letestu - Comrie -Malkin
Cooke - Talbot - Kennedy
Rupp - Adams - Asham

Martin - Letang
Goligoski - Engelland
Orpik - Lovejoy

Johnson/Fleury

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