|
Flyers Gameday: 1/13/11 @ Bruins |
|
|
|
|
|
UPDATE
- Matt Walker activated and will start tonight in place of Oskars Bartulis on the third pair.
- Nikolay Zherdev is back in the lineup. Dan Carcillo is a healthy scratch.
- Milan Lucic is out for the Bruins tonight.
PREVIEW 9:45 AM EST
Winners of their last four games, the Eastern Conference leading Flyers (27-10-5) will pay a visit to Boston tonight to take on the Northeast Division leading Bruins (23-12-7). Boston is coming off a dramatic late period comeback against the Penguins and a lopsided shutout victory over Ottawa. This is the third of four regular season meetings this season between last year's Winter Classic and Eastern Conference Semifinal opponents. Tim Thomas shut out the Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center in the first meeting of the season. Mike Richards scored with three seconds left in overtime to win the second game for Philadelphia on the road by a 2-1 score.
For the Bruins, every game with the Flyers is a grudge match of sorts. A red-hot rivalry in the 1970s and portions of the 1980s, the animosity between the Flyers and Bruins largely cooled down because the two clubs were rarely good at the same time anymore. The animosity reignited in 2007 after controversial plays involving then-Flyer Randy Jones and Scott Hartnell turned up the intensity of subsequent meetings. Meanwhile, the Flyers historic comeback against Boston in the playoffs last year will tinge the rivalry for years to come.
Philly has been the NHL's best road team this season, boasting a 14-4-3 record to date. Meanwhile, while the Bruins have also been strong on the road (13-5-4), they've been rather ordinary at home (10-7-3).
The Flyers are just one of two teams in the NHL with a winning record (9-8-3) when giving up the first goal of a game. They are coming off a game in which they spotted a 2-0 lead to Buffalo in the first 9:59 of the first period and then roared back to claim a 5-2 win. When scoring first, Philly has an 18-2-2 record. If the Flyers come out as flat against the Bruins as they did in Buffalo, the chances of a successful comeback are not very good against Boston's solid team defense and even stronger goaltending. Boston has a 16-1-3 record when scoring first.
The Bruins are a respectable 7-11-4 when giving up the first goal of the game, and mounted eight successful comebacks in which they've come away with at least one point (4-9-4 record) when trailing after two periods. In other words, the Flyers had better come ready to play 60 minutes or more tonight, and not coast even if they do grab a lead. Boston usually keeps the score close and, while far from an offensive juggernaut (123 GF, second fewest among Eastern Conference clubs that would currently make the playoffs), they do have enough enough balance and depth to win most games where they need 2 or 3 goals to come away with the victory.
For Philly, the second line along with James van Riemsdyk has been carrying much of the attack during their current winning streak. Danny Briere has led the way with 8 points (4 G, 4 A) over the last four games. For Boston, the goalies have been getting the job done far more often than not, and the club got goals from the second, third and fourth lines in their 6-0 rout of the Senators. Patrice Bergeron recorded a hat trick in the game.
On the key injury front, the Flyers are still without Chris Pronger, but he has been cleared to start skating. Milan Lucic missed the last game for Boston, and his status for tonight is undisclosed as of this writing.
PROJECTED LINEUPS (subject to change)
FLYERS
JVR - Richards - Nodl
Hartnell - Briere - Leino
Powe - Carter - Giroux
Shelley - Betts - Carcillo
Meszaros - Carle
Coburn - Timonen
Bartulis - O'Donnell
Boucher
[Bobrovsky]
BRUINS
Horton - Savard - Ryder
Marchand - Bergeron - Recchi
Wheeler - Krejci - Seguin
Paille - Campbell - Thornton
Chara - Kampfer
Seidenberg - Boychuk
Ference - McQuaid
Thomas
[Rask]
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
Join the Discussion:
»