PREVIEW 8:00 AM CST
In the fifth game of a brutal 7-game-in-10-day stretch, the Flyers (30-16-7) will look for just their second win since the All-Star break when they take on the Toronto Maple Leafs (28-20-6) at the Wells Fargo Center. Tonight's game starts at 7:00 PM and will be broadcast locally on CSN Philly, nationally in the U.S. on NHL Network and across Canada on TSN.
This is the second of four meetings between the teams this season, and the second and final one in Philadelphia. On October 24, the Flyers earned an extremely costly 4-2 win.
In a game overshadowed by Chris Pronger's frightening eye injury, Jaromir Jagr tallied his first two goals as a Flyer and Scott Hartnell also lit the lamp twice. Meanwhile, Sergei Bobrovsky looked strong in making 24 saves and Kimmo Timonen (two assists, third star of the game) stepped up with Pronger lost. Phil Kessel and David Steckel scored for the Leafs.
The Flyers have experienced nothing but frustration over the last week. They are 0-2-1 in their last three matches. In the team's most recent game, they received strong goaltending from Ilya Bryzgalov and dominated the New York Islanders for most of regulation and overtime but could not solve Evgeni Nabokov. The result: A scoreless tie that New York "won" via shootout.
Going back to the end of their seven-game winning streak in December -- which the Boston Bruins brought to a screeching halt in a 6-0 blowout -- the Flyers have posted an unimpressive 10-9-4 record. Historically speaking, downturns in January to February are nothing new for the Flyers. It has transcended changes in coaching and roster turnover, just as hot streaks in November and December have been the norm.
For all attention being paid to the team's defense and goaltending, the Flyers offense has also become inconsistent. Over their last 23 games, the Flyers have been held to two or fewer goals nine times. However, they have also produced four or more goals in nine games over that span.
The feast-or-famine scoring output has been in part due to tighter checking this time of year and partially due to the January to February goal-scoring struggles of Claude Giroux and Jaromir Jagr (both of whom looked to be on the brink of a breakout night in the Islanders game). The concussion-related absences of Danny Briere and James van Riemsdyk and the loss of Pronger for the season have also played into the inconsistency.
The Maple Leafs have gained points in seven of their last 10 games (6-3-1, including 5-1-1 in their last seven matches). However, the club enters tonight's game coming off a frustrating, low-scoring loss of their own. Kessel got the team off to an early lead but two Winnipeg Jets goals turned the tide in the middle stanza. The Leafs were unable to find an equalizer in the 2-1 loss.
PROJECTED STARTING LINEUPS (subject to change)
FLYERS
Hartnell - Giroux - Jagr
Schenn - Briere - Simmonds
Read - Talbot - Voracek
Sestito - Couturier - Rinaldo
Timonen - Coburn
Carle - Bourdon
Gustafsson - Meszaros
Bryzgalov/Bobrovsky
MAPLE LEAFS
Lupul - Bozak - Kessel
MacArthur - Grabovski - Kulemin
Lombardi - Connolly - Crabb
Brown - Steckel - Armstrong
Phaneuf - Gunnarsson
Liles - Franson
Gardiner - Schenn
Reimer/Gustavsson
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After yesterday's practice in Voorhees, I asked several Flyers players about how they can manage their energy in the midst of the brutal schedule this month.
Scott Hartnell: "This time of year, your body gets sore. Mine is -- I won't lie about it. We had a good, crisp practice today but kept it pretty short. The biggest thing in between games is to get rest, stay hydrated and then use energy wisely in the game. You really do have to pay attention to each shift and each period, and stay alert mentally as well as physically."
Matt Read: "We're all pretty well-conditioned but it's tough. For me, I want to get out skating, take short, hard shifts early on to get blood pumping and get in the game."
Jakub Voracek: "I think it's real important not to overstay shifts -- always, but especially now -- so you don't wear down."
Personally, it amazes me how well-conditioned today's players really are. Even so, I think the schedule this month is about as brutal as it gets, both in terms of quality of opposition and the number of games at the end of 3-in-4s against rested opponents.
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